Brian Kennedy

Born in Belfast, Northern Irish singer/songwriter Brian Kennedy first rose to notice by joining another Belfast native, Van Morrison, in his touring ensemble; that platform propelled a solo path that drew admirers including Bill Clinton, Bob Dylan, and Ray Charles. Kennedy’s sources of inspiration mirror Morrison’s breadth, spanning 1970s singer/songwriters such as Joni Mitchell and Morrison himself through the traditional Celtic balladry that later defined his reputation. He has stood for Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest, performed pieces written expressly for him by Grammy winner Bill Whelan on the Riverdance tour, and appeared at the funeral of Northern Irish sporting hero George Best, a ceremony that bridged opposing sides of the nationalist struggle in the land of his upbringing.

Brian Kennedy entered the world in Belfast in 1966 and spent his childhood on the Falls Road amid the sectarian violence that marked those years. He turned inward to escape the surrounding turmoil, once remarking that he learned to sing by blending his voice with the sirens of fire engines and ambulances. At eighteen he departed the troubled city for London alongside his brother and their band; after striking out alone he found work singing Gershwin in a piano bar rather than taking construction jobs common among Irish expatriates. Persistent effort secured a solo contract with RCA, which issued his first album, The Great War of Words, in May 1999. Two singles emerged from the set: “Captured” and “Town.”

Although the album met modest commercial response, it reached the ears of Belfast’s foremost musical export, Van Morrison, who enlisted Kennedy as a backing vocalist for the Blues and Soul World Tour. Kennedy remained with the tour for six years, appearing on successive Morrison recordings before stepping away to launch his second solo album, A Better Man, in 1996. While touring with Morrison he sang before Bill Clinton during a Belfast visit and has since performed repeatedly for the former president. A Better Man entered the Irish album chart at number one and yielded the hit singles “A Better Man” and “Put the Message in the Box.”

Kennedy delivered his third solo album, Now That I Know What I Want, in 1999; its title reflected a growing assurance in his craft. The platinum-certified lead single “These Days,” a duet with Ronan Keating of Boyzone, became his strongest chart showing to that point, reaching number three on the Irish singles chart. In March 2000 Riverdance on Broadway premiered with Kennedy as lead singer, interpreting material written for the production by Riverdance composer Bill Whelan. He remained with the show for nine months, during which a soundtrack album appeared. December 2000 brought the compilation Won’t You Take Me Home…The RCA Years, while he simultaneously prepared his fourth studio album, Get on with Your Short Life, issued in October 2001 and the following July in the United Kingdom. That same year he supplied the original vocal for “Raise Me Up” with the Irish/Norwegian ensemble Secret Garden, a track that later became a record-breaking hit for Josh Groban in the United States.

After parting from Sony, Kennedy signed a six-album agreement with Curb Records in 2003 and began hosting the BBC Northern Ireland series Brian Kennedy on Song, tracing the roots of classic Irish and Scottish folk songs. The accompanying soundtrack appeared in April 2003; in November he recorded a concert at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall that surfaced the next March as the CD and DVD package Live in Belfast, his debut live recording. In 2004 Kennedy published his first novel, The Arrival of Fergal Flynn, and followed with the second series of Brian Kennedy on Song together with its soundtrack album in February 2005.

November 2005 marked the passing of Northern Irish football legend George Best; Curb Records responded with the tribute album George Best: A Tribute, featuring “You Raise Me Up” as a single—one of the pieces Kennedy performed during Best’s public funeral procession. Early 2006 brought a public vote selecting him to represent the Republic of Ireland at the May Eurovision Song Contest, where he performed his own composition “Every Song Is a Cry for Love” and placed tenth. One week later his fifth album of original material, Homebird, entered the Irish album chart at number nine. In July 2006 he began hosting the RTÉ series 1 to Remember with Brian Kennedy, extending the On Song format to pop repertoire, and in March 2008 he released Interpretations, a collection of covers encompassing songs by U2, Al Green, and Declan O’Rourke.