Damian McGinty

Singer Damian McGinty pursues a solo career in adult contemporary pop while maintaining an intermittent affiliation with the Celtic pop quartet Celtic Thunder. He first entered the ensemble at age 14 in 2007 and departed in 2011 upon winning the debut season of The Glee Project. The resulting part of Rory Flanagan on the musical series Glee expanded from an initial seven episodes to a total of 18 before concluding in 2012. During the same calendar year McGinty issued his self-titled debut EP as a solo artist. He rejoined Celtic Thunder in 2015 and stayed with the group while preparing his follow-up EP, No More Time, which appeared in 2018.

Born Damian Joseph McGinty, Jr. in Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1992, he reached an international audience at 14 when selected for Celtic Thunder’s original roster. Sharon Browne originated the project as a modern interpretation of Celtic music, and Phil Coulter composed and arranged its first material. McGinty’s fellow vocalists on the opening tour were Paul Byrom, George Donaldson, Keith Harkin, and Ryan Kelly, each taking lead turns. Decca documented the performances on a CD and DVD issued in 2008. The group’s second release, 2009’s Take Me Home, blended traditional Irish and Scottish ballads with several pop and rock covers, whereas 2010’s It’s Entertainment drew solely from mainstream pop successes. Celtic Thunder revisited its heritage sources for the 2011 album Heritage, mixing fresh and longstanding material; Paul Byrom exited before completion and Emmet Cahill stepped in. Storm, presented as a complete theatrical production, also surfaced that year. McGinty participated in the 2012 album Voyage prior to his departure from the ensemble.

Still a Celtic Thunder member, he auditioned for the first season of The Glee Project, the Oxygen network series that granted its victor an appearance on Glee. The program debuted in June 2011 (one month later on Sky One in the U.K.) and named two winners, McGinty and Samuel Larsen, each receiving a seven-episode arc on the third season of Glee. McGinty resigned from the band and first appeared as Rory Flanagan in the November 2011 episode “Pot o’ Gold.” The series ultimately lengthened his role to 18 episodes. Late in 2012 he followed those television appearances by releasing the solo EP Damian McGinty, a set of contemporary pop ballads that peaked at number two on the Billboard World Albums chart and number 13 on the Heatseekers chart.

McGinty took part in a PBS special by former Celtic Thunder colleague Paul Byrom, toured with him, and separately filmed a PBS special and toured with Ethan Bortnick before returning to Celtic Thunder in 2015. Legacy, Vol. 1, issued in February 2016, featured Harkin, Kelly, Neil Byrne, Colm Keegan, and Emmett O’Hanlon alongside McGinty. Legacy, Vol. 2, containing the same personnel and concentrating on hits and audience favorites, followed in August. McGinty’s solo holiday album This Christmas Time appeared in October 2016 and reached number two on both the world and holiday albums charts. Celtic Thunder’s Inspirational arrived the next year.

Marking a decade of the project, Celtic Thunder X was released in March 2018 with the lineup of Byrne, Cahill, Kelly, McGinty, and Michael O’Dwyer. That same month McGinty issued his second solo EP, No More Time, a collection of up-tempo pop that entered the Top 20 of the Heatseekers chart and the Top 50 of Independent Albums. In March 2019 he delivered his first original full-length, Young Forever, produced by Cian Sweeney, Matt Weir, and Pete Wallace. McGinty wrote or co-wrote (with Mark Caplice and Ryan O’Shaughnessy) the majority of its tracks, although the single “Saltwater” was written by Shevy Smith, Liz Rose, and Kevin Hissink. Later that winter a compilation titled Christmas, gathering holiday and Irish traditional songs, appeared.