Susan McCann

Susan McCann

Susan McCann is an Irish country singer from Newry and Mourne, Ireland. Her work sits mainly in country and Irish music, and she becomes known for a long international career that takes her to Europe, North America, Russia, South Africa and elsewhere. She also sings in French.

Career

McCann begins recording with Spin Records. Her first single, Santa and the Kids, is successful, and her second release, Big Tom is still the King, reaches number one in the Irish pop charts in May 1977 and stays in the Top 20 for 11 weeks. The song is a tribute to Tom McBride, and its success marks a major turning point in her career.

By 1979 she is already an international performer and makes her first appearance at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry on 8 October of that year. She goes on to make many further appearances there. She also appears at Carnegie Hall in New York and makes numerous guest appearances on American television, both network and regional.

In the United States she appears at the Florida Strawberry Festival on six occasions. On one of those visits she sings for President George Bush Sr. and General Norman Schwarzkopf, and George W. Bush later attends one of her shows and meets her afterwards. She also performs in the presence of leading Russian statesmen at the White Nights Festival in St Petersburg, Russia, in June 1994.

Her international touring includes three highly successful concert tours of South Africa and three appearances on SABC TV’s Good Morning South Africa. She also performs in Switzerland, England, the United States and in her native Ireland.

Festivals and awards

McCann appears at the Wembley International Country Music Festival in 1980, 1981, 1985, 1989 and 1991, sharing the event with artists including Tammy Wynette, Crystal Gayle and Emmylou Harris. In 1982 she wins the European Gold Star Award in Holland and the top international female award from the International Country & Western Music Association in Fort Worth, Texas. She repeats the Texas award the following year. Later honours include the 1994 Top International Country Vocalist award in St Petersburg and a 2010 Northern Ireland Lifetime Achievement Award. She is also recognised as Top Irish Female Country Singer in the 1990s.

Recordings and collaborations

In 1995 McCann teams up with Irish singer Sean Wilson for a series of UK tours. Their album King and Queen of Irish Country Music earns a gold disc for sales above 250,000. Another successful release is String of Diamonds, made with producer Liam Hurley and built around medleys of well-known songs. A number of versions of the project are recorded, and it also appears as album material.

For many years her recordings appear on different labels. In 2006 she gains control of this material and chooses the UK label H & H Music as the umbrella organisation for her recordings. Releases associated with this period include The Susan McCann Collection, The Blayney Years, Sentimental Journey and the DVD My Story, which includes clips from performances such as Wembley, the Gold Star Award in Holland, the Porter Wagoner show in Nashville, the White Nights Festival in Russia, the Rose of Tralee Festival and The Sound of Music.

Later work

McCann also presents radio shows from a studio in her home in Newry. These programmes include The Country Collection and The Irish Collection, and they are sponsored by H & H Music in London.