Johnny Logan

Johnny Logan ranks among the Eurovision Song Contest's most accomplished figures, securing victory on his debut appearance in 1980 with "What's Another Year." He claimed a second triumph upon returning in 1987, this time through "Hold Me Now." Five years afterward he supplied the winning song for Linda Martin, "Why Me," while an earlier Logan composition, "Terminal Three" (likewise performed by Martin), placed second in 1984, immediately behind Herreys' "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley." Though his name remains inseparable from Ireland's Eurovision record, the artist entered the world on May 13, 1954, in Frankstone, a Melbourne suburb in Australia. Born Sean Patrick Michael Sherrard, he was three years old when the family resettled in Ireland, the homeland of his father, Patrick O'Hagen, one of the country's most respected tenors. Logan's musical ambitions declared themselves early: by age 13 he was already composing and performing original material, and he soon became a steady presence on the County Meath folk circuit, though his first substantial opportunity arrived only at age 23, when he took the role of Adam in the stage production Adam & Eve.

Eurovision launched Logan into lasting prominence; on the contest's 50th anniversary, "Hold Me Now" was voted the third most popular winning entry of all time, and he remained the sole performer to place a second song inside the final 14 when "What's Another Year" joined it there. His reach extended well beyond the event itself. A consistent chart presence in Ireland and an active performer and songwriter across Europe, Logan accumulated numerous non-Eurovision successes, among them "24 Hours," "A State of Happiness," "Visions of Glory" (with Montserrat Caballé), "Back to Where We Started," "Celebrate and Win," "Das Herrlichste Geschenk" (a duet with Wencke Myhre), "I Love to Party" (alongside Kaye Styles), "Me and My Jealous Heart," "No One Makes Love Like You" (with fellow Eurovision champion Nicole), "The Only Thing I've Ever Wanted," and "Where Did the Love Go." He also enjoyed a major hit with a 2001 re-recording of his 1987 winner, aptly titled "Hold Me Now 2001."