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16 March 2022, 17:22
Van Morrison is a true icon of Northern Ireland, and one of the finest singer-songwriters of all time.
He is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer whose career has spanned seven decades, winning two Grammy Awards.
Van Morrison first found fame in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the Northern Irish rock band Them, who recorded the garage band classic 'Gloria'.
His solo career began in 1967 with the release of his legendary song 'Brown Eyed Girl'. A year later, he recorded his seminal album Astral Weeks, followed by Moondance in 1970.
In 2016, he was knighted for services to the music industry and to tourism in Northern Ireland.
Here are the big quick facts that any Van the Man fan should know...
Van Morrison - Have I Told You Lately
Van Morrison was born on August 31, 1945. He celebrated his 76th birthday in 2021.
His full name is actually George Ivan Morrison. He was born in Bloomfield, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
He was the only child of George Morrison, a shipyard electrician, and Violet Stitt Morrison, who was a singer and tap dancer in her youth.
Facing deportation due to visa issues, Van Morrison stayed in the US when his American girlfriend Janet Rigsbee agreed to marry him. They later divorced in 1973.
Morrison met Irish socialite Michelle Rocca in the summer of 1992, and later married. However, they divorced in 2018.
Van Morrison had one child with first wife Janet Rigsbee. Shana Morrison was born in 1970, and she is now a singer-songwriter in her own right.
He also has two children with second wife Michelle Rocca: Aibbe (born 2006) and Fionn Ivan Patrick (born 2007).
In December 2009, Morrison's tour manager Gigi Lee gave birth to a son, and she insisted that Morrison was the father. Lee announced the birth of the child on Morrison's official website, but Morrison denied paternity. Lee's son died in January 2011 from diabetes, and Lee died soon after from throat cancer.
Van Morrison's net worth is estimated to be around £68.1 million ($90m), according to Celebrity Net Worth.