Judging the right moment to release a 'best of' album can be a tricky question in the career of any popular group. Put it out too early and you can find the genuine hits have to be padded out with lesser-known tracks. Wait too long and all the hits will no longer fit conveniently onto a single CD.

But the Corrs have picked their moment perfectly. It's ten years since their debut television appearance and six years since their first record. They've released four hugely successful albums and they've enjoyed more than a dozen hit singles. They've sold 25 million records around the globe and they've gone platinum in more than 20 countries. To borrow the title of one of their earliest hits, this surely is the right time.

Born and raised in Dundalk, Ireland by musical parents, the Corrs were encouraged to play instruments from an early age. By the time they auditioned in 1990 for roles in Alan Parker's film The Commitments, Jim was already an established session musician and Sharon an accomplished violinist. Andrea and Caroline were both still in high school, but all four of them landed parts in the film.

But perhaps more importantly, it was at the auditions they first met the film's music co-ordinator, John Hughes. He was so impressed that he has been the Corrs manager ever since. Local television appearances built on their cinematic debut and the family group began to play around Dublin. One night in April 1994 they were seen by the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith, who invited them to play at a soccer world cup celebration in Boston.

Eager to make the most of their trip, they also visited New York. There, with audacious nerve which looking back they still can't quite believe, they door-stepped producer David Foster, who was recording at the Hit Factory with Michael Jackson. An impromptu audition produced an instant commitment from Foster to work with the group.

By early 1995, they were in Los Angeles recording their debut album, FORGIVEN, NOT FORGOTTEN, released towards the end of that year. Helped by two world tours supporting Celine Dion and a growing reputation as the world's hardest-working band, the album went multi-platinum in Ireland, Australia, Spain, New Zealand, Denmark and the UK and gold around most of the rest of the world. It also produced some of their most enduring hits, four of which are included on THE BEST OF THE CORRS in Runaway, The Right Time, Love To Love You and Forgiven, Not Forgotten, the album's atmospheric title track.

Somehow in the midst of their hectic schedule, Andrea found time to appear in the role of Juan Peron's mistress in Alan Parker's film Evita before the band travelled back to America to record their second album, TALK ON CORNERS, which appeared in the autumn of 1997. A significant advance on their debut, the follow-up held true to their Irish roots. The Chieftains made a guest appearance, a favour which the Corrs later reciprocated by singing and playing on The Chieftain's Tears Of Stone album.

TALK ON CORNERS produced another four hit singles, all included on THE BEST OF THE CORRS - Only When I Sleep, What Can I Do, I Never Loved You Anyway and So Young. But then there was also Dreams, the group's version of the Fleetwood Mac classic remixed by Todd Terry, which was to become one of The Corrs biggest hits to date. Originally recorded for a Fleetwood Mac tribute album, the song was later added as a bonus track to a special re-sequenced edition of TALK ON CORNERS which also included hit remixes by the likes of Tin Tin Out and K-Klass.

By now, the Corrs were one of the most in-demand groups in the world, playing at a Christmas concert in the Vatican, selling out London's Albert Hall on St Patrick's Day, singing with Pavarotti, opening for the Rolling Stones and performing at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. As a result, TALK ON CORNERS became the album that just would not stop selling.

It had entered the UK top ten on its release but then took nine months to rise to the number one spot, becoming the biggest selling British album of 1998. At one point ,their first two albums achieved the Beatles-like feat of occupying the top two places in the UK chart. This success was repeated around the globe, and TALK ON CORNERS eventually went platinum or multi-platinum in 15 different territories and gold in countless others.

Their tireless touring and the fact that TALK ON CORNERS was still top ten in many countries almost two years after its release combined to delay the writing and recording of their third studio album longer than their fans would probably have liked. But to satisfy the demand, in November 1999, the Corrs released MTV UNPLUGGED. The album includes several new songs, including the hit single Radio and a memorable version of R.E.M.'s Everybody Hurts, which they had first sung as a tribute to the victims of the Omagh bombing on Irish television a year earlier. Also included on THE BEST OF THE CORRS from the Unplugged sessions is an impassioned live version of Lough Erin Shore, a traditional Irish tune first unveiled on their debut album.

Finally, the patience of their fans was rewarded in July 2000 with the release of their hugely accomplished third studio album, IN BLUE. Dedicated to their mother Jean who had tragically died during the recording, IN BLUE gave the Corrs the opportunity to explore new musical areas. A new collaborator was Mutt Lange, husband and producer of Shania Twain, who produced three tracks: Breathless, (their first UK Number One), Irresistible and All The Love In The World. All are included on THE BEST OF THE CORRS, as is the self-produced hit, Give Me A Reason.

Their most mature album yet, IN BLUE repeated the success of its predecessors and proved to be another multi-platinum record, selling 6 million copies worldwide. The album reached number one in 18 countries and gave the Corrs their highest chart-placing so far in America. But the Corrs have never been a band to rest on their laurels and THE BEST OF THE CORRS doesn't merely summarise their remarkable story to date. It also unfolds the beginning of the next chapter in their incredible success with the enticing new single Would You Be Happier? and another equally striking new song, Make You Mine.

So there we have it. THE BEST OF THE CORRS. To date, at least. For there's plenty more still to come and it won't be long before they are no longer able to fit all the hits neatly onto a single disc. But then that's hardly a problem either the group or their fans are going to lose much sleep over, is it?