Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy (born 12 October 1966) is a singer, songwriter, and author from Northern Ireland. He had 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 with his song "Every Song is a Cry for Love" and finished in 10th place, with his performance notably marking the 1,000th song to be performed in Eurovision history.
Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy was born in Belfast on 12 October 1966, the son of Lily and Jim Kennedy. His older brother, Martin Christopher "Bap" Kennedy (1962–2016), was also a musician. The brothers grew up on Falls Road. As a child, Kennedy suffered from Osgood–Schlatter disease in both legs. He has described witnessing the violence of the Troubles while growing up, such as seeing a young man being chased and shot dead by a British soldier a few feet away from him. He would often harmonise with the sirens of police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks.
Kennedy made his debut in 1988 as a chorus on the recordings of fellow Northern Ireland singer-songwriter Van Morrison, going on to appear as a backing singer 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, Kennedy also scored a minor UK hit album of his own with The Great War of Words (1990). This album features 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 features 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, 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, Kennedy 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. Kennedy's 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 Eurovision Song Contest 2006 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 1,000th song performed in Eurovision history. Following qualification, he 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 his song "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, Kennedy started presenting a weekly programme on radio station Tipp FM.
He revealed in 2016 that he had been diagnosed with rectal cancer.
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)
The Arrival of Fergal Flynn (Hodder, 2004), a novel
Roman Song (Hodder, 2005), a novel
The Brighter Life of Brian The Age
Brian Kennedy Live in the Ardhowen Theatre, Enniskillen.