Another Irish figure whose life will be examined is singer and sometimes sex symbol, Joe Dolan. The reflective programme will look at the Mullingar man’s life before his death in 2007 using foreign archive material previously unseen in Ireland. Joe Dolan and his brother Ben founded their showband, ‘The Drifters’, in 1960, just as the showband craze was taking off. However, it soon became clear that Joe was the real star, and the group was soon renamed ‘Joe Dolan and the Drifters’. Unlike most Irish showband singers, Joe went on to become an internationally recognised star, recording original songs and selling millions of records around the world. The programme will also examine the controversies that surrounded Joe when he was alive such as drink driving, gigs in apartheid-era South Africa, an air rage incident on an Aer Lingus plane, and non-payment of taxes.