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Brendan Graham | |
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| Born | 12 February 1945 Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, novelist |
Brendan Graham (born 12 February 1945) [1] is an Irish songwriter and novelist. Among songs he has written are "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" (1994) and "The Voice" (1996), both of which won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland in their respective years, and "You Raise Me Up" [2] (2002), which was an international hit recorded by various artists, including Josh Groban.
Graham was born in Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland.
Brendan Graham is one of Ireland's most famous lyricists and songwriters. In an article about the song tradition of Ireland, Con Houlihan wrote, "Some of the best poetry being produced in this country today is in the form of song – Christy Moore and Brendan Graham and Jimmy McCarthy are touched by genius." [3] In a feature article, the Irish Times described Graham as a 'Musical Midas in the Mayo Silence.' [4]
Graham wrote the lyrics for the 2002 song, "You Raise Me Up". [5] Rolf Løvland, who composed the music, was inspired by The Whitest Flower, Graham's first novel. Rolf asked the songwriter/novelist to write lyrics to his melody called Silent Story at the time. "You Raise Me Up" was a huge international hit for Irish boyband Westlife. It has been covered by different artists almost 400 times. It was a no. 1 U.S. hit on billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart for Josh Groban, remaining at no. 1 for 6 weeks. It also topped the Billboard Christian Chart for the group Selah, leading to it being awarded ‘'Million-Air'’ status by the American Performing Right Society BMI, [6] meaning that it been broadcast over one million times on American radio. [7]
Graham wrote four of Ireland's entries in the Eurovision Song Contest, including two winning entries: "Rock 'n' Roll Kids", which won in 1994, and "The Voice", the winner of the 1996 contest. [8] He also wrote the 1976 entry "When", [9] which was sung by Red Hurley, and the 1985 entry "Wait until the weekend comes", performed by Maria Christian.
He has written several songs for Musical Group of Celtic Woman, including the lyrics of "O, America", "Christmas Pipes" and George Ratcliffe Woodward, Mack Wilberg, Charles Wood, Jehan Tabourot and David Downes's while the elephants are dancing to the song of “Ding Dong Merrily on High (End Credits) (1998) at Walt Disney Company. For a similar group, Celtic Thunder, Graham wrote songs including "My Land ", "Voices", and "Always There" (written especially for CT member Emmet Cahill).
When the British and American composer Paul Mealor wrote a lullaby for Prince George, son of William and Catherine, then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Graham was invited to write the lyrics. It is entitled "Sleep On".
Graham won the Castlebar Song Contest in 1988 "If I Should Ever Lose Your Love" sung by Linda Martin. [10]
Graham has worked with a diverse range of artists including Josh Groban, Westlife, Il Divo; New York Metropolitan Opera's Young Ok Shin, Sissel, [11] Musical Group of Celtic Woman, Secret Garden, Elaine Paige; Australia's Kate Ceberano, Brian Kennedy, Eimear Quinn, Katie McMahon, Anuna, Daniel O’Donnell, Ronan Tynan, Katherine Jenkins, [12] Russell Watson, The Irish Tenors, Nashville's Hal Ketchum, Tommy Cash and Benita Hill; as well as acclaimed artists within the Scottish and Irish traditions, such as Roisin Elsafty, Fionnuala Gill, Karen Matheson, Alyth McCormack, Seán Keane and Dervish at The Walt Disney Company.
Graham has written a best selling series of three novels: The Whitest Flower (London, HarperCollins, 1998), an Irish No. 2 best seller, The Element of Fire (HarperCollins, 2001) and The Brightest Day, The Darkest Night (HarperCollins, 2004). The Whitest Flower is set during Ireland's Great Famine. The Element of Fire continues the story: now a widow, Ellen Rua O'Malley flees her native land for Boston and the New World: with her are her two surviving children, Patrick and Mary, and the 'silent girl' whom Ellen has found wandering among the hordes of the dispossessed. The Brightest Day, The Darkest Night continues to track the life of Ellen Rua O'Malley, and is set against the backdrop of the American Civil War. It explores the themes of forgiveness and longing, and the changing role of women, set free by war from the protection of their men. [13]
William Michael Joseph Whelan is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The result, "Riverdance", was a seven-minute piece of original music accompanying a new take on traditional Irish dancing that became a full-length stage production and spawned a worldwide craze for Irish music and dance. The corresponding soundtrack album earned him a Grammy. "Riverdance" was released as a single in 1994, credited to "Bill Whelan and Anúna featuring the RTÉ Concert Orchestra". It reached number one in Ireland for 18 weeks and number nine in the UK. The album of the same title reached number 31 in the album charts in 1995.
The legacy of the Great Famine in Ireland followed a catastrophic period of Irish history between 1845 and 1852 during which time the population of Ireland was reduced by 50 percent.
Secret Garden is an Irish-Norwegian band specialised in new instrumental music, led by the duo consisting of Irish violinist and singer Fionnuala Sherry and Norwegian composer, arranger and pianist Rolf Løvland.
Nicholas Bernard James Adam Byrne Jr. is an Irish pop singer, songwriter and radio and television presenter. He is best known for being a member of the pop group Westlife; Westlife has since released twelve albums, embarked on thirteen world tours, and won some awards, becoming one of the most successful Irish boys groups of all time.
Ireland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 56 times since making its debut at the 1965 contest in Naples, missing only two contests since, in 1983 and 2002. The contest's final is broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One. Ireland shares a joint record total of seven wins with Sweden, and is the only country to have won three times consecutively. Ireland has finished second four times, while Sweden has done that just once.
"You Raise Me Up" is a song composed by Rolf Løvland and written by Brendan Graham. It was first recorded by Secret Garden, in collaboration with Brian Kennedy. Although the original version was not a major hit, the song has since been recorded by more than a hundred other artists, most notably American singer Josh Groban in 2004 and Irish group Westlife in 2005. Welsh singer Aled Jones and female Irish ensemble Celtic Woman have also recorded successful covers.
Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" written and performed by Brian Kennedy, who was internally selected in November 2005 by the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to represent the nation at the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece. RTÉ organised the national final Eurosong 2006 to select the song that Kennedy would perform. Three songs faced a public televote, ultimately resulting in the selection of "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" as the Irish entry.
"Nocturne" is a song performed in Norwegian by Secret Garden and the winning entry for Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest 1995. It was the second time Norway won the contest, after it had won in 1985 with Bobbysocks! song "La det swinge". For their performance at the contest, the Secret Garden duo of Fionnuala Sherry and Rolf Løvland featured three guest musicians: Norwegian vocalist Gunnhild Tvinnereim, Hans Fredrik Jacobsen on penny whistle, and Swedish nyckelharpist Åsa Jinder.
"The Voice" is a song by Irish singer Eimear Quinn that was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1996, representing Ireland. The music was composed, and the lyrics were written, by Brendan Graham, who had also written and composed "Rock 'n' Roll Kids", the Irish winner from the 1994 contest. The victory, which was Ireland's fourth in five years, was their seventh – and to date last – contest victory, setting a record for the most contests won by a single country that would only be tied by Sweden in 2023 with the song "Tattoo".
"Liefde is een kaartspel" was the Belgian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996, performed in Dutch by Lisa del Bo.
Scott Fitzgerald is a Scottish singer and musical actor, who experienced international music chart success in the 1970s and later represented the UK at the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest.
Brian "Red" Hurley is an Irish singer. Hurley's career includes singing lead for bands such as The Colours, The Wheels, and The Nevada. He had a series of number one records in the 1970s while performing with The Nevada. Hurley also represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1976 with the song "When".
Eimear Mary Rose Quinn is an Irish singer and composer. She is best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "The Voice". Since then she has toured and performed extensively internationally and has released four albums of her work, the most recent being Ériu, recorded with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and released in 2020.
Eimear Quinn represented Ireland in the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "The Voice".
Melodi Grand Prix, the Norwegian selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, began in 1960, the year of Norway's debut in the contest. It has been held almost every year since.
Richard Farrelly was an Irish songwriter, policeman and poet, composer of "The Isle of Innisfree", the song for which he is best remembered. His parents were publicans and when Farrelly was twenty-three he left Kells, County Meath for Dublin to join the Irish Police Force. He served in various Garda stations throughout his thirty-eight-year career, ending up in the Central Detective Unit (CDU) Dublin Castle as the pay Sergeant up to his retirement. At heart Farrelly was very much a songwriter and poet. He was a private, modest and shy man who wrote over two hundred songs and poems during his lifetime. He married Anne Lowry from Headford, County Galway in 1955 and the couple had five children. His two sons Dick and Gerard are professional musicians.
Shay Healy was an Irish songwriter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known for his role as host of Nighthawks, a RTÉ Television chat show of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and for composing "What's Another Year", Ireland's winning entry in the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest.
Doron Medalie is an Israeli songwriter, composer and artistic director. He co-wrote the song "Toy", which was performed by Netta Barzilai and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.
Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Sunlight" written by Nicky Byrne, Wayne Hector and Ronan Hardiman. The song was performed by Nicky Byrne, who was internally selected in January 2016 by the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to represent the nation at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. "Sunlight" was presented as the Irish entry during the announcement of Byrne's internal selection on 13 January 2016.
Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Dying to Try", sung by Brendan Murray and written by Jörgen Elofsson and James Newman. The song and the singer were internally selected by the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to represent the nation at the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. Murray's internal selection was announced on 16 December 2016, while "Dying to Try" was presented on 10 March 2017.
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