Sonny Knowles (Born Thomas Knowles 2 November 1932 – 15 November 2018) was an Irish singer who performed show band and BBC

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

songs. Knowles was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

to Tommy and Mary Knowles. He was brought up in

The Liberties The Liberties ( or occasionally ) is an area in central Dublin, Ireland, located in the southwest of the inner city. Formed from various areas of special manorial jurisdiction, initially separate from the main city government, it is one of Dub ...

in Dublin and moved permanently to Muckross Park in

Perrystown Perrystown () is a suburb in South Dublin, Ireland. It is in the Dublin 12 postal district and is adjacent to the areas of Crumlin, Dublin, Crumlin, Greenhills, Dublin, Greenhills, Kimmage, Templeogue, Terenure, and Walkinstown. Location and t ...

in south Dublin after his marriage. His early career began when he started playing the

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

at the Dublin Music School. As a young man he joined the Johnny Butler Band followed by Earl Gill's Band, the Pacific Showband and then Dermot O'Brien's showband. His decision to go solo at the peak of the cabaret era, opened up his career. Knowles had two songs in the 1966 Irish National Song Contest scoring no points with both songs and finishing in equal 10th with himself. The two songs were "The Menace from Ennis" and an

Irish Gaelic Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigeno ...

entry "Chuaigh mé suas don chluiche mór" (''I Went Up for the Big Game''). In the Irish final of 1971 he would again score no points with his song ''An fhaid a mhairim''. Knowles twice survived

oesophageal cancer Esophageal cancer (American English) or oesophageal cancer (British English) is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Ot ...

and after his most recent battle, curtailed his lifestyle somewhat but still performed. Knowles died on 15 November 2018 at his home, aged 86.

References

External links

Official record company biography
1932 births 2018 deaths Irish male singers 1950s in Irish music 1960s in Irish music 1970s in Irish music {{Ireland-singer-stub