Brian Kennedy

Ten Past Seven and a North London Squat

His older brother played in a band called Ten Past Seven, and Kennedy was invited to join. By his own account in Hot Press, he left his A-levels for the band and a squat in North London. He was 18. "Leaving the Falls Road at 18 to go and live in London was a risk," he told the Irish News in 2026. "It was a massive roll of the dice."

In London he busked in Underground stations and outside the Dominion Theatre, worked on building sites and lived in squats. The Irish News in 2015 and a concert listing from The Met both say Simon Fuller discovered him there. The listing quotes Kennedy: "I shouldn't have become a singer really, given where and how my life started, but my voice had other plans and saved me in the end."

The Great War of Words and a Rail Ticket Around America

He signed his first record deal in 1990 and released the album The Great War of Words, with the singles "Captured" and "Town". Hot Press credited Fuller's guidance with shaping the record. A second album, made with Mark Nevin, followed in 1991. "I did two records very quickly for RCA in 1990 and 1991 and then suddenly, everything fell apart for the record company," Kennedy told Hot Press. Both records went nowhere after his team at the label was fired.

He travelled around America by rail and in New York met Jeff Buckley. Back in London he found a card from Kate Bush inviting him for tea. He had sent her his record before he left. He then recorded a song with his brother's band for the Peace Together project, and Van Morrison heard it.

Six Years in Van Morrison's Blues and Soul Revue

Morrison hired him for the blues and soul revue he was putting together, and Kennedy stayed for about six years. The tours put him on stages shared with Joni Mitchell, Ray Charles and Bob Dylan. He sang on Morrison's albums Days Like This, The Healing Game and Back on Top. "He made me a better singer, performer, writer and everything," Kennedy told the Irish News in 2015.

Looking back in 2026, he called his 1996 album A Better Man "absolutely the turning point in my career." In 2000 he spent about six months in New York as lead singer in Riverdance on Broadway. He has also written two novels.

Stormont, 3 December 2005

At the funeral of George Best at Stormont, Kennedy sang "You Raise Me Up". "I grew up on the Falls Road and here I am at Stormont surrounded by a sea of people including football legends and politicians," he told Hot Press the following summer. He had been the first singer to record the song, a point he made himself: "I was the first person to record that song but one of the last to have a hit with it."

Every Song Is a Cry for Love in Athens

Kennedy represented Ireland at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest in Athens. He told Hot Press that more than 1,000 songs came in and were screened by a panel of Brendan Graham, Shay Healy, Juliet Turner and Paul Brady. The entry was his own composition, "Every Song Is a Cry for Love".

It came ninth in the semi-final with 79 points, according to ESC-History, and went through to the final on a Europe-wide television vote, as RTE News reported at the time. In the final it placed tenth with 93 points. Lordi of Finland won. That summer Kennedy was also hosting a Saturday night show on RTE.

The Irish Times Podcast With Roisin Ingle

Kennedy has spoken about being gay in interviews since at least 2006. "I was always aware that I was gay I think," he told Hot Press that year. He said he had his first love affair at 18 in Belfast, had girlfriends on and off in his twenties, and came out to his family in his mid-twenties.

In a 2014 Irish Times podcast with Roisin Ingle he said that growing up in Northern Ireland he "only ever heard about other gay people in an abusive context." He said he would campaign for marriage equality in the coming referendum: "I want my partner to have the same rights, absolutely I do."

Today FM, September 2016

On 2 September 2016 Kennedy told Matt Cooper on Today FM that he had rectal cancer and was having chemotherapy and radiation. His eldest brother had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Kennedy said he was speaking publicly so that other men would see a doctor: "Lads, go get checked!" He made the same appeal to Elaine Crowley on TV3 in April 2017.

The cancer surgery took nine hours, and afterwards he had to learn to walk again. A major heart attack and a quadruple bypass followed within the same decade, and he had to learn to walk again after the bypass too. Songs he wrote during treatment became the 2019 album Recovery. "My fifties were horrendous," he told RTE in January 2026.

Dancing With the Stars, Moonlight and a 20th Album

That RTE interview came during the 2026 series of Dancing with the Stars, in which he was partnered with the professional dancer James Cutler. Given the scars from his operations, he said he had been calling it "Dancing with the Scars".

In 2025 he played Oscar Wilde in Moonlight, a theatre show built around Phil Lynott. He now lives in Dublin.

He turns 60 in October 2026. His 20th album, How Can I Keep From Singing, is due on 16 October 2026, alongside a 30th anniversary vinyl release of A Better Man. He plays Vicar Street in Dublin on 12 November and the Mandela Hall in Belfast on 13 November.

Sources

• The life of Brian | Hotpress
• Brian Kennedy celebrates 25 years in song - The Irish News
• Brian Kennedy at 60: 'I'm still living and loving my life' says west Belfast singer as he marks major milestone with new album and concert - The Irish News
• Brian Kennedy | The Met
• Eurovision Song Contest : The entries from 2006 : ESC-History
• Watch! Reeling in Ireland's Eurovision years
• RTÉ Archives | Entertainment | Brian Kennedy At Eurovision
• Brian Kennedy on growing up as a gay man in Northern Ireland - The Irish Times
• 'Go get checked': Singer Brian Kennedy tells of rectal cancer diagnosis - The Irish Times
• WATCH: Brian Kennedy opens up about his cancer battle and love life
• Brian Kennedy: 'I call it Dancing with the Scars'
• Irish Singer Songwriter | Brian Kennedy