Rocky De Valera

Rocky de Valera's real name is Ferdia Mac Anna. He was born in Dublin a long long time ago. He grew up in the small fishing town of Howth, North County Dublin. His Dad worked as a producer and director in the Abbey Theatre. His Ma was an actress. He went to school read a bunch of books and hung around Howth hill until he went to college.

He formed his first band, Johnny Jurex and the Punk Pistols in 1976 (they could not play their instruments, knew no songs and played one gig and disbanded). He formed Rocky de Valera and the gravediggers in 1977 while working on a punk badges stall in the Gaiety Green (the Dandelion) at the top of Grafton Street.

After the demise of the Gravediggers in 1979, he went on to form and tour Ireland with The Rhythm Kings (1980-83). The Rhythm Kings released six singles and an album and scored one top Twenty hit 'John Wayne' as well as a celebrated airplay classic 'Baby, Don't You Worry About a Thing'.

Since then, Ferdia Mac Anna has worked as a journalist, magazine editor, film critic, screenwriter and TV producer/director. He has published three novels, 'The Last of the High Kings' (Penguin 1991) which was made into a Hollywood movie starring Gabriel Byrne and Stephen Rea in 1995, 'The Ship Inspector' (Penguin 1996) and 'Cartoon City' (Headline 2000). the paperback of his acclaimed memoir 'The Last of the Bald Heads' is published in April by Hodder Headline with a new afterword and with a new title, 'The Rocky Years'.

Ferdia Mac Anna is very tall and lives in Dublin with his wife and three children.