Edward Neil Anthony Hannon (born 7 November 1970)[1] is a singer and songwriter from Northern Ireland. He is the founder and frontman of the chamber pop group the Divine Comedy, and is the band's only constant member since its inception in 1989. Hannon wrote the theme tunes for the television sitcoms Father Ted and The IT Crowd, as well as the original songs for the musical film Wonka (2023).
Hannon composed the theme music for the sitcoms Father Ted and The IT Crowd, the former theme composed for the show and later reworked into "Songs of Love", a track on the Divine Comedy's breakthrough album Casanova.[6] Both shows were created or co-created by Graham Linehan. For the Father Ted episode, "A Song for Europe", Hannon co-wrote and sang "My Lovely Horse", the song Ted and Dougal enter in Eurosong (a parody of the Eurovision Song Contest). For the same episode, Hannon wrote "The Miracle Is Mine", the 'typical' Eurovision ballad sung by Ted's nemesis, Father Dick Byrne. A dream sequence in the episode shows Ted and Dougal in the song's pop video, with Hannon providing vocals. Hannon also wrote and performed "My Lovely Mayo Mammy", sung by Eoin McLove in the episode "Night of the Nearly Dead", and wrote "Big Men in Frocks", sung by Niamh Connolly (played by Clare Grogan) in "Rock-a-Hula Ted". When a raffle is held in order to raise funds to repair the roof of the parochial house, the Kraftwerk-esque quartet of priests enlisted to perform play an electronic piece of music composed and performed by him. Both of the advertisements for telephone numbers; in The IT Crowd (the new emergency number) and Father Ted (Priest Chatback) have jingles composed by Hannon. In the episode "A Christmassy Ted", his name is mentioned by Mrs Doyle while she attempts to guess that of the mysterious guest.
In 2006, it was announced that Hannon was to lend vocals to the Doctor Who soundtrack CD release, recording two songs – "Love Don't Roam", for the 2006 Christmas special "The Runaway Bride"; and a new version of "Song for Ten", which originally appeared in 2005's "The Christmas Invasion". On 12 January 2007, The Guardian website's "Media Monkey" diary column reported that Doctor Who fans from the discussion forum on the fan website Outpost Gallifrey were attempting to organise mass downloads of the Hannon-sung "Love Don't Roam", which was available as a single release in the UK iTunes Store. This was in order to attempt to exploit the new UK Singles Chart download rules, and get the song featured in the Top 40 releases.[7]
The same year, Hannon sang and wrote the lyrics for the song "Somewhere Between Waking and Sleeping" on the Air album Pocket Symphony, released in the United States on 6 March 2007. This song had been originally written for and sung by Charlotte Gainsbourg on her 2006 album 5:55. Though it was not included on its 2006 European release, it was added as a bonus track to its American release on 24 April 2007.[8]
In 2009, Hannon collaborated with Thomas Walsh from the Irish band Pugwash to create a cricket-themed pop album, under the name the Duckworth Lewis Method. The first single, "The Age of Revolution", was released in June 2009, and was followed by an eponymous full-length album the week after.[11][12] The group's second album, Sticky Wickets, came out in 2013.
On 20 April 2012, Hannon's first opera commission, Sevastopol, was performed by the Royal Opera House in London.[15] The piece was part of a program called OperaShots, which invites musicians not typically working within the opera medium to create an opera, and was based upon Leo Tolstoy's Sevastopol Sketches.[16] Hannon's second opera for which he composed the music, In May (with book by Frank Alva Buecheler and English translations by Tim Clarke), premiered at Lancaster University's Nuffield Theatre[17] in May 2013.
In 2013, Hannon was commissioned by the Southbank Centre to compose a piece for the Royal Festival Hall's refurbished organ: To Our Fathers in Distress, "a kind of oratorio" for chorus, strings and organ, premiered at the Hall in London on 22 March 2014, as part of the Pull Out All the Stop Festival, and was inspired by Hannon's father, the Rt Rev Brian Hannon, who had suffered from Alzheimer's disease before his death in 2022.[18] In 2015, Neil won the 2015 Legend Award from the Oh Yeah organisation in Belfast.[19]
Hannon wrote the songs for the 2023 musical film Wonka.[20]
Since 2009, Hannon's partner has been Irish musician Cathy Davey. The couple live in County Kildare. He was previously married to Orla Little, with whom he has a daughter, born about 2002.[22][23][24] With Davey, Hannon is a patron of the Irish animal charity My Lovely Horse Rescue, named after the Father Ted Eurovision song for which he wrote the music.[25][26]
Father Ted is a sitcom created by Irish writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews and produced by British production company Hat Trick Productions for British television channel Channel 4. It aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until 1 May 1998, including a Christmas special, for a total of 25 episodes. It aired on Nine Network and ABC Television in Australia, and on TV2 in New Zealand.
The 6ths is a band created by Stephin Merritt, also the primary songwriter and instrumentalist behind The Magnetic Fields, The Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes. One story has it that the band was conceived when Merritt, observing that there was no tribute album dedicated to him, decided to make one himself. In the group, Merritt writes and plays songs which are then sung by other artists—a different artist on each track. It has so far produced two well-received albums and many different collaborations.
Anthony Newley was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leading men", from 1959 to 1962 he scored a dozen entries on the UK Top 40 chart, including two number one hits. Newley won the 1963 Grammy Award for Song of the Year for "What Kind of Fool Am I?", sung by Sammy Davis Jr., and wrote "Feeling Good", which became a signature hit for Nina Simone. His songs have been sung by a wide variety of singers including Fiona Apple, Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand, Michael Bublé and Mariah Carey.
The Divine Comedy are a pop band from Northern Ireland, formed in 1989 and fronted by Neil Hannon. Hannon has been the only constant member of the group, playing, in some instances, all of the non-orchestral instrumentation except drums. The band has released 12 studio albums. Between 1996 and 1999, nine singles released by the band made the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, including the 1999 top ten hit, "National Express".
Liberation is the second album by Northern Irish chamber pop band the Divine Comedy, released on 18 August 1993 by Setanta Records. Following the unsuccessful Fanfare for the Comic Muse, the group started improvising on their new album which was recorded in Fundamental, London in March 1993. Although it was the band's second album, the band's leader, Neil Hannon, often refers to it as the first, due to the stylistic differences from their debut album, Fanfare for the Comic Muse.
Casanova is the fourth studio album by Northern Irish chamber pop band the Divine Comedy. It was released in 1996 by Setanta Records, and it happened to be the band's commercial breakthrough. It was certified Gold in the UK in July 1997, aided by the release of the album's first single, "Something for the Weekend", which reached No. 13 on the charts. Two other singles released from the album, "Becoming More Like Alfie" and "The Frog Princess", charted at No. 27 and No. 15, respectively.
Absent Friends is the eighth studio album by Northern Irish chamber pop band the Divine Comedy, released in 2004 by Parlophone in the UK and Nettwerk in the U.S. Two singles were released from the album in the UK: "Come Home Billy Bird", which features former Kenickie vocalist Lauren Laverne on vocals, and the album's title track.
Catherine Davey is an Irish singer-songwriter. She has released one extended play, "Come Over" (2004), and four albums, Something Ilk (2004), Tales of Silversleeve (2007), The Nameless (2010) and New Forest (2016). Her second album garnered her a 2007 Choice Music Prize nomination and the 2008 Meteor Award for Best Irish Female and spawned a number of successful singles, including "Reuben", "Moving", and "Sing for Your Supper". The Nameless was the top selling album in Ireland upon the week of its release. It was also nominated for the Choice Music Prize.
A Secret History... The Best of the Divine Comedy is a greatest hits compilation album by Irish chamber pop band the Divine Comedy, released in 1999 by Setanta Records.
The World Is Not Enough is the 1999 soundtrack of the 19th James Bond film of the same name and the second Bond soundtrack composed by David Arnold. The score features more instances of electronic music, which Arnold included to "make the thing a little more contemporary". To add an ethnic flavor to tracks that conveyed the film's Turkey and Central Asia setting, Arnold brought in percussionist Pete Lockett, qanun player Abdullah Chhadeh, and singer Natacha Atlas.
Fin de Siècle is the sixth album by Northern Irish pop band the Divine Comedy. It was released on 31 August 1998 by Setanta Records. Following the release of fifth studio album A Short Album About Love (1997), frontman Neil Hannon demoed new material at his flat in Clapham. During this time, the relationship between the band and their label Setanta Records was straining as a result of heated discussions over tour costs and studio sessions. They recorded their next album in three studios with Jon Jacobs as the main producer and Hannon co-producing. Fin de Siècle is a chamber pop concept album that details living in the 20th century.
A Short Album About Love is the fifth studio album by Northern Irish chamber pop band the Divine Comedy, released in 1997 by Setanta Records. It was recorded on 20 October 1996 at Shepherd's Bush Empire, London.
"A Song for Europe" is the fifth episode of the second series of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted and the 11th episode overall. It originally aired on 5 April 1996 and has since been recognised as one of the most popular episodes of the show.
"National Express" is a song by Northern Irish band the Divine Comedy. On 25 January 1999, it was released as the third single from their sixth album, Fin de Siècle (1998), and reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart and number 18 in Ireland. The song is based on Neil Hannon's observations of life from the window of a National Express coach.
"The Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count" is a song by the Divine Comedy. Written by Neil Hannon, it was originally recorded for the Liberation album and was issued as the B-side of "Lucy".
The Duckworth Lewis Method are a cricket-themed Irish pop group formed by Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy and Thomas Walsh of Pugwash. The Duckworth Lewis Method is also the title of the group's first album, which was released on 3 July 2009, a few days before the start of the 2009 Ashes series. A concept album about cricket, the album has 12 tracks, one of which is an instrumental. The album was mixed and recorded in Dublin and was mastered at Abbey Road Studios.
"Gin Soaked Boy" is a song by Irish chamber pop band The Divine Comedy. It was the second single from the album A Secret History... The Best of the Divine Comedy, released in 1999 on Setanta Records. The song peaked at No. 38 on the UK Singles Chart and stayed on the chart for two weeks.
The discography of Northern Irish chamber pop band the Divine Comedy consists of twelve studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, five extended plays and twenty-six singles.
Wonka (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2023 musical fantasy film of the same name co-written and directed by Paul King, and co-written by Simon Farnaby. Based on the origin story of Willy Wonka, a character in the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, the film stars Timothée Chalamet in the lead role who leads an ensemble cast. The album features seven original songs composed by Neil Hannon and written by King and Farnaby, further accompanied by the cues from the original score composed by Joby Talbot. The songs are performed by the cast members, including Chalamet (in his singing debut). The soundtrack was released by WaterTower Music on 8 December 2023.
↑ Bairbre Power; Kirsty Blake Knox (30 November 2014). "The Diary: Christmas party season is upon us". Retrieved 5 September 2016. My Lovely Horse Rescue, a charity special to the hearts of singers Cathy Davey and Neil Hannon
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
