Daniel O'Donnell (Irish singer)

Daniel Francis Noel O'Donnell, Hon. MBE (born December 12, 1961) is an Irish singer from County Donegal. With his mix of country and easy listening music, which has been described as "cheesy, he has achieved success in both Europe and North America, especially among "mature" female fans and housewives. He has starred in seven concert specials seen on public television stations (PBS) throughout America. To date he has sold over 10 million records worldwide.

Biography

Daniel O'Donnell was born in Kincasslagh, County Donegal, Ireland, the son of Francis and Julia O'Donnell. He grew up in Kincasslagh, with his four siblings: John (the eldest), Margaret (Margo), Kathleen, and James. He has described the Ireland of his childhood as a nice but poor country. In 1968, his father died from a heart attack at the age of forty-nine. Daniel spent his childhood summers with his grandmother on the island of Owey (now uninhabited). Daniel's grandmother later came to live with the O'Donnells until her death in 1971.

O'Donnell's interest in music began as a teenager. Unlike his peers, he enjoyed traditional Irish dancing at the local village hall. Discontented with life in Donegal GAA, he told his sister Margo that he wanted to become a singer. Margo was already an established singer and a household name in Ireland so she took Daniel by the hand and taught him the ropes. In 1980, Daniel left college to join her band and pursue his dreams. His career started to take off after he recorded and released Johnny McCauley's My Donegal Shore in 1983, with £1,200 of his own money, selling most of the copies himself. Later that year, he formed his own musical group, Fever. After the group disbanded, he formed The Roots. In 1985, the manager of the Ritz label, Mick Clerkin, saw him perform, and introduced him to Sean Reilly, who remains his manager to this day. O'Donnell is also good friends with Cliff Richard and the two have performed together on many occasions.

On 4 November, 2002, O'Donnell married 41-year-old Irish Majella McLennan, who has two teenage children from a previous marriage. The couple met while on holiday in Tenerife, where O'Donnell now has a second home. His main home is in Meanbannad.

His showbiz pal Marc Roberts, guided and encouraged the superstar to become a songwriter. Realising that Daniel’s turn of phrase had a lyrical quality; Marc coaxed him into co-writing songs with instant success. The fruit of their partnership has led to 15 O’Donnell/Roberts songs appearing on Daniel’s recent top-selling albums, including one top twenty hit in the UK singles charts, Crush on you".

Daniel's autobiography is entitled My Story. In 2002, he was awarded an honorary (due to his Irish citizenship) MBE for his services to the music industry. He has had twenty UK Top 40 albums as well as fifteen Top 40 singles and has sold 10 million albums worldwide.

Discography

Albums

O'Donnell has produced and recorded over 30 albums included in the following list:

• The Boy From Donegal (1984)
• The Two Sides Of Daniel O'Donnell (1985)
• I Need You (1986)
• Don't Forget To Remember (1987)
• From The Heart (1988)
• Thoughts Of Home (1989)
• The Last Waltz (1990)
• Favourites (1990)
• The Very Best Of Daniel O'Donnell (1991) #34 UK
• Follow Your Dream (1992) #17 UK
• A Date With Daniel Live (1993) #21 UK
• Especially For You (1994) #14 UK
• Christmas With Daniel (1994) #34 UK
• The Classic Collection (1995) #34 UK
• Timeless: Daniel O'Donnell and Mary Duff (with Mary Duff - 1996) #13 UK
• Irish Collection (1996) #35 UK
• Songs Of Inspiration (1996) #11 UK
• I Believe (1997) #11 UK
• Love Songs (1998) #9 UK
• Greatest Hits (1999) #10 UK
• Faith and Inspiration (2000) #4 UK
• Heartbreakers (2000)
• Live, Laugh, Love (2001) #27 UK
• Yesterdays Memories (2002) #18 UK
• The Irish Album (2002)
• The Daniel O'Donnell Show (2002)
• Dreaming (2002)
• Songs of Faith (2003)
• Daniel In Blue Jeans (2003) #3 UK
• At The End Of The Day (2003) #11 UK
• The Jukebox Years (2004) #3 UK
• Welcome To My World (2004) #6 UK
• Teenage Dreams (2005) #10 UK
• The Rock' N' Roll Show (2006)
• From Daniel With Love (2006) #5 UK
• Until the Next Time (2006)
• Together Again (with Mary Duff 2007)#6 UK

Note: O'Donnell has charted 18 albums in the top 20 of the US Billboard publication's "World Music" albums chart and also has had several entries in the "Independent albums" chart too.

Singles

• I Just Wanna Dance (1992) #20 UK
• The Three Bells (1993) #71 UK
• The Love In Your Eyes (1993) #47 UK
• Whatever Happened To Old Fashioned Love (1993) #21 UK
• Singing The Blues (1994) #23 UK
• The Gift (1994) #46 UK
• Secret Love (with Mary Duff - 1995) #28 UK
• Timeless (with Mary Duff - 1996) #32 UK
• Footsteps (1996) #25 UK
• The Love Songs (1997) #27 UK
• Give A Little Love (1998) #7 UK
• The Magic Is There (1998) #16 UK
• The Way Dreams Are (1999) #18 UK
• Uno Mas (1999) #25 UK
• A Christmas Kiss (1999) #20 UK
• Light a Candle (2000) #23 UK
• Morning Has Broken (2000) #32 UK
• You Raise Me Up (2003) #22 UK
• Crush On You (2006) #21 UK

Released in 2008 was Mother's Birthday Song, although it was only released as a single in Ireland.

Cultural References

Daniel O'Donnell was parodied as celebrity singer Eoin McLove in the Father Ted episode Night of the Nearly Dead, as well as an episode of BBC Scotland comedy sketch-show Chewin' the Fat, as an Irish singer named Donald O'Daniel, who had hits such as I've Got a Pal In Jesus.

O'Donnell is frequently satirised in Irish comedy because of a common supposition that his target audience consists mainly of rural ladies of a certain age ("mammies"). The sketch comedy show Bull Island (played by Gary Flood) and the radio sketch segment Gift Grub portrayed him in sketches frequently singing about his mammy, as well as (on Gift Grub) a surprisingly streetwise social commentator.

Irish comedian Conal Gallen featured Daniel O'Donnell in his cult song "I Want to Be a Millionaire", a mock reply to the question asked in the title of the television series Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, which also featured an impression of Ian Paisley.

Chart success

Daniel's first chart hit single in the UK was "I Just Want To Dance With You" (later covered by George Strait). This also led to his first ever appearance on the British music show Top Of The Pops.

Trivia

Daniel is a keen supporter of the Celtic Football Club, who enjoy huge support across Donegal.

External links

• Daniel O'Donnell official website
• Daniel O'Donnell original website
• BBC story covering O'Donnell's honorary MBE

References