Name Brian Kennedy | Siblings Bap Kennedy | |
Birth name Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, author Instruments Vocalist, Guitarist, Keyboardist Website Brian Kennedy official site Role Singer-songwriter · briankennedy.co.uk Albums A Love Letter to Joni, The Great War of Words, On Song Movies Brian Kennedy: Live in Belfast, A Tribute to Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Greatest Irish Artists Similar People | ||
Brian kennedy christopher street balconytv
Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy (born 12 October 1966, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is an Irish singer-songwriter and author, who is known for his ballads, and has represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. He is the younger brother of the late musician Bap Kennedy.
Contents
- Brian kennedy christopher street balconytv
- Brian kennedy australian tour 2015
- Personal life
- Music career
- Solo
- Sweetmouth
- Television
- Writing
- References
Brian kennedy australian tour 2015
Personal life
Kennedy was born and grew up on the Falls Road in Belfast. He has described in public the violence of The Troubles, during his childhood and teen years. He once described seeing a young man being chased and then shot dead by a British soldier a few feet away from him. He also would harmonise with police, ambulance and fire engine sirens. Kennedy revealed in 2016 that he has been battling rectal cancer.
Kennedy came out as gay in 2009.
Music career
Kennedy came to prominence with the masses as one of Van Morrison's backing singers, appearing on a string of recordings including A Night in San Francisco, Days Like This, The Healing Game and Back on Top and live in concert, frequently alongside Georgie Fame. He had a minor UK radio airplay hit with the title track from his 2001 album Get on With Your Short Life.
Kennedy was chosen as the Irish competitor for the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest in Athens, where he sang the self-penned "Every Song is a Cry for Love". His performance in the contest's semi-finals marked the 1000th song to feature in the history of the Eurovision competition. Following qualification, Kennedy finished tenth in the finals on 20 May, with 93 points.
He performed on the original Secret Garden version of the song "You Raise Me Up", which has been recorded by more than a hundred other artists, such as Josh Groban and Westlife; he also sang this song at the funeral of the footballer, George Best.
Kennedy performed at the opening of new studios for his local station Belfast CityBeat in 2006. In July 2008, he joined the judging panel of the Citybeat Young Star Search, Northern Ireland's biggest kids talent search.
On 23 August 2010, Kennedy played a version of 'Christopher Street' on a small Balcony overlooking Dame Street, Dublin for the music viral show BalconyTV.
Solo
Sweetmouth
In Sweetmouth, Kennedy was joined by Mark Nevin, formerly of Fairground Attraction; their album, Goodbye to Songtown (August 1991), featured the songs written by Nevin for a second Fairground Attraction album, which was never realized.
Television
Kennedy was a coach on the first series of The Voice of Ireland.