Brian Kennedy

Belfast-born Northern Irish singer/songwriter Brian Kennedy came to prominence as a member of fellow Belfast man Van Morrison's touring band, using the springboard for a solo career that would win him admirers as varied as Bill Clinton, Bob Dylan, and Ray Charles.

Like Van Morrison, Kennedy's influences have varied widely, from the singer/songwriters of the '70s, including Joni Mitchell and Morrison himself, to the traditional Celtic balladry for which he has become renowned.

He has represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest, sung specially written songs by Grammy winner Bill Whelan as part of the Riverdance tour, and performed at the funeral of Northern Irish sporting hero George Best, an event that united both sides of the nationalist conflict in the country in which he was raised.\r Brian Kennedy was born in Belfast in 1966 and grew up on the notorious Falls Road, in the midst of the inter-religious conflict that gripped the country during his childhood.