Brian Kennedy

Brian Kennedy

Brian Kennedy is an Irish singer-songwriter and author from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Born in 1966, he is known for a voice that suits ballads and for his work across pop, country and rock.

Career

Kennedy’s first album is The Great War of Words. He follows it with A Better Man in 1996, which goes quadruple platinum in Ireland and brings him awards for Best Irish Male Album and Best Irish Male Artist. With Now That I Know What I Want, he has three albums in the Irish album chart top 30 at the same time.

He is a protege of Van Morrison and represents Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006. He tours regularly and records with Ronan Keating. His work also includes acting, performing in Riverdance and on Broadway, and making BBC television programmes focused on traditional Irish songs.

Recordings and collaborations

Kennedy records the song You Raise Me Up, which he first performs for Secret Garden. He is also the vocalist on Secret Garden’s CD Earth Songs, where he sings Always There. His Irish collaborator in Secret Garden is Fionnuala Sweeney, alongside Norwegian songwriter Rolf Løvland.