Brian Kennedy

Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy (born 12 October 1966) is a singer, songwriter, and author from Northern Ireland. He had a number of hit singles and albums in the UK and Ireland during the 1990s and 2000s. He represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with his song "Every Song is a Cry for Love" and finished in 10th place, with his performance notably marking the 1,000th song to be performed in Eurovision history.

Early life Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy was born in Belfast on 12 October 1966, the son of Lily and Jim Kennedy. His older brother, Martin Christopher "Bap" Kennedy (1962–2016), was also a musician. The brothers grew up on Falls Road. As a child, Kennedy suffered from Osgood–Schlatter disease in both legs. He has described witnessing the violence of the Troubles while growing up, such as seeing a young man being chased and shot dead by a British soldier a few feet away from him. He would often harmonise with the sirens of police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks.

Career Kennedy made his debut in 1988 as a chorus on the recordings of fellow Northern Ireland singer-songwriter Van Morrison, going on to appear as a backing singer on a number of his albums, including A Night in San Francisco, Days Like This, The Healing Game and Back on Top and live in concert. Around this time, Kennedy also scored a minor UK hit album of his own with The Great War of Words (1990). This album features the lead single "Captured" which was a minor hit in both the UK and Irish charts.

In 1991, Kennedy was joined by Mark E. Nevin, formerly of Fairground Attraction, to form the duo Sweetmouth. Their album, Goodbye to Songtown, was released in August 1991 and features the songs written by Nevin for a second Fairground Attraction album which was never realised.

In the mid-1990s, pop manager Simon Fuller took on Kennedy, signing him to RCA Records for his second solo album which saw greater success. Released in 1996, A Better Man reached No. 19 in the UK and spawned the hit singles "A Better Man" (No. 28), "Life Love and Happiness" (No. 27) and "Put the Message in a Box" (No. 37), which also all became top 20 hits in Ireland. Kennedy's version was released again in December 2005 and early the following year became his biggest hit, released as the EP "George Best – a Tribute" with Peter Corry. The single reached No. 4 in the UK charts and No. 3 in Ireland. performed in Eurovision history. Following qualification, he finished tenth in the finals on 20 May, with 93 points. The song also performed well in the Irish charts, becoming a No. 4 hit.

On 23 August 2010, Kennedy played a version of his song "Christopher Street" on a small balcony overlooking Dame Street, Dublin for the music viral show BalconyTV.

Between 2011 and 2012, Kennedy was a coach on the first series of The Voice of Ireland. The series screened on RTÉ during the early months of 2012 and Kennedy mentored the eventual runner-up in the final, Richie Hayes.

In October 2018, Kennedy started presenting a weekly programme on radio station Tipp FM.

Personal life Kennedy is gay.

He revealed in 2016 that he had been diagnosed with rectal cancer. 1990

Released: March 1999 Label: RCA (PD 74475) Formats: CD, cassette, LP 64 1996

Released: October 1996 Label: RCA, BMG (74321409134) Formats: CD, cassette 19 1999

Released: 1999 Label: Sony (496196.2) Formats: CD, cassette — 2001

Released: 2001 Label: Sony/Columbia (504784.2) Formats: CD, cassette — 2003

Released: 2003 Label: Curb Records (CURCD 128) Formats: CD — 2004

Released: 2004 Label: Curb Records (CURCD 148) Formats: 2xCD — 2005

Released: 2005 Label: Curb Records (CURCD 160) Formats: CD — 2006

Released: May 2006 Label: Curb Records (CURCD 217) Formats: 2x CD — 2008

Released: March 2008 Label: Curb Records (CURCD 237) Formats: CD — 2010

Released: 2010 Label: Proper Music Distribution (PMDCD001) Formats: CD — 2012

Released: June 2012 Label: Collective Management (BKCD001) Formats: CD, DD — 2013

Released: 2013 Label: BK Records (BKCD002) Formats: CD, DD — 2016

Released: September 2016 Label: BK Records (BKCD003) Formats: 2xCD, DD note: re-recordings of previous material — 2017

Released: June 2017 Label: BK Records Formats: 2xCD+DVD, DD — 2017

Released: November 2017 Label: BK Records (BKCD006) Formats: CD, DD —

Singles

Other Songs A cover of "Dry Your Eyes" by The Streets on Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 2 (2004) A cover of "Angel (Floating Round this House)" by Kirsty MacColl on The Concert for Kirsty MacColl (2013)

Writing career The Arrival of Fergal Flynn (Hodder, 2004), a novel Roman Song (Hodder, 2005), a novel