Brendan Graham (born 12 February 1945) is an Irish songwriter and novelist. Among songs he has written are " Rock 'n' Roll Kids" (1994) and " The Voice" (1996), both of which won the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

for Ireland in their respective years, and "

You Raise Me Up "You Raise Me Up" is a song composed by Rolf Løvland with lyrics by Brendan Graham. It was first recorded by Secret Garden, in collaboration with Brian Kennedy. Although the original version was not a major hit, the song has since been rec ...

" (2002), which was an international hit recorded by various artists, including

Josh Groban Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, ...

Early life

Graham was born in

Nenagh Nenagh ( ; , or simply 'the Fair') is the county town of County Tipperary in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Nenagh used to be a market town, and the site of the East Munster Ormond Fair. Nenagh was the county town of the former county of Nort ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

, Ireland.

Songwriting

Brendan Graham is one of Ireland's most famous lyricists and songwriters. In an article about the song tradition of Ireland, Con Houlihan wrote, "Some of the best poetry being produced in this country today is in the form of song –

Christy Moore Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore (born 7 May 1945) is an Irish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. He was one of the founding members of the bands Planxty and Moving Hearts and has had significant success as a solo artist. His first albu ...

and Brendan Graham and Jimmy McCarthy are touched by genius." In a feature article, the ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' described Graham as a 'Musical Midas in the Mayo Silence.' Graham wrote the lyrics for the 2002 song, "

". Rolf Løvland, who composed the music, was inspired by The Whitest Flower, Graham's first novel. Rolf asked the songwriter/novelist to write lyrics to his melody called Silent Story at the time. "You Raise Me Up" was a huge international hit for Irish boyband

Westlife Westlife are an Irish pop group formed in Dublin in 1998. The group consists of members Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily. Brian McFadden was a member before leaving in March 2004. The group disbanded in 2012 and later reun ...

. It has been covered by different artists almost 400 times. It was a no. 1 U.S. hit on billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart for Josh Groban, remaining at no. 1 for 6 weeks. It also topped the Billboard Christian Chart for the group Selah, leading to it being awarded ‘'Million-Air'’ status by the American Performing Right Society BMI, meaning that it been broadcast over one million times on American radio. Graham wrote four of Ireland's entries in the

, including two winning entries: " Rock 'n' Roll Kids", which won in 1994, and " The Voice", the winner of the 1996 contest. He also wrote the 1976 entry " When", which was sung by Red Hurley, and the 1985 entry "Wait until the weekend comes", performed by Maria Christian. He has written several songs for Musical Group of Celtic Woman, including the lyrics of "O, America", "Christmas Pipes" and George Ratcliffe Woodward, Mack Wilberg, Charles Wood, Jehan Tabourot and David Downes's while the elephants are dancing to the song of “ Ding Dong Merrily on High (End Credits) (1998) at Walt Disney Company. For a similar group, Celtic Thunder, Graham wrote songs including "My Land ", "Voices", and "Always There" (written especially for CT member Emmet Cahill). When the British and American composer Paul Mealor wrote a lullaby for Prince George, son of

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

and

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

, then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Graham was invited to write the lyrics. It is entitled "Sleep On". Graham won the Castlebar Song Contest in 1988 "If I Should Ever Lose Your Love" sung by

Linda Martin Linda Martin (born 27 March 1952) is an Irish singer and television presenter. She is best known as the winner of the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest during which she represented Ireland with the song " Why Me?", the first of a record three c ...

. Graham has worked with a diverse range of artists including

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; New York Metropolitan Opera's Young Ok Shin, Sissel, Musical Group of Celtic Woman, Secret Garden,

Elaine Paige Dame Elaine Jill Paige (born Elaine Jill Bickerstaff, 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Chipping Barnet, Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, m ...

; Australia's

Kate Ceberano Catherine Yvette Ceberano ( or , born 17 November 1966) is an Australian singer and actress who performs in the rock, soul, jazz and pop genres, as well as in film and musicals such as '' Jesus Christ Superstar''. Her single " Bedroom Eyes" re ...

, Brian Kennedy, Eimear Quinn, Katie McMahon, Anuna, Daniel O’Donnell,

Ronan Tynan Ronan Tynan (born 14 May 1960) is an Irish tenor singer and former Paralympic athlete. He was a member of The Irish Tenors re-joining in 2011 while continuing to pursue his solo career since May 2004. In the United States, audiences know him f ...

Katherine Jenkins Katherine Jenkins (born 29 June 1980) is a Welsh singer. She is a mezzo-soprano and performs operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre, and hymns.Russell Watson Russell Watson (born 24 November 1966) is an English crossover/popular singer, almost in the tenor range, who has released singles and albums of both quasi-operatic-style and pop songs. He began singing as a child, and became known after per ...

, The Irish Tenors, Nashville's

Hal Ketchum Hal Michael Ketchum (April 9, 1953 – November 23, 2020) was an American country music singer and songwriter. He released eleven studio albums from 1986 to 2014, including nine for divisions of Curb Records. Ketchum's 1991 album ''Past the Point ...

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and Benita Hill; as well as acclaimed artists within the Scottish and Irish traditions, such as Roisin Elsafty, Fionnuala Gill,

Karen Matheson Karen Matheson OBE (born 11 February 1963) is a Scottish folk singer who frequently sings in Gaelic. She is the lead singer of the group Capercaillie and was a member of Dan Ar Braz's group L'Héritage des Celtes, with whom she often sang l ...

Alyth McCormack Alyth Catriona McCormack (born 1970), also known mononymously as Alyth on some of her releases, is a Scottish singer and songwriter. She was brought up on the Isle of Lewis in the Scottish Outer Hebrides. In 2020 she has collaborated with the A ...

, Seán Keane and

Dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from ) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persi ...

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

Entries in the Eurovision Song Contest

*" When" by Red Hurley, Ireland, (

Eurovision Song Contest 1976 The Eurovision Song Contest 1976 was the 21st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in The Hague, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the with the song "Ding-a-dong" by Teach-In (band), Teach-In. Organised by the Euro ...

), 10th place *" Wait Until the Weekend Comes" by Maria Christian, Ireland, (

Eurovision Song Contest 1985 The Eurovision Song Contest 1985 was the 30th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 4 May 1985 in the in Gothenburg, Sweden. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (SVT), it was presented by Lill Li ...

), 6th place *" Rock 'n' Roll Kids" by Paul Harrington &

Charlie McGettigan Charles Joseph McGettigan (born 7 December 1950, Ballyshannon, County Donegal) is an Irish people, Irish singer. He lived in 2009 in Drumshanbo, County Leitrim. Career Performing with Paul Harrington (musician), Paul Harrington, he won the Eu ...

, Ireland, (

Eurovision Song Contest 1994 The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 was the 39th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 30 April 1994 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RTÉ), and presented ...

), 1st place *" The Voice" by Eimear Quinn, Ireland, (

Eurovision Song Contest 1996 The Eurovision Song Contest 1996 was the 41st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 18 May 1996 at the in Oslo, Norway. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (NRK) and presented by Ingvild Bryn and ...

), 1st place

Novels

Graham has written a best selling series of three novels: ''The Whitest Flower'' (London,

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

, 1998), an Irish No. 2 best seller, ''The Element of Fire'' (

, 2001) and ''The Brightest Day, The Darkest Night'' (

, 2004). ''The Whitest Flower'' is set during Ireland's Great Famine. ''The Element of Fire'' continues the story: now a widow, Ellen Rua O'Malley flees her native land for Boston and the New World: with her are her two surviving children, Patrick and Mary, and the 'silent girl' whom Ellen has found wandering among the hordes of the dispossessed. ''The Brightest Day, The Darkest Night'' continues to track the life of Ellen Rua O'Malley, and is set against the backdrop of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. It explores the themes of forgiveness and longing, and the changing role of women, set free by war from the protection of their men.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Brendan 1945 births Living people Irish male songwriters Eurovision Song Contest-winning songwriters Musicians from County Tipperary Irish male novelists Castlebar Song Contest winners 20th-century Irish songwriters 21st-century Irish songwriters 20th-century Irish novelists 21st-century Irish novelists 1970s in Irish music 1980s in Irish music 1990s in Irish music 2000s in Irish music 2010s in Irish music 2020s in Irish music