Daniel O'Donnell is the UK chart's most prolific and one of the most successful recording artists. In 2020, he broke his own world record by becoming the first recording artist to chart at least one new album every year in the Artist Albums Chart for 33 consecutive years.
During his career, in the UK, Daniel has amassed forty-six top 75 albums, including eighteen top 10 albums, with sixteen of them this century, a feat not achieved by any other recording artist.
To celebrate his 60th Birthday, Daniel returned to the studio with legendary producer Nigel Wright, who has co-produced, the recordings of many of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals, including the film versions of 'Evita' - starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas - and 'The Phantom of the Opera', along with many Artist albums and TV music shows.
We caught up with Daniel to find out how he feels about hitting 60.
"It’s great to be turning 60 – in fact I welcome it. I’m delighted to still be here! My dad died when he was only 49. I’m always being asked if I mind about the big birthday but the alternative is so much worse. Either you get older or you’re not here. I prefer the former option and I love life!"
So, how does Daniel plan on celebrating the big 60?
"I’ll probably celebrate my 60th by doing a few small things or maybe my wife Majella and I will go away for a few days. Whatever we do, it will probably be quite quiet."
Daniel's music and fans
Daniel is known for his close relationship with his fanbase, which he attributes to their loyalty over his career.
"There are some who have followed me for 35 years! I’m very respectful of them. I love having a meet-and-greet with them when I’m touring, I genuinely do. Without the people who follow me I would not have this life. They say that when you’re doing a job that you love, you never work a day in your life. Well, that is certainly the case with me – I feel like I have never worked since I became an entertainer. "
Daniel's music has been described as a mix of country and Irish folk, but his own music taste is much broader.
"I love all kinds of music, ballads, country music, rock ’n’ roll. I like some modern music, too but don’t tend to record more contemporary songs because I just don’t feel that my voice is suited to them. I just wouldn’t feel comfortable. I made an exception with Ed Sheeran and recorded his song Perfect. It’s the first really new song I’ve recorded but is such a classic, it could have been written at any time."
Is Daniel O'Donnell married?
Daniel married his wife Majella in 2002. Despite a temporary break up in 2000, the pair have now been married for 18 years.
"Majella and I have worked together in the past. She’s appeared with me on stage but while she loves to sing, she has no ambition to pursue a singing career. We’ve done a bit of television work together, we did a road trip around Ireland, stopping in B&Bs, which was filmed and great fun. We also did a similar thing travelling around the US. Hopefully we’ll get to do some more at some point. Majella doesn’t come with me when I tour, she says it would be like coming to the office with me every day!"
Is Daniel on social media?
Daniel has a website and Facebook site but has admitted he's not a huge fan of social media.
"I don't like social media. Every time I went on it during the lockdowns to keep in contact with my fans, something seemed to go wrong. It was off when I thought it was on and vice-versa! I don’t like the negative aspects of social media, either. Some people just seem to go on it in order to be negative about other people and see what reaction they get – that’s horrible! At first, I thought people only went on it to be nice but then I realised this wasn’t the case at all."
Daniel O’Donnell ‘60’ is out now:
Daniel's latest release '60', includes his own upbeat versions of 'Let Your Love Flow', 'I'll Never Find Another You', 'Happy to Be On an Island in the Sun' and 'Somethin' Stupid', a duet with his wife Majella.