Declan Galbraith
Declan Galbraith’s biography
The story of an young man with an extraordinary voice….
Declan Galbraith, 17, and his family live in England, in the small town of Hoo, near Rochester, Kent. His father, Alec, is of Scottish descent, while his mother Siobhan comes from a large Irish family. She is a twin and one of 14 children in her family. Declan’s grandfather whom he affectionately called ‘Poppy Ben’ sang in a band and played several instruments and often took Declan along to the ‘Fleadhs’ (concerts) he was playing in.
“I would sit there for hours watching Poppy Ben and the musicians, and listening to their music”, says Declan. The explosive mix of Scottish and Irish musical traditions inspired Declan and became his early musical influence. He remembers himself already singing at the age of two. He adds, “These are some of my very first memories in life – always singing.” His talent was publicly acknowledged for the first time when at just 7 years old he insisted on performing spontaneously at the annual Rochester Dickens Festival, a two-day extravaganza where people were invited to dress up in Victorian costumes to celebrate the life and times of the famous author Charles Dickens and his links with their town. Little Declan, dressed up as a chimney sweep, started singing and the crowd went wild. Soon after this he started to enter local talent contests and within a year he had won 15 titles and more than £1,000.00. He wisely put most of it into a savings account, but he did spend some of it on computer games, a basketball and a brand new football.
As a result of his success in the talent shows, the major recording companies soon heard about Declan and he was signed to his first recording contract in England on EMI Records. His first recording was ‘Walking in the Air’, which was released on a special Christmas Hits album, also featuring Westlife, Elton John and Elvis Presley. Declan loves to sing to live audiences and among some of his most memorable performances are, the Queen’s Jubilee at St Paul’s Cathedral, when he sang ‘Amazing Grace’ accompanied by the St Paul’s Choir and an unforgettable experience when singing in front of more than 22,000 people at an Elton John concert.
His first album with Irish traditional songs and some specially written material became a big success and charted in the U.K. and Ireland. Another big success came during a nationwide tour of Young Voices concerts when breaking the Guinness World Record. It was at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast in December 2002 when he sang live with some 10,000 children and was also simultaneously linked, by radio and satellite, with more than 80,000 children in their schools all over the UK, who accompanied him in achieving the world’s largest choral sing.
Declan’s extraordinary talent and reputation came to the attention of media mogul Haim Saban and his music President, Ron Kenan, who signed Declan to Saban Music Group’s new record label. They chose Germany to be the very first territory in the world to launch their first produced album, via the Starwatch Music and Warner Music Germany.
In this album entitled “Thank You”, Declan has interpreted an impressive list of great songs such “Tears in Heaven”, “Love of my Life”, “Nights In White Satin” and the European hit “An Angel”. “This album is a collection of some of my favorite classic songs. My greatest thanks go to the amazing songwriters who were responsible for these wonderful works of art and to the original artists who provided their everlasting stamp. I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity of presenting my own personal interpretation.”
Immediately after its release in Germany, the “Thank You” album shot up the charts and was soon certified Gold! The phenomenal success has lead to numerous television appearances, magazine features and tours.
The time has come for the rest of the world to discover Declan’s “Thank You” album, being released on his 16th birthday, December 19th, 2007.
Declan adds, “My greatest wish is simply to make music that people enjoy.”
Anyone who has enjoyed the whole 2nd album will totally agree that all those songs are famous ones, having been performed by well-known bands and singers in the world.
His very 1st album was released in 2002, it’s a collection of the popular songs sang by many Celtic trend’s singers such as “Carrickfergus”, “Amazing grace”, “Angels”….along with other noted ones like “Imagine” (John Lennon), “I’ll Be There” (Mariah Carey)… It’s really telling for such a little singer at the age of 11!
Listening to all 14 songs in this album, you will catch a very pure, gifted voice. He sang these songs totally different from the previous artists. That’s the combination of the immeasurable height, the friendliness and gentleness in voice with no intention of expressing technical skills.
The last song in album “Declan” is a very lovely one, perfectly suitable for his voice.
“Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (Declan’s Prayer)”, based on a children-loving song “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. If you are holding the selection of works “100 Sing-Along Favorites For Kids”, you’ll be astonished comparing his voice and other kids, ‘coz of his amazing voice: velvety, warm and really emotive. This song has a very impressive way of recording. Pleasing sounds from the music box when winding up the spring are the beginning of “Declan’s prayers”.
“Thank you”- Declan’s 2nd album, released in 2006, is considered his gratitude and also a gift to all the fans after for years since the 1st album. All 15 songs in this album are covered ones from noted bands and singers. His voice this time was quite different in comparison with that in the past.
“An angel” of The Kelly family is the 1st song in this album. The female voice in The Kelly family is surely familiar with everyone, and Declan’s version- in the “angelic voice” will inspire the auditors no less than what the original one did. This is totally understandable ‘coz the transformation of the age makes his voice quite special, sometimes listeners mistake for a female voice. That makes his voice prominent!
Certainly, every rock fan knows ’bout famous Queen and Freddie Mercury. Queen’s songs are immortal ones. Declan says that what he wants is to make music of his own, but first and for most is to sing the songs that everybody loves. And “Love of my life” is a symbolic example for his point of view. Maybe Queen’s fans will be dissatisfied if any other artist is unsuccessful covering their idol’s songs. I am a Queen’s fan, and it’s really surprised listening to “Love of my life” in pop ballad style. He came through this song in a far different way from Freddie Mercury’s.
His very 1st album, “Declan” was released in 2002.
Love of my life, you’ve hurt me / You’ve broken my heart and now you leave me / Love of my life, can’t you see / Bring it back, bring it back / Don’t take it away from me / Because you don’t know what it means to me
Besides, Declan covers Nights In White Satin” (The Moody Blues), “Tears In Heaven” (Eric Clapton), “Bright Eyes” (Art Garfunfel), “House Of The Rising Sun” (Bod Dylan), “Saved By The Bell” (The Bee Gees), “David’s Song (Who’ll Come With Me)” (The Kelly Family), “All Out Of Love” (Air Supply), “How Could An Angel Break My Heart?” (Toni Braxton), “Vincent (Starry Satrry Night)” (Julio Iglesias)…
Declan’s 2nd album appeared on December, 1st, 2006.
His 3rd album was released on November, 23rd, 2007.
We – V.F.O.D are here to show you his fantastic voice! 😀
Just enjoy and have your own impressions and feelings! 🙂
V.F.O.D 