# The Script Source: https://www.popfiltr.com/artist-profile/the-script Published: 2026-09-23T00:28:03.958Z Language: en > Irish pop rock band formed in Dublin in 2001, The Script have notched UK and Irish chart success, arena tours and a resilient second act after the loss of co-founder Mark Sheehan. --- Artist profile ## The Script Irish pop rock band formed in Dublin in 2001, The Script have notched UK and Irish chart success, arena tours and a resilient second act after the loss of co-founder Mark Sheehan. ## Quick facts - **Origin:** Ireland - **Genres:** pop, alternative rock, pop rock - **Award-winning work:** The Script, Breakeven, For the First Time - **Awards:** 3 Meteor Ireland Music Awards won · 2 Brit Award nominations - **Audience:** 31.5M Spotify monthly listeners, as of April 30, 2026 ![The Script official artist profile image](https://www.popfiltr.com/artist-profile-assets/v1/3212/87077d55b693e23516e2598baed47bed90d93883b1e9c19ea33bc988eb6d83f3.jpg) *[Artist image via Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/artist/3AQRLZ9PuTAozP28Skbq8V)* - **Spotify monthly listeners:** 31.5M (No. 192 by Spotify monthly listeners) - **TikTok tracked video views:** 8.5B (No. 921 by TikTok top-video views) - **YouTube total views:** 3.2B - **Pandora lifetime streams:** 3.9B - **Total platform audience:** 17.3M - **Spotify followers:** 9.1M (No. 438 by Spotify followers) - **YouTube subscribers:** 4.5M (No. 1263 by YouTube subscribers) - **TikTok followers:** 693.1K (No. 6692 by TikTok followers) Figures as of April 30, 2026. Data ## Audience, reach and discovery Figures as of April 30, 2026. ### Platform audience - **Spotify monthly listeners:** 31.5M (No. 192 by Spotify monthly listeners) - **Spotify followers:** 9.1M (No. 438 by Spotify followers) - **YouTube subscribers:** 4.5M (No. 1263 by YouTube subscribers) - **Instagram followers:** 976.2K (No. 9208 by Instagram followers) - **TikTok followers:** 693.1K (No. 6692 by TikTok followers) - **Deezer fans:** 2.1M (No. 273 for Deezer fans) - **Pandora 28-day listeners:** 1.4M ### Consumption and discovery - **YouTube total views:** 3.2B - **YouTube daily views:** 1.9M - **YouTube monthly views:** 54.7M - **TikTok likes:** 11.2M (No. 6768 for TikTok likes) - **TikTok tracked video views:** 8.5B (No. 921 by TikTok top-video views) - **TikTok track posts:** 6.6M (No. 1068 for TikTok track posts) - **Pandora lifetime streams:** 3.9B - **Shazams:** 42.2M - **Genius pageviews:** 3.1M ### Playlist footprint - **Spotify playlist reach:** 184.2M - **Spotify editorial playlist reach:** 54M - **Spotify playlists:** 556.2K - **Spotify editorial playlists:** 320 - **Apple Music playlists:** 391 - **Apple Music editorial playlists:** 117 - **Deezer playlists:** 395 - **Deezer editorial playlists:** 17 - **YouTube playlists:** 109 - **YouTube editorial playlists:** 17 ### Top listener markets Leading cities by Spotify monthly listeners. | Rank | City | Listeners | | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Jakarta ID | 835.7K | | 2 | Quezon City PH | 519.7K | | 3 | London GB | 478.8K | | 4 | Manila PH | 462.2K | | 5 | Bandung ID | 449.7K | Biography ## Biography ### Dublin roots and the road to a record deal Danny O'Donoghue and Mark Sheehan were friends in Dublin from their early teens and first worked together in Mytown, an Irish boy band formed in 1996. The pair pivoted to songwriting and production, travelling to Canada to collaborate with Dallas Austin, Montell Jordan and Teddy Riley, then spending several years in Los Angeles writing for performers including Britney Spears, Boyz II Men and TLC. After a US record deal collapsed, they returned to Dublin and formed The Script with drummer Glen Power, signing to Sony's Phonogenic imprint in 2005. The Script made an early televised appearance in September 2007, performing We Cry on BalconyTV in Dublin. Support from RTE 2FM, Today FM and BBC Radio 1's Jo Whiley pushed the debut single, issued in April 2008, into the UK Top 20 and the Irish Top 10. The band had by then moved to London to record their first album for Phonogenic. ### Breakthrough in Ireland and the UK, 2008-2009 Released in Ireland on 8 August 2008 and in the UK on 11 August, The Script entered the album charts in both countries at Number 1, holding the top spot in Ireland for five weeks. The Man Who Can't Be Moved reached Number 2 in Ireland, Denmark and the UK, and follow-ups Breakeven, Talk You Down and Before the Worst kept the record moving through 2009. Sony BMG's Irish office awarded the band a multi-platinum disc for more than 600,000 home sales of the album. The band's live profile rose quickly: they opened for Take That at Croke Park, for U2's 360 degrees Tour date in Dublin, and for Paul McCartney at Citi Field in New York in July 2009. They received the World Music Award for Best-Selling Irish Act in 2008 and won Best Live Performance at the Meteor Ireland Music Awards in February 2010. A European Border Breakers Award for the debut album followed in 2009. ### Science & Faith, #3 and the mainstream peak, 2010-2013 Science & Faith arrived in September 2010, lead single For the First Time reaching Number 1 in Ireland and Number 4 in the UK, while the album opened at Number 1 in both countries and climbed to Number 3 in the United States and Number 2 in Australia. The record delivered further singles in Nothing, If You Ever Come Back and the title track, and was supported by arena and festival dates across Europe and North America. Danny O'Donoghue widened the band's reach in 2012 and 2013 as a coach on the first two series of The Voice UK, working alongside will.i.am, who guested on Hall of Fame. Released in August 2012 as the lead single from the album #3, the collaboration became the band's first UK Number 1 single, spending two weeks at the top. #3 topped the Irish albums chart, and the band collected Brit Award nominations for Best International Group in 2011 and 2013. The Script's songs became staples of television, appearing in series such as 90210, Ghost Whisperer, The Hills, EastEnders, Made in Chelsea and The Vampire Diaries, while Hall of Fame and Breakeven travelled far beyond the UK and Ireland. ### Chart consistency, 2014-2019 No Sound Without Silence, the fourth album, arrived in September 2014 led by Superheroes, a UK Top 3 single, and the band toured extensively through 2015 before taking an extended break, during which O'Donoghue underwent throat surgery. Freedom Child followed in September 2017, entering the UK albums chart at Number 1, with Rain providing another British Top 20 hit. Sunsets & Full Moons, released in November 2019, became the band's sixth consecutive Number 1 on the Official Irish Albums Chart, a run the Official Charts Company and IRMA marked by naming The Script the Official Irish Charts' Artist of the Decade for 2010-2019. The recognition reflected more chart-topping singles and albums than any other homegrown Irish act across the decade. ### Greatest hits, loss and a four-piece band, 2021-2025 Tales from The Script, a career-spanning greatest hits collection, was released on 1 October 2021 and debuted at Number 1 in both the UK and Ireland, giving the band their sixth UK chart-topper according to Sony Music UK. A worldwide tour followed in 2022. On 14 April 2023 the band announced that co-founder and guitarist Mark Sheehan had died in hospital aged 46 after a brief illness; Ireland's president, Michael D. Higgins, said Sheehan and the band had played an outstanding part in Irish musical success abroad. The band returned in May 2024 with the single Both Ways and confirmed that long-time touring bassist Benjamin Sargeant and guitarist Ben Weaver would join Danny O'Donoghue and Glen Power as permanent members. Satellites, the seventh studio album, followed on 16 August 2024 through BMG, entering the Official Irish Albums Chart at Number 1 and the UK Albums Chart at Number 2. Touring included support slots on Pink's Summer Carnival dates and headline shows across Europe, Australia and Asia into 2025. ### The User's Guide to Being Human, 2026 In May 2026 The Script announced The User's Guide to Being Human and shared its lead single, Man in the Arena, drawing on lines from Theodore Roosevelt's famous square-rigged speech about the critic in the arena. Recorded in Topanga Canyon, Los Angeles, the eighth studio album was released on 14 August 2026 and entered the Official Irish Albums Chart at Number 1 the following chart week. A tour of arenas in Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe follows in October and November 2026, with James Morrison supporting the Dublin and Belfast nights, and further shows are scheduled across Asia and Australia in March 2027. The band continues to perform two decades of songs alongside the new material, more than fifteen years after its debut album. Selected moments ## Career highlights 1. 2008 **Debut album enters at Number 1** The Script topped the album charts in both Ireland and the UK with its self-titled debut, released in August 2008. 2. 2009 **European Border Breakers Award** The band's debut album was among the 2009 EBBA honours recognising cross-border success for emerging European acts. 3. 2010 **Science & Faith tops two charts** The second album opened at Number 1 in Ireland and the UK and reached Number 3 in the United States and Number 2 in Australia. 4. 2012 **First UK Number 1 single** Hall of Fame, featuring will.i.am, gave The Script its first UK chart-topper in September 2012, with two weeks at Number 1. 5. 2014 **No Sound Without Silence era** The fourth studio album and the single Superheroes kept The Script in the UK Top 3 as their arena touring continued. 6. 2019 **Official Irish Charts Artist of the Decade** The Official Charts Company and IRMA named The Script the Irish Charts' Artist of the Decade for the years 2010 to 2019. 7. 2021 **Greatest hits debuts at Number 1** Tales from The Script entered the UK and Irish albums charts at Number 1 in October 2021, a sixth UK chart-topper for the band. 8. 2023 **Death of co-founder Mark Sheehan** Sheehan, the band's guitarist and co-founder since 2001, died in hospital on 14 April 2023 at the age of 46 after a brief illness. 9. 2024 **Satellites tops the Irish chart** The seventh studio album, released through BMG in August 2024, reached Number 1 in Ireland and Number 2 in the UK with a quartet lineup. 10. 2026 **The User's Guide to Being Human** Released on 14 August 2026, the eighth studio album entered the Official Irish Albums Chart at Number 1 the following week. Recognition ## Awards and nominations The Script's award record spans Irish, British and European honours: three Meteor Ireland Music Awards, a World Music Award, a European Border Breakers Award and songwriting prizes from BMI, alongside two Brit Award nominations. Their chart work has also been recognised by the Official Charts Company and IRMA, including the Artist of the Decade distinction covering 2010 to 2019. - **Meteor Ireland Music Awards won:** 3 - **Brit Award nominations:** 2 - **UK Number 1 albums:** 6 - **UK Number 1 singles:** 1 | Year | Award | Category | Work | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2008 | World Music Awards | Best-Selling Irish Act Winner | | | 2009 | Meteor Ireland Music Awards | Best Irish Band Winner | | | 2009 | Meteor Ireland Music Awards | Best Album Winner | The Script | | 2009 | European Border Breakers Awards | Emerging Artist or Group of the Year Winner | The Script | | 2010 | Meteor Ireland Music Awards | Best Live Performance Winner | | | 2011 | Brit Awards | Best International Group Nominee | | | 2011 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Music: Group Nominee | | | 2011 | BMI Pop Awards | Pop Award for a most-performed song Winner | Breakeven | | 2012 | BMI Pop Awards | Pop Award for a most-performed song Winner | For the First Time | | 2013 | Brit Awards | Best International Group Nominee | | | 2014 | BMI Pop Awards | Pop Award for a most-performed song Winner | Hall of Fame | | 2014 | Meteor Choice Music | Song of the Year Winner | | | 2018 | Global Awards | Best Group Nominee | | Sources - [Wikipedia — The Script ↗](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Script) - [Wikipedia — The Script discography ↗](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Script_discography) - [Wikipedia — The Script (album) ↗](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Script_(album)) - [Wikipedia — Satellites (The Script album) ↗](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellites_(The_Script_album)) - [Wikipedia — Music Moves Europe Awards ↗](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_Moves_Europe_Awards) - [Official Charts — SCRIPT chart history and artist stats ↗](https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/4040/script) - [Official Charts — The Script's Official Top 10 biggest songs ↗](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-scripts-official-top-10-biggest-songs__34141) - [Official Charts — Sunsets & Full Moons sixth consecutive Irish Number 1 ↗](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-script-s-sunsets-full-moons-becomes-their-sixth-consecutive-number-1-on-the-official-irish-albums-chart-we-got-the-double-hat-trick-__27743) - [IRMA — Official Irish Albums Chart, 15-21 August 2026 ↗](https://www.irma.ie/irish-charts/albums/?week=2026-08-21) - [BBC News — The Script guitarist Mark Sheehan dies aged 46 ↗](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65281865) - [Sony Music UK — The Script artist page ↗](https://www.sonymusic.co.uk/artist/the-script) - [Sony Music UK — Tales from The Script goes straight to No.1 ↗](https://www.sonymusic.co.uk/tales-from-the-script-goes-straight-to-no-1-on-the-uk-albums-chart) - [Hot Press — The Script announce The User's Guide to Being Human ↗](https://www.hotpress.com/music/the-script-announce-new-album-the-users-guide-to-being-human-plus-dublin-and-belfast-shows-23142256) - [The Script — Official website ↗](https://www.thescriptmusic.com/) - [Bandcamp — The User's Guide to Being Human ↗](https://thescriptsongs.bandcamp.com/album/the-users-guide-to-being-human)