In 1997, she was chosen by Michael Flatley to be the soloist in his smash hit sensation Lord of the Dance. Cast in the role of Erin the Goddess she performed extensively in the U.S.A., Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico to name but a few, to great critical acclaim. She often returns to sing in the show.
Early in 2002, she featured as the soloist with respected Irish/American pianist Eily OGrady on her sell-out US tour, paying tribute to Eilys late husband, Frank Paterson. On her return from America Deirdre joined forces with the legendary Dionne Warwick and completed a sweeping tour of the UK. She recently sang with rising star Julie Feeney, on her Irish tour.
Her performances have placed her on some of the worlds most prestigious stages such as The Royal Albert Hall (London), The Royal Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), The Point Depot (Dublin), Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall (New York).
For Deirdre, television recordings have been many, most notably The Celtic Tenors Special filmed for PBS TV that aired in America coast to coast and on prime-time German and Irish television. In 2003 Deirdre recorded the vocal soundtrack for a historical documentary series called The Island, commissioned by Ireland's national TV channel, RTE. This soundtrack was subsequently released as an album, also called The Island.
Live TV appearances include Britain's major annual event, Music Live, commissioned and aired by the BBC, performing alongside Jamie Cullem, Bob Geldof, Brian Kennedy and Moya Brennan. Other appearances being on CBS Morning News and Fox Morning TV (USA), The Jules Holland Show (UK), The Late Late Show, Kelly Live and Open House on Irish television.
Her ability to 'cross-over' diverse singing styles has made her equally comfortable performing and recording with a wide range of artists such as The Chieftains, Michael Crawford, Elvis Costello and more recently, Air Supply on their new recording of Im All Out of Love. Deirdre has featured as guest soloist with the Celtic Tenors for the last number of years and has toured with them in virtually every continent. She features extensively on their latest album We Are Not Islands (Ireland)/ Remember Me (Worldwide).
Most recently Deirdre has been touring the USA as a soloist in the new hit show Celtic Woman, the album of which remained at the top of the World Music Charts for over 45 weeks, earning Deirdre a gold and platinum disc from EMI Manhatten in the process. She left the show in February this year to begin work on her new album and to persue her own solo career.
Deirdre has toured the USA and Canada with The Celtic Tenors
and released her 1st solo album entitled Deirdre Shannon.
Also, Deirdre is one of the three original members of the Celtic Divas, who are a new Celtic/crossover female trio.