# Brian Kennedy (singer)

Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy (born 12 October 1966) is an Irish singer. He scored 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 and finished in 10th place. Brian is the younger brother of musician Bap Kennedy.

## Career

Kennedy made his debut in 1988 as a chorus on the recordings of Van Morrison, a Northern Irish singer-songwriter. Kennedy came to prominence as one of Van Morrison's backing singers, appearing 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, he also scored a minor UK hit album of his own with The Great War of Words (1990). This album featured 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 featured 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, the album, 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. This was followed in 1999 by the album Now That I Know What I Want, which met with less success.
In 2001, he released his fourth album Get on with Your Short Life, which rendered only a No.81 placing for its title track in the UK. Later that year, he performed on the original Secret Garden version of the song "You Raise Me Up", which went on to be recorded by many other artists, such as Josh Groban and Westlife. This was the song he sang at the funeral of the footballer George Best in late 2005. His 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.
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. The song also performed well in the Irish charts, becoming a No.4 hit.
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.
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, he started presenting a weekly programme on radio station Tipp FM.

## Personal life

Kennedy was born and grew up on the Falls Road in Belfast. As a child he suffered from Osgood–Schlatter disease in each leg. He has described in public the violence of The Troubles, during his childhood and teen years, including seeing a young man being chased and then shot dead by a soldier a few feet away from him. He also would harmonise with police, ambulance and fire engine sirens. Kennedy revealed in 2016 that he was battling rectal cancer.
Kennedy came out as gay before 2009.

## Discography
### Albums

| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions |
| Year | Album details | UK |
| 1990 | The Great War of Words Released: March 1999 Label: RCA (PD 74475) Formats: CD, cassette, LP | 64 |
| 1996 | A Better Man Released: October 1996 Label: RCA, BMG (74321409134) Formats: CD, cassette | 19 |
| 1999 | Now That I Know What I Want Released: 1999 Label: Sony (496196.2) Formats: CD, cassette | — |
| 2001 | Get on With Your Short Life Released: 2001 Label: Sony/Columbia (504784.2) Formats: CD, cassette | — |
| 2003 | On Song Released: 2003 Label: Curb Records (CURCD 128) Formats: CD | — |
| 2004 | Live in Belfast Released: 2004 Label: Curb Records (CURCD 148) Formats: 2xCD | — |
| 2005 | On Song 2 (Red Sails in the Sunset) Released: 2005 Label: Curb Records (CURCD 160) Formats: CD | — |
| 2006 | Homebird Released: May 2006 Label: Curb Records (CURCD 217) Formats: 2x CD | — |
| 2008 | Interpretations Released: March 2008 Label: Curb Records (CURCD 237) Formats: CD | — |
| 2010 | The Very Best of Brian Kennedy Released: 2010 Label: Proper Music Distribution (PMDCD001) Formats: CD | — |
| 2012 | Voice Released: June 2012 Label: Collective Management (BKCD001) Formats: CD, DD | — |
| 2013 | A Love Letter to Joni Released: 2013 Label: BK Records (BKCD002) Formats: CD, DD | — |
| 2016 | Essential Released: September 2016 Label: BK Records (BKCD003) Formats: 2xCD, DD note: re-recordings of previous material | — |
| 2017 | Live at Vicar Street Released: June 2017 Label: BK Records Formats: 2xCD+DVD, DD | — |
| 2017 | Christmassy Released: November 2017 Label: BK Records (BKCD006) Formats: CD, DD | — |

### Singles

| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Year | Title | IRE | UK | Album |
| 1990 | "Captured" | 26 | 77 | The Great War of Words |
| "Hollow" | — | — | | The Great War of Words |
| "Believe It" | — | — | | The Great War of Words |
| 1991 | "Fear Is the Enemy of Love" (Sweetmouth with Brian Kennedy) | — | — | Goodbye to Songtown |
| 1995 | "Intuition" | 16 | — | non-album single |
| 1996 | "A Better Man" | 6 | 28 | A Better Man |
| "Life Love and Happiness" | 16 | 27 | | A Better Man |
| 1997 | "Put the Message in the Box" | 18 | 37 | A Better Man |
| 1999 | "These Days" (with Ronan Keating) | 4 | — | Now That I Know What I Want |
| "Playin' With My Heart" | — | — | | Now That I Know What I Want |
| 2000 | "Back in Your Arms" / "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You" | — | — | Now That I Know What I Want |
| 2001 | "Get on With Your Short Life" | — | 81 | Get on With Your Short Life |
| "So What if It Rains" | — | — | | Get on With Your Short Life |
| 2002 | "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" | — | — | Get on With Your Short Life |
| 2003 | "You Raise Me Up" | — | 91 | On Song |
| 2005 | "The Island" (featuring Juliet Turner) | — | — | non-album single |
| 2005 | "George Best – A Tribute" (with Peter Corry) | 3 | 4 | non-album single |
| 2006 | "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" | 4 | — | Homebird |
| 2006 | "If You Don't Believe in Me" | — | — | Homebird |
| 2006 | "Destination" | — | — | Homebird |
| 2011 | "Ireland's Call" (with Paul Byrom) | — | — | The Official Rugby World Cup 2011 |
| 2012 | "Best Days" | — | — | Voice |
| 2012 | "Christmas Morning" | — | — | |
| 2013 | "Try" | 15 | — | The Hit |
| 2013 | "River" | — | — | |
| 2013 | "Life, Love & Happiness" (Stereolove with Brian Kennedy) | — | — | non-album single |

### 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