Father Ray Kelly

Father Ray Kelly first saw the light of day in Tyrrellspass, County Meath, during April 1953. The Irish clergyman rose to sudden YouTube prominence in 2014 after a video of his singular take on Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," delivered as an impromptu gift to a couple at their wedding ceremony, spread rapidly across the internet. Ordained in 1989, he carried out missionary duties in South Africa through the early 1990s. Subsequent years found him serving as an army chaplain in both the United States and Northern Ireland before his 2006 appointment as parish priest in Oldcastle, County Meath. His unexpected online visibility that year led to a management contract with Big Life Management, the firm behind an eclectic roster that includes Scissor Sisters, London Grammar, and Boy George, alongside a recording agreement with Universal Music. His first album, Where I Belong, appeared that December.