:00:14. > :00:20.I've come to Dublin, capital of Ireland and city of a thousand
:00:20. > :00:30.welcomes - I've come to meet one of Ireland's famous favourite sons. He
:00:30. > :00:30.
:00:30. > :00:35.used to work here in the historic Central Hotel. He's the housewive's
:00:35. > :00:39.favourite. He's King of middle of the road. He's son ten million
:00:39. > :00:49.albums and has a fanatical fan base. And Daniel had the whole package.
:00:49. > :00:53.He really had it, and if you bottled it, you'd make a fortune.
:00:53. > :00:57.# Welcome to my world # Won't you come on in #
:00:57. > :01:03.Daniel O'Donnell is the man with the winning smile, the smooth voice
:01:03. > :01:08.and the squeaky clean image. like our stars to be dirty rock 'n'
:01:08. > :01:13.roll guys in are outrageous, doing outrageous things that we can write
:01:13. > :01:18.about. Daniel was none of that. This is where he once worked - here
:01:18. > :01:28.in the very kitchens of this hotel, washing dishes for a living and
:01:28. > :01:28.
:01:28. > :01:34.dreaming of what might be. # Standing centre stage for all of
:01:34. > :01:39.Even though he's had enormous success, he's never forgotten that
:01:39. > :01:49.he is a Donegal boy at heart. # This is my homeland
:01:49. > :01:51.
:01:51. > :01:56.# No matter where I go, it's in my soul #
:01:56. > :02:00.To those who don't know him, he seems too good to be true.
:02:00. > :02:05.thought he would be quiet, he would be boring, so I was really
:02:05. > :02:10.surprised, you know, at the sense of humour that he had. Do you sit
:02:11. > :02:15.there in your Andes scratching and trumping? If something needs
:02:15. > :02:19.scratching, ideal scratch it, yeah. The irony is, any of these women
:02:19. > :02:22.would scratch it for you! APPLAUSE
:02:22. > :02:28.This year, he's celebrating 30 years in show business, but there
:02:28. > :02:36.was a moment when he thought his career could be over.
:02:36. > :02:41.Christmastime, 1991, my voice just went. (Snaps fingers) So it was
:02:41. > :02:46.just - I had to stop. His Catholic faith was always a guiding force -
:02:46. > :02:49.so much so that he nearly lost the love of his life. Daniel said to me
:02:49. > :02:59.he didn't think he could carry on with the relationship, the fact I
:02:59. > :03:00.
:03:00. > :03:04.was divorced, had children, his I want to ask him about his fortune,
:03:04. > :03:14.his fans and his faith which has held him in such good stead through
:03:14. > :03:23.
:03:23. > :03:27.# Stand beside me # For if I lose you
:03:27. > :03:34.# I just couldn't get anywhere # Stand beside me #
:03:34. > :03:39.Daniel is adored by millions of fans. Their loyalty has been key to
:03:39. > :03:44.his success. His music and his easy manner appeal to a more mature
:03:45. > :03:49.female audience. What descriptions have you had about your... You know,
:03:49. > :03:54.the toothless brigade or - what do they call them? The grey-haired
:03:55. > :04:01.brigade, whatever kind of different - grab a granny - you know that
:04:01. > :04:07.kind of thing, but they laugh at it too, you know, the people who go to
:04:07. > :04:13.the - or menopausal is another one, yeah. But anyway... Well, that's me
:04:13. > :04:20.described! That's the whole thing. # Driving in a black limousine
:04:20. > :04:25.# A lot of sad people thinking that's mighty keen
:04:25. > :04:28.# You exactly what I mean # Thank God I am a country boy
:04:28. > :04:32.# Sun is coming up # Cakes on the griddle
:04:32. > :04:36.# Life ain't nothing but a funny, funny fiddle #
:04:36. > :04:41.He really pleases his fans and goes the extra mile from an
:04:41. > :04:45.entertainer's point of view, I have never, ever seen an entertainer who
:04:45. > :04:50.is happy to stay there as long as there are people queuing up to have
:04:50. > :04:54.something signed. Whether that works or not, -- a ploy or not, I
:04:54. > :04:59.don't know, but it works. He loves his fans. He's so delightful to
:04:59. > :05:02.them. He'll talk all day. Probably that is part of his Irish
:05:02. > :05:05.upbringing. Ladies and gentlemen, without your presence tonight, this
:05:05. > :05:11.would have been nothing. Thank you for making us feel so welcome.
:05:11. > :05:16.Thank you. Well, the people who follow Daniel absolutely love him
:05:16. > :05:20.because he is a very personable guy, and he has this amazing facility
:05:20. > :05:26.for remembering people's names. He would actually refer to them by
:05:26. > :05:34.their first name, having met them just once. Daniel, nice to see you.
:05:34. > :05:39.How are you doing? I started out with small crowds,
:05:39. > :05:42.and I did this, you know, because I enjoy talking to people. I enjoy
:05:42. > :05:47.interacting with people. In the beginning, you know, when I started
:05:47. > :05:52.out, the audiences were very small. As the audiences grew, the time I
:05:52. > :05:57.was able to spend or I'm able to spend with each individual, you
:05:57. > :06:01.know, decreased, but it still gives me something. I still get a feel
:06:01. > :06:11.for the person who has been there. I always say that if you go
:06:11. > :06:15.
:06:15. > :06:19.somewhere and meet nobody, you On the north-west coast of Ireland
:06:19. > :06:27.in County Donegal, Daniel O'Donnell was born in 1961. He was the
:06:27. > :06:36.youngest of five children. I was ten when Daniel was born. I will
:06:36. > :06:42.never forget my father bringing John and Kathleen and James and
:06:42. > :06:48.myself to Dungloe Hospital where Daniel was born, and my father was
:06:48. > :06:53.so proud. He was so emotional, and I suppose Daniel was special to all
:06:53. > :06:59.of us. He was the apple of my eye. You know, I used to nurse him all
:06:59. > :07:03.the time and play with him, and it was - it was wonderful. Let's go
:07:03. > :07:07.back to the young Daniel in your childhood and describe the home and
:07:07. > :07:11.the village that you lived in. I was born and brought up in a
:07:11. > :07:16.small, wee village called Kincasslagh on the Atlantic Ocean,
:07:16. > :07:26.so we were - I suppose it's a very exposed, rugged, rugged part of the
:07:26. > :07:26.
:07:26. > :07:36.coastline. I - I think that the one thing that I remember is endless
:07:36. > :07:40.
:07:40. > :07:43.freedom, no danger. The doors were Even as a young boy, Daniel loved a
:07:43. > :07:51.good old chat. Daniel knew everybody, and everybody knew
:07:51. > :07:55.Daniel, you know. He loved talking, you know, to older people, and he
:07:55. > :07:59.loved gossip. You described yourself as a newspaper on legs.
:07:59. > :08:04.know! I would just be from house to house, and anything was going on, I
:08:05. > :08:08.had it on the tip of my tongue, so I was like a newspaper on legs. I
:08:08. > :08:17.could - I had everything that happened there, told there before
:08:17. > :08:22.it even reached anywhere else. There were few jobs to be had in
:08:22. > :08:27.their village, so Daniel's father, like many fellow countrymen, was
:08:27. > :08:33.forced to find work elsewhere. People went to work in Scotland,
:08:33. > :08:43.and they would work on farms. They would dig Frenchs or put fencing up
:08:43. > :08:46.
:08:46. > :08:51.or work for the farmers. They went and did tatty hokeing they called
:08:52. > :08:56.it, picking. Dad was working all the time in Scotland and sending
:08:56. > :09:01.money home. We were like everybody else in you'rery Donegal. Nobody
:09:01. > :09:06.had anymore than anybody else. # When I am down
:09:06. > :09:14.# And so, so weary # As a young boy, what part did music
:09:14. > :09:20.and God play in your life? At first, singing - the first singing I
:09:20. > :09:23.suppose I got to do was hymns. A lot of singers would say that
:09:23. > :09:28.especially in country music in America, so the two went kind of
:09:28. > :09:34.hand in hand. And your religious faith was just there, was with you.
:09:34. > :09:40.You just grew alongside it? It didn't hit you... No. As a
:09:40. > :09:45.revelation? I was born into the Catholic faith, and growing up, it
:09:45. > :09:51.was - you wouldn't just question anything about it because we were
:09:51. > :09:55.in a small community. You sort of followed one another, so everybody
:09:55. > :10:01.went to mass, and if you would even think about not going, somebody
:10:01. > :10:04.would probably see you and say you weren't there, so you just went.
:10:04. > :10:08.The Catholic Church was an important part of their community
:10:08. > :10:13.and gave Daniel a sense of belonging, something that was very
:10:13. > :10:20.important to him when tragedy struck the family in 1968. His
:10:20. > :10:25.father, Francis, had a heart attack, aged just 49. Your father died
:10:25. > :10:29.quite young, didn't he? Yes. I was six-and-a-half when my father died.
:10:29. > :10:33.I suppose I remember more about his death than I do about his life. We
:10:33. > :10:37.had the wake in the house, so I can remember going into the room and
:10:38. > :10:44.seeing him lying in the coffin and looking in, you know, trying to see
:10:44. > :10:48.over. Did it scare you? No. I can't remember having a - you know, scary
:10:48. > :10:53.feeling. Maybe we were used to it. I don't know, because every house
:10:53. > :10:58.had wakes, and children would go in and out. It wasn't like children
:10:58. > :11:03.wouldn't see this. Death was the next part of life, you know? That's
:11:03. > :11:08.something we've lost now, isn't it? Well, we still have it, so I
:11:08. > :11:12.suppose it's a healthy thing. did it affect you? Your elder
:11:12. > :11:22.brothers and sisters obviously had and have memories of him. Did you
:11:22. > :11:23.
:11:23. > :11:28.feel that you sort of missed out? don't think that at any - it had
:11:28. > :11:33.any affect on me. Because I was six, I don't think there was a trauma or
:11:33. > :11:36.a traumatic effect like the others had, because they knew him better.
:11:36. > :11:43.I was obviously distraught because the others were, so I was kind of
:11:43. > :11:49.following. Your mother sounds wonderful. She's still alive, 93,
:11:49. > :11:54.became mother and father to you. think maybe for a period after my
:11:54. > :12:00.father died, she was quite distraught, and during the time of
:12:00. > :12:05.the wake, she was merely not able to function, but long after - maybe
:12:05. > :12:10.about six months, I think - she really gathered herself, and then
:12:10. > :12:15.it was, you know, the survival of the fittest then, so she went on,
:12:15. > :12:23.and that's when she really came into her own, and I never could say
:12:23. > :12:26.that I wanted for anything. His mum Julia was now a widow with five
:12:26. > :12:31.children to bring up. Life could have been pretty tough, but singing
:12:31. > :12:38.talent ran in the family, and Daniel's older sister Margaret had
:12:38. > :12:48.become a successful country singer. # His name I will not mention
:12:48. > :12:53.# In old Ireland he was born # I had recorded a song called The
:12:53. > :13:03.Bonny Irish Boy. When it was released, it got a lot of airplay
:13:03. > :13:04.
:13:04. > :13:12.and became sort of a bubbling-under hit. And then I was approached by a
:13:12. > :13:17.Dublin promoter. I was offered �100 a week in 1968, a car on the road
:13:17. > :13:27.and a driver. I was sort of the breadwinner, and I was able to take
:13:27. > :13:30.
:13:30. > :13:36.care of the family. Margaret or Margo, as she's known in the music
:13:36. > :13:42.business, had been singing as long as I could remember. This was your
:13:42. > :13:48.big sister. My older sister. I don't remember her not singing, so
:13:48. > :13:51.because of that, music was always in our house. She was huge in
:13:51. > :14:01.Ireland, and he would have had that background of country music and
:14:01. > :14:03.
:14:03. > :14:06.just loved it. It was what made him feel good I suppose. We were all
:14:06. > :14:12.listening to Kung Foo Fighting in the '70s or whatever. Daniel was
:14:12. > :14:18.listening to the country. That's what did it for him, if you like.
:14:18. > :14:21.# Everybody was Kung Foo Fighting # I can remember sitting in the
:14:21. > :14:25.science class singing before the teacher came in. What would you
:14:25. > :14:29.sing? Oh, whatever. It wasn't the music of the day because I was more
:14:29. > :14:33.into the country and the Irish, but the girls used to listen and get me
:14:33. > :14:37.to sing, and sure, I was always happy to chime away. So were you
:14:37. > :14:41.more popular then with the groups of the girls than with the boys?
:14:41. > :14:44.yes, definitely. Nothing's changed. Well -
:14:44. > :14:54.LAUGHTER Some of the girls are older now
:14:54. > :14:56.
:14:56. > :15:03.that I'm popular, but - After finishing secondary school
:15:03. > :15:08.Daniel took a summer job in Dublin and the hotel kitchens became his
:15:08. > :15:12.Main Stage. We went to the Central Hotel today to see where you were
:15:12. > :15:17.when you were washing up. Oh, my goodness. When were you there?
:15:17. > :15:23.was from in 1980. I had finished school in Donegal and my brother
:15:23. > :15:30.was the head chef. I probably wouldn't even have got the job.
:15:30. > :15:34.People think washing dishs would be an awful job, but it was a really
:15:34. > :15:39.good summer in my life. I suppose maybe it was the first time that I
:15:39. > :15:43.had spent any time away from home. I lived with my brother, so he was
:15:43. > :15:46.here, him and his wife and their family, so a great time. Some
:15:46. > :15:50.people say they have a certainty that they knew something big and
:15:50. > :15:55.important was going to happen in their lives did. You have that
:15:55. > :15:59.feeling? I don't know that I had a feeling that you know, I'm going to
:15:59. > :16:04.do something amazing. I didn't even know I would be a singer. I had
:16:04. > :16:09.that thought in the back of my mind, but maybe the clever part of me
:16:09. > :16:13.thought I should go to college. Daniel went off to do a course in
:16:13. > :16:20.business studies, but he realised it wasn't for him and he confided
:16:20. > :16:27.in his sister. He looked at me and he said, "Margaret, I'm not going
:16:28. > :16:33.back to college after Christmas." I said, "Why in" he says, "I want to
:16:33. > :16:38.sing." Soy says, "How about you go home and we'll talk about it
:16:38. > :16:42.again?" But he sent me a Christmas card that year and he wrote on the
:16:42. > :16:49.Christmas card, "Don't forget what I said to you in Galloway. I want
:16:49. > :16:56.to sing" and underlined he had the word no. I talked with my mam. She
:16:56. > :17:03.said, "Have you a place in the band for him? I said, "No, he can't play
:17:03. > :17:08.anything. # Oh Donegal I miss you
:17:08. > :17:13.# And I will never understand # Margo agreed to give him a place in
:17:13. > :17:19.the band. But there was a small draw-back. I was supposed to play
:17:19. > :17:23.the guitar but I couldn't play. He a guitar. I strummed away, two or
:17:23. > :17:29.three keys, irrespective of what key the song was in. I thought if I
:17:29. > :17:33.learn the guitar, I might never get out front. That was the thought.
:17:33. > :17:39.it would hold you back? Yes. I didn't just want to be in a band. I
:17:39. > :17:45.wanted to be out front. Did your sister let you go out front?
:17:45. > :17:48.did. I would sing maybe four or five songs a night. But not enough
:17:48. > :17:54.for you? At that period enough. I suppose it was a good period,
:17:54. > :17:57.because it allowed me, it was kind of like an apprenticeship. I was
:17:57. > :18:02.able to observe the music business and see pretty much immediately
:18:02. > :18:09.that there was nothing about it that I needed to be involved in
:18:09. > :18:14.that I wouldn't enjoy. After a couple of years of touring with his
:18:14. > :18:22.sister Daniel felt ready to step out into the spotlight on his own.
:18:22. > :18:32.# Oh I know it's not right reminiscing tonight #
:18:32. > :18:32.
:18:32. > :18:42.My first record I made in 1983. It was a song called My Donegal Shore
:18:42. > :18:42.
:18:42. > :18:52.on one side and Stand Beside Me on the other. It was �600 to record
:18:52. > :18:53.
:18:53. > :18:58.and �600 to get 1,000 45 records, as it was. Did you have them in
:18:58. > :19:04.your bag and go around selling them yourself? I did. I sold them for
:19:04. > :19:10.�1.50. So you recouped the money. recouped the money, yes. I always
:19:10. > :19:17.said if you were a friend I got it for, they got it for �1. But I sold
:19:17. > :19:23.it anywhere I could. We used to go to Knock. I don't know if you are
:19:23. > :19:29.farm with Knock. It's a Catholic shrine with Our Lady appeared many
:19:29. > :19:34.years ago. We used to make up a bus. I went and sold them. I sang
:19:34. > :19:40.through the mic on the bus. I had my record with me in 1983 and I
:19:40. > :19:44.sold them to everybody. I suppose that was the beginning. Daniel's
:19:44. > :19:49.dream of becoming a singer was now on track and along with a few
:19:49. > :19:53.friends he formed his own band. those days show bands were the big
:19:53. > :19:58.thing in Ireland. They were massive. People don't realise that they
:19:58. > :20:03.would play in halls that had 2,000 people dancing away. And Daniel
:20:03. > :20:06.would have grown up with his sister, Margo, in that framework. It was
:20:06. > :20:11.all show bands and big success, so a lot of people within the
:20:12. > :20:18.framework of Ireland were very successful this those days.
:20:18. > :20:23.first band was called Country Fever. It was four local fellas involved
:20:23. > :20:28.in it with himself. It was all Country and Irish. It was something
:20:28. > :20:35.I suppose Daniel was into himself. He had been singing Country and
:20:35. > :20:40.Irish songs from an early age, so something that he wanted to do.
:20:40. > :20:45.Although the Irish dance hall scene was popular, Daniel and his band
:20:45. > :20:51.were struggling. Most of the places we went then you would just get a
:20:51. > :20:57.very small fee or occasionally you would get the door. That wasn't
:20:57. > :21:04.literally the door off the hinges. Whichever was taken on the door you
:21:04. > :21:09.would get it and the place would get the bar money. They didn't get
:21:09. > :21:15.much bar money when we were there. The crowds were very small. Over a
:21:16. > :21:21.period of 18 months, they toured from Donegal to Dublin, and fluid
:21:21. > :21:29.ex-pat audiences in Irish clubs over in the UK. But success eluded
:21:29. > :21:39.them. In 1985, 1986, on New Year's Eve, a terrific night for dances,
:21:39. > :21:44.we were doing a dance in Cavan town in a hotel called the Farnham Arms
:21:44. > :21:48.and we got 32 people on a New Year's Eve. I thought we couldn't
:21:48. > :21:52.continue, as there was nothing working. I had no money. My friends
:21:52. > :21:56.were being established in careers, that I went to school with, and
:21:56. > :22:06.here was I with literally no money and no sign of anything getting
:22:06. > :22:08.
:22:08. > :22:11.better. Daniel realise realised if he was to be successful he would
:22:11. > :22:15.need help. Numerous managers told him they weren't interested in
:22:15. > :22:19.taking him on, that he wouldn't last six months. He still believed.
:22:19. > :22:23.He it won't the various record labels. They all turned him down.
:22:23. > :22:26.Eventually he did find a manager and a record company, but they made
:22:26. > :22:32.him take some difficult decisions. I'm interested in you having to say
:22:32. > :22:37.goodbye to some of the band members. Yes, some of them... That was tough.
:22:37. > :22:42.Yes it was tough, but I suppose maybe that's where that
:22:42. > :22:51.determination was in me. Even though I'm very, I'm a very calm
:22:51. > :22:55.individual. I'm not a pushy person. Yet I had this determination and
:22:55. > :23:03.drive. I almost look back and wonder did I have it? But I must
:23:03. > :23:07.have had it. # I close my eyes and picture the
:23:07. > :23:13.emerald of the sea # With a new band behind him, things
:23:13. > :23:18.began to take off, and soon he was packing them in. He stuck to his
:23:18. > :23:25.guns, he didn't change his image, didn't change his material, and he
:23:25. > :23:31.became successful. # The river Shannon and the folks...
:23:31. > :23:36.I think he owes an awful lot of his success to the way the English and
:23:36. > :23:40.the Scots and of course the Irish over there, the emigrants who were
:23:40. > :23:44.away, took him into their hearts. They really did. And then I always
:23:44. > :23:52.say if you make it away from home and you come back, you know they
:23:52. > :23:58.are nosey. A lot of people went out of knowsiness and were absolutely
:23:58. > :24:00.bombed. # They have going to put me in the
:24:00. > :24:05.movies # They are going to make a big star
:24:05. > :24:11.out of me. # Daniel's popularity grew. He became
:24:11. > :24:19.Ireland's favourite Country artist. He won awards and had TV
:24:19. > :24:24.appearances in the UK. # No that I've found you
:24:24. > :24:33.# I will be counting on you # But he was about too pay the price
:24:33. > :24:37.of his success. He was working day and night. He had no life out of
:24:37. > :24:42.show business. He lived out of a suitcase. It was from the car to
:24:42. > :24:46.the hotel, to the venue and back to the hotel. He didn't have any other
:24:46. > :24:53.existence outside of it. He loved it, but he was not realising what
:24:53. > :24:58.he was doing. He was on burnout. you've given so much of yourself
:24:58. > :25:05.over those last few years of the '80s, not just on stage but to your
:25:05. > :25:11.fans. And then in 1991 you have talked quite candidly about a big...
:25:11. > :25:18.Well, like a meltdown really that you had. You just hit a wall.
:25:18. > :25:22.Everything I was asked to do I did it, if it, if somebody asked me to
:25:22. > :25:27.come and open an envelope I would have gone and opened it for them. I
:25:27. > :25:34.opened places and I closed places. Whatever, if it was something in
:25:34. > :25:39.the morning and in the afternoon and sing at night. No matter who
:25:39. > :25:44.you are, if you continually do, do, do, something, you cannot keep
:25:45. > :25:48.going. I didn't know. Was it a kind of illness, do you think? Was it a
:25:48. > :25:57.kind of depression? Was it just exhaustion? I don't think it was a
:25:57. > :26:06.depression. I think it was just exhaustion. Something guiding you
:26:06. > :26:16.saying, "Stop!" and then I realised then, and I'm still learning this
:26:16. > :26:17.
:26:17. > :26:26.word "no". 20 years plus later. The reason that I did it is I thought I
:26:26. > :26:32.owed it, because I was so lucky to have the success. That I owed it to
:26:33. > :26:41.do these things for people. You need to realise that if you are
:26:41. > :26:45.nothing to yourself, you can't be anything to anybody else. Daniel
:26:46. > :26:51.lost his voice and was forced to cancel concerts. He feared his
:26:51. > :26:57.career may be over. He didn't just seek medical help. He also turned
:26:57. > :27:04.to his faith. I remember saying, "Well, God, obviously whatever this
:27:04. > :27:09.is, if I am meant to sing, let me sing" and I said, "If I'm not meant
:27:09. > :27:15.to sing, let me do whatever this thing is that I'm supposed to do."
:27:15. > :27:22.You dabbled in a bit of spiritual help and healing. I think it was a
:27:22. > :27:25.nun who wrote to you and said you must go and see Father... Father
:27:25. > :27:29.Rookie. Father Rookie was a charismatic priest who in his
:27:29. > :27:33.services people would fall to the ground when he touched them.
:27:33. > :27:39.heard Father Rookie on the radio here. I thought, I would love to go
:27:39. > :27:46.and see that person. I eventually got to, we went to England. He was
:27:46. > :27:51.having a service there. I went and got a blessing. And yes I did, they
:27:51. > :27:55.call it falling in the spirit. you fell, what do you feel? It is
:27:55. > :28:01.like you can't stay up. It was like somebody knocked you down, but
:28:01. > :28:06.nobody did knock you down. You kind of lose... It is not like fainting
:28:06. > :28:13.but you kind of lose your... Strength. You are not just sure. It
:28:13. > :28:17.is not a minute, I don't think. It is only... In my case I don't know
:28:17. > :28:27.how long it is. I got a blessing from Father Rookie and that was
:28:27. > :28:29.
:28:29. > :28:39.that day. Slowly Daniel's health began to improve and then one day
:28:39. > :28:49.he awoke and felt that something had changed. I stepped out of the
:28:49. > :28:49.
:28:49. > :28:57.bed and this thought entered my head, "I feel better today." Now, I
:28:57. > :29:03.don't mean physically better. I felt more, I felt lighter, and that
:29:03. > :29:09.was the beginning of my recovery. I can't tell you what that is, what
:29:09. > :29:17.it was, was it Father Rookie? Was it me? Was it God? It was a
:29:17. > :29:27.combination of all these things that brought me to feel better that
:29:27. > :29:37.
:29:37. > :29:41.# In His light # You'll never walk alone
:29:41. > :29:45.# Always feel at home # Wherever you may roam #
:29:45. > :29:52.This experience was to have an enduring effect on Daniel's life
:29:52. > :29:57.and particularly on his pre- performance routine. The nun who
:29:57. > :30:01.put you in touch with Father Rookie also sent you a prayer which you
:30:01. > :30:06.use now before each show? You know, it's a miracle prayer. It's
:30:06. > :30:11.actually Father Rookie's prayer. it? And I just started to - I say
:30:11. > :30:17.it every day, and then the day I am doing a show, I say it just before
:30:17. > :30:25.the show, and people will say, "Why do you do that? But I just do. I
:30:26. > :30:31.feel it just helps me, you know? # I can see clearly now the rain is
:30:31. > :30:36.gone # It was in 1992 after a three-month
:30:36. > :30:40.break that Daniel felt ready to sing again. He staged his come-back
:30:40. > :30:44.concert at one of the largest venues in Ireland, the Point
:30:44. > :30:50.Theatre in Dublin. It's a venue where all the major artists have
:30:50. > :30:56.performed before him, everyone from AC/DC to James Brown to Cliff
:30:56. > :31:03.Richard to Rod Stewart - they all played The Point, so this was a
:31:03. > :31:08.huge comeback for Daniel. He was very, very nervous. He really was.
:31:08. > :31:13.Somebody said that night - you know, "When are you coming here?" It was
:31:13. > :31:20.like, how dare you, you know, make fun of me like that?! Anyway, I am
:31:20. > :31:29.here now, almost there. It was to be his biggest concert yet in front
:31:29. > :31:37.of almost 10,000 people. # The two of us together
:31:38. > :31:47.# When we met # We stand at heaven's door
:31:48. > :31:56.
:31:56. > :32:01.It was fantastic. It was just a great night, and he didn't need
:32:01. > :32:06.stage lights that night, just a big beaming smile on his face lit up
:32:06. > :32:09.the stage because his career was back on track, but now it was in a
:32:09. > :32:15.completely new, different sphere, on a different level. He was moving
:32:15. > :32:21.up a notch, and the funny thing about that night was that normally
:32:21. > :32:24.after an artist finishes a show at The Point, the artist leaves the
:32:24. > :32:28.venue immediately and is gone before the crowd is actually
:32:28. > :32:33.walking out. In Daniel's case, he came out, and he did what he always
:32:33. > :32:40.did - he met each and every member of the audience who wanted to meet
:32:40. > :32:43.him. I think it went on until about 4.00am. Often crises brings
:32:43. > :32:47.something fabulous, don't they? You squeeze through the neck of a
:32:47. > :32:52.bottle and come out into sunshine. It's quite incredible when you look
:32:52. > :33:00.back to think that was a bad time, but yet it made a good time.
:33:00. > :33:10.# I want to dance with you # Twirl you all around the floor
:33:10. > :33:10.
:33:10. > :33:16.# That's what dancing is for # He was back on top in Ireland.
:33:16. > :33:20.Daniel proved he had the popularity to sell out Irish concert halls. He
:33:20. > :33:26.wanted to achieve success elsewhere, so with his next single, he tried a
:33:26. > :33:30.slightly different style of music. # I just want to dance with you #
:33:30. > :33:34.He went into the top ten in the British charts. That twisted his
:33:34. > :33:38.career because he realised then if you get the right song, even though
:33:38. > :33:41.you had that folksy Irish background and perception, you
:33:41. > :33:47.could actually make it in the charts. He was thrilled. Can you
:33:47. > :33:52.imagine, when he was on Top of the Pops - oh, my goodness. Did whole
:33:52. > :33:55.of Donegal came to a standstill. was the early '90 when the charts
:33:55. > :34:02.were dominated by rave music and Manchester rock bands, but Daniel
:34:02. > :34:05.broke through with his own style of pop.
:34:05. > :34:13.Daniel O'Donnell, the king of the country charts, has popped up at
:34:13. > :34:16.# Be too shy # Way too late
:34:16. > :34:23.# I don't care what they say # Other lovers do
:34:23. > :34:27.# I just want to dance with you # For us, it was to think, we know a
:34:27. > :34:31.person who is now the Top Of The Pops in Britain, you know, and you
:34:32. > :34:37.were phoning them up, and you were talking about completely ordinary
:34:37. > :34:46.stuff the following day. He never, you know, changed in our view, I
:34:46. > :34:51.suppose. He was still the boy from He even behaved like the boy from
:34:51. > :34:56.down the road and invited the fans around to his house in Kincasslagh.
:34:56. > :35:02.You used to open your house up and have people to come around. If
:35:02. > :35:06.people would knock on the door, you used to say, "Come in. Have a cup
:35:06. > :35:10.of tea." We did that without thinking. This was in the late '80s.
:35:10. > :35:15.I at that time was doing shows at the Mary From Dungloe Festival,
:35:15. > :35:19.which is a festival that takes place in Dungloe six miles from our
:35:19. > :35:25.home, and a lot of people came to see where the house was - where I
:35:25. > :35:30.came from, and they spoke to my mother and my sister if they was
:35:30. > :35:35.there, and they said I was away. I found out. That night, I said, "I
:35:35. > :35:39.know some of you came to visit today." I said, "I don't like to
:35:40. > :35:46.take a lot on the day of a show because I like my voice to be good
:35:46. > :35:50.and fresh for the show," so I won't be there tomorrow either because of
:35:50. > :35:58.that. "But if you want to come on Wednesday about 3.00pm, if you're
:35:58. > :36:03.still about, I'll make a point to being there." Jokingly I said, "We
:36:03. > :36:09.might get a cup of tea." How many turned up? Well, there was hundreds
:36:09. > :36:14.there that day. # There is a little country college
:36:14. > :36:19.in Donegal # Daniel's tea party became an annual
:36:19. > :36:23.event, attracting people from all over the world. Where have you come
:36:23. > :36:27.from today? From Brisbane, Australia. Especially to see
:36:27. > :36:31.Daniel? That's right. He must mean an awful lot to you. He does. We
:36:31. > :36:35.just love you in Australia. He gave me a kiss.
:36:36. > :36:40.REPORTER: He did not. He did. REPORTER: Do you fancy him? I do.
:36:40. > :36:43.It has been a very good day. I don't know if you have met my
:36:43. > :36:46.sister properly, but I think I should introduce her to you. This
:36:46. > :36:50.is Margaret, who introduced me to the music business. It's great for
:36:50. > :36:53.us to be at home with so many people. It's kind of strange in a
:36:53. > :36:57.way. It's hard to understand why they're all here, but we're pleased
:36:57. > :37:03.they're all here. # Daniel put the kettle on
:37:03. > :37:07.# We're coming in for tea # We did that for a number of years,
:37:07. > :37:10.and, you know - in the end, there were so many people. I remember one
:37:10. > :37:14.day in particular - probably the last time - there was Sky News.
:37:14. > :37:18.There was local news. There was this news. There was this radio
:37:18. > :37:25.show. There were so many people that I was literally meeting a
:37:25. > :37:34.fraction, so it sort of outgrew the reason for doing it, and then we
:37:34. > :37:38.decided we wouldn't do it anymore. # We're coming in for tea #
:37:38. > :37:44.But not everyone is a fan. Some people consider him too safe and
:37:44. > :37:49.old-fashioned. Comedians in the press enjoyed having a dig. Daniel
:37:49. > :37:54.has had his critics through the years. On the face of it, he was
:37:54. > :37:57.extremely boring. He liked his mother. He liked his cup of tea. He
:37:57. > :38:03.was extremely well-groomed. Us journalists - and I am a journalist
:38:03. > :38:10.myself - we like our stars to be dirty, rock 'n' roll guys who are
:38:10. > :38:14.outrageous who we can write about. Daniel was none of that. There was
:38:14. > :38:18.a time very early on when he was exceptionally shy - you wouldn't
:38:18. > :38:22.get that many words out of Daniel. You'd get the plug or get the
:38:22. > :38:25.record. We wouldn't get much more. In a way, I think the chat
:38:25. > :38:29.programme he did - I think that was the turning point for him because
:38:29. > :38:34.he gave her as good as he got, and people saw him in a different light.
:38:34. > :38:38.They saw him in a slightly different mood as well. It was a
:38:38. > :38:48.new Daniel. You please so many people with your golden tonsils.
:38:48. > :38:51.
:38:51. > :38:54.Well, thank you. Do I do something for you? Yes, more than Clement
:38:54. > :39:00.James. Do you know how people remember where they were when JFK
:39:00. > :39:03.was shot? Well, we all remember where we were when we first heard
:39:03. > :39:10.you sing. Where were you? I was in the home with one of your records
:39:10. > :39:14.on. Where were you, Ann? I was listening to Songs of Praise, and
:39:14. > :39:17.you sang, didn't you? Was that recently? Yes, just before
:39:17. > :39:24.Christmas, yes. So you have been a fan all your life, Ann?
:39:24. > :39:29.LAUGHTER # Never had this feeling before #
:39:29. > :39:33.For year, he devoted himself to his fans. They were his first love, and
:39:33. > :39:39.that's how many of them liked it, but a holiday in Tenerife changed
:39:39. > :39:44.all of that. You remained a single man for long enough for some people
:39:44. > :39:49.to have fond fantasies of maybe you would come into their lives on a
:39:49. > :39:52.white horse, and then you met Majella. I was allergic to horses.
:39:52. > :39:57.Maybe that's why. LAUGHTER
:39:57. > :40:02.I met Majella, yes. You met Majella, and you started a friendship very
:40:02. > :40:08.quickly. Tell me about how you met her. Well, you know, I was in my
:40:09. > :40:17.late 30s when I met Majella. It was 1999, so I would have been 37,
:40:17. > :40:20.nearly 38, and I have to be honest and say I was very content in my
:40:20. > :40:24.situation. I wasn't lonely. I wasn't searching. I wasn't -
:40:24. > :40:29.anything. But I went to Tenerife. I had known her parents because they
:40:29. > :40:35.had a bar at that time in Tenerife. The first night that, you know,
:40:35. > :40:40.Daniel was in the bar and I met him, we hit it off really, really well,
:40:40. > :40:43.and he kind of suggested - he was with some friends, and he said,
:40:43. > :40:51."You know, we're going out tomorrow night. Would you like to come with
:40:51. > :40:54.us?" I said, "Oh, where are you going?" He said, "We're going to
:40:54. > :40:59.Veronica's", which is a real club part of Tenerife, the clubbing
:40:59. > :41:03.scene and everything. And I literally thought Daniel O'Donnell
:41:03. > :41:07.in Veronica's? This I have got to see. And I had never been - we're
:41:07. > :41:12.talking about something that starts at 1.00am in the morning and goes
:41:12. > :41:17.on until 5.00am or 6.00am and loud, thumping music. I thought, this is
:41:17. > :41:21.interesting, so yeah, yeah, I would love to come along, you know? He
:41:21. > :41:25.just surprised me, I suppose. I just didn't think he had that life
:41:25. > :41:34.in him. The friendship grew, and the couple spent more and more time
:41:34. > :41:44.together. There hadn't really been any romance at that stage? There
:41:44. > :41:49.was. There was a wee bit, yeah. bit of kissing? We were in our 30s,
:41:49. > :41:54.you know? Well, I'm just checking it out. But the happiness didn't
:41:54. > :41:59.last. Majella had two children from a previous marriage and was
:41:59. > :42:05.divorced. This caused a moral dilemma for Daniel because he knew
:42:05. > :42:09.he couldn't marry a divorcee in a Catholic Church.
:42:09. > :42:13.Because she had been married and divorced, and it was against your...
:42:13. > :42:18.It was against my religion at the time. I thought about this thing of
:42:18. > :42:23.Majella being married and children and all, and I thought, well, maybe
:42:23. > :42:28.it's time to not go any further with this. I remember he - he
:42:28. > :42:33.brought me around to his apartment to tell me, and, of course, I felt
:42:33. > :42:38.like on the wrong territory as well. When he said it, the first thing I
:42:38. > :42:42.wanted to do was just to get out quick. I just didn't want to be
:42:42. > :42:46.there anymore. Of course, Daniel was very polite. "No, no, stay. I
:42:46. > :42:51.want us to be friends" and all the rest. I was like, "Yeah, I don't
:42:51. > :42:57.mind being friends," but I thought, right now I just need to go. I just
:42:57. > :43:04.thought, what a shame. What a shame. After a few months of separation,
:43:04. > :43:11.Daniel began to question his decision. One night I remember most
:43:11. > :43:17.was at Mama Mia, and I was sitting up on my own - because I love ABBA,
:43:17. > :43:23.love ABBA, and I was on my own looking down and - and I thought,
:43:23. > :43:28.Majella would just love this. And I sat back, and I said to myself,
:43:28. > :43:33.this is not the first time Majella has come into your head. Why are
:43:33. > :43:38.you thinking she'd love this and love that? Majella, this, Majella,
:43:38. > :43:44.that? So I think that was when I made my decision. Came to your
:43:44. > :43:53.senses? Maybe. There's a reason this is pushed into my head, and
:43:53. > :43:58.all things can be sorted out. If I'm meant to be with somebody
:43:58. > :44:03.that's married, I'm obviously meant to be with somebody that's married,
:44:03. > :44:09.so we got back together. # The winner takes it all #
:44:09. > :44:12.The relationship grew, and Daniel was keen to take it to the next
:44:12. > :44:19.stage and get married. Daniel as a member of the Catholic Church
:44:19. > :44:23.wanted to get married in church, and always his dream was to marry
:44:23. > :44:33.in his local church in Kincasslagh. Majella being a divorcee, this
:44:33. > :44:40.
:44:40. > :44:47.Majella would have to apply for her marriage to be annulled. If granted
:44:47. > :44:51.this, would mean Majella and Daniel would be free to marry in church.
:44:51. > :44:54.Daniel's faith always has been very important to him. I know he jumped
:44:54. > :44:59.through hoops to make sure that because Majella had been married
:44:59. > :45:02.before, that he would be allowed to get married in his church in
:45:02. > :45:09.Donegal. He really went the full mile for that to make sure that
:45:09. > :45:15.would happen. After a tense wait, the annulment
:45:15. > :45:21.was granted. I would say I was more delighted
:45:21. > :45:26.for Daniel than Daniel was for himself, because I knew how
:45:26. > :45:29.important it was to him to be blessed in the eyes of God in the
:45:29. > :45:34.Catholic Church. We would have been together but it would always have
:45:34. > :45:39.been, there would always have been a little sorrow in his heart if he
:45:39. > :45:46.hadn't been able to have God's blessing. How important was that to
:45:46. > :45:50.you? It was important to me, but I don't think I would not have, I
:45:50. > :45:55.think we would have stayed together anyway. I don't think that we
:45:55. > :46:00.should expect the Church to change all rules to accept everybody, but
:46:00. > :46:06.I do think that the Church needs to be more accepting and it needs to
:46:06. > :46:13.be a broader Church, even though I'm a part. I'm very much am
:46:13. > :46:21.Catholic. But love is love. Love is love and God is love. Exactly.
:46:21. > :46:26.you have to, you know - things are never black and white. Did you keep
:46:26. > :46:32.the news of Majella and your impending marriage from the fans?
:46:32. > :46:36.Or did they know? Initially we did And what it was reaction, all
:46:36. > :46:42.positive? Oh yes. All positive, there's always a few that would
:46:42. > :46:49.disagree with it and you would get letters from people saying that,
:46:49. > :46:53."Oh, she's married and she's divorced "but we had got over that.
:46:53. > :47:03.And most of them letters, in fact all of them were unsigned. Any
:47:03. > :47:03.
:47:03. > :47:10.letter you get is not signed is not worth dealing with.
:47:10. > :47:14.The big day came on 4th November 2002, and there supporting him was
:47:14. > :47:21.his old schoolfriend and first band member. I went down to his house
:47:21. > :47:25.that morning. I did the normal stuff that I suppose every best man
:47:25. > :47:31.would do, the things that you are supposed to look after and sort out
:47:31. > :47:36.on the morning. It was all very normal stuff. We thought in the
:47:36. > :47:44.morning in the house, it was only when we got to the chapel that
:47:44. > :47:53.there were so many TV crews. So many people. This was not going to
:47:53. > :48:00.be any ordinary affair. 500 people at the wedding. 40 of the guests
:48:00. > :48:06.were mine and 460 were from Daniel. I asked Daniel if he would sing a
:48:06. > :48:13.song, You By My Side, and the words are beautiful.
:48:13. > :48:18.# I never thought I would see this day, your friends and my family
:48:18. > :48:23.smiling." I said, I would love tow sing that. He said no, it is my
:48:23. > :48:29.wedding day and I'm not singing. The communion started and he leaned
:48:29. > :48:33.over and said, "I need to go to the toilet." I thought, "Oh, my God, go
:48:33. > :48:39.on then, quick." This ripple of laughter started when people
:48:39. > :48:48.realised. I started to look around and the next thing...
:48:48. > :48:55.# With you by my side # That's how I see us #
:48:55. > :49:05.I went into floods of tears. I could nearly cry now. It was so, I
:49:05. > :49:10.
:49:10. > :49:16.so didn't expect it. APPLAUSE Daniel gave imagine Madge a fairy-
:49:16. > :49:20.tale wedding and in return she's given his image a make-over.
:49:20. > :49:26.think Majella has sharpened him up. I'm not saying he was always the
:49:26. > :49:30.Irish boy at heart, but she's made him a lot more suave than he used
:49:30. > :49:35.to be. She makes him shop for suits in America when they visit there.
:49:35. > :49:41.She makes sure he is styled correctly. His stage presence is
:49:41. > :49:47.much better simply because of Majella.
:49:47. > :49:54.Daniel has brought that new confidence to tours of Canada,
:49:54. > :49:57.Australia and especially America. # To my heroes as they sang my
:49:57. > :50:00.favourite song # Feted love and I still miss
:50:00. > :50:04.someone # He has become a favourite on TV
:50:04. > :50:10.channels over there with his Irish charm going down well.
:50:10. > :50:13.# I wonder what it would be like to be a country star #
:50:13. > :50:17.He has been extremely successful in the last several years. People
:50:18. > :50:22.would turn on their telly in the morning and see Daniel and turn on
:50:22. > :50:27.their fellly in the evening and see Daniel. Gradually they got to know
:50:27. > :50:32.him. To the extent he became something of a superstar. He now
:50:32. > :50:36.works every year in Branson Missouri in a theatre there. The
:50:36. > :50:44.beauty of that is that Daniel doesn't have to tour the States,
:50:44. > :50:54.which is very time-consuming. People come to him.
:50:54. > :50:59.
:50:59. > :51:02.# O Lord my God # When I in awesome wonder
:51:02. > :51:08.# Consider all... # We take the fan there is for a week,
:51:08. > :51:16.we take in five shows for him. Branson itself, it is quaint, it is
:51:16. > :51:21.unique. It is a small town on the 65 South and it has a population of
:51:21. > :51:27.3,600 people. Believe it or not it has 7 million visitor as year. It's
:51:27. > :51:32.a country music Mecca. There are 42 theatres, 97 hotels, so all the big
:51:32. > :51:40.stars go and take theatres in Branson Missouri. Daniel has the
:51:40. > :51:44.record for his shows in Branson of having I think it is 44 or 45
:51:44. > :51:49.coach-loads go to his show. That's the record of coaches attending.
:51:49. > :51:59.And now so many years later, Daniel O'Donnell is the number one artist
:51:59. > :52:05.
:52:05. > :52:10.One of the things that goes with stardom is your very own place of
:52:10. > :52:18.pilgrimage for the fans. Just as Elvis has Graceland, Dolly Parton
:52:18. > :52:22.has Doyle wood, now Daniel has his visitors' centre in Donegal.
:52:22. > :52:28.were looking at all the different bits of memorabilia. I said, what
:52:28. > :52:34.are you going to do with this? He said, I don't really know. I said
:52:34. > :52:40.open up a visitor centre, he said, do you think anybody would come and
:52:40. > :52:43.see it? I said, of course they would. Fans can glimpse into his
:52:43. > :52:48.childhood and inspect his earlier attempts at writing. Many pride of
:52:49. > :52:52.place is his MBE, presented to him in Dublin by Prince Charles. And
:52:52. > :52:58.perhaps the most popular exhibit is Majella's wedding dress. His whole
:52:58. > :53:02.life is laid out for all to see. He's even been known to drop in
:53:02. > :53:07.occasionally himself. See this picture here? This is when I'm
:53:07. > :53:13.young, and then airbrushing started. So this is without the airbrushing
:53:13. > :53:20.and then as you go down the line, there's no lines at all! I said to
:53:20. > :53:24.them, stop that airbrushing. expected 5,000 people in the first
:53:24. > :53:28.year. We still have a couple of weeks to run, but to date we have
:53:28. > :53:37.just tipped over the 10,000 people it has been very popular. Very,
:53:37. > :53:41.very popular. Daniel's popularity has grown
:53:41. > :53:46.through the decades this. Year he is celebrate a singing career which
:53:46. > :53:51.has spanned 30 years. He's sold over 10 million albums and is now a
:53:51. > :53:56.millionaire, but he doesn't take any of it for granted. I'm very
:53:56. > :54:04.lucky to have been age to have a very comfortable life. So I'm very
:54:04. > :54:09.grateful for the life that I have had. Just always aware of that. I
:54:10. > :54:14.think that's important. So the money that you earn, you are not
:54:14. > :54:20.mean, I know, that you are very generous, but you understand the
:54:20. > :54:29.value of it? I think it has all to do with being brought up where I
:54:29. > :54:36.was and not always having money. Before I started being successful,
:54:36. > :54:42.I really had no money. So I think you always, you're always aware and
:54:42. > :54:50.respectful of that. And you're a man who enjoys a bargain? I love a
:54:50. > :54:57.bargain. I would rather get something op a sale than pay the
:54:57. > :55:02.full whack. I'm always looking for the two or one. You're talking
:55:02. > :55:09.about cheapest, if you can get it two for one, take it, even if you
:55:09. > :55:14.don't need it at the time. When he's not out shopping for bargains
:55:14. > :55:16.or on tour, Daniel heads home to don gaffe. It is where he and
:55:16. > :55:26.Majella look forward to spending their time together, especially at
:55:26. > :55:43.
:55:43. > :55:48.Is Christmas important to you? love Christmas, love it. I love
:55:48. > :55:56.Christmas trees and decorations. Love, I love the Mass at Christmas.
:55:56. > :56:05.You get to sing in the choir. I love that whole thing, and our
:56:05. > :56:10.chapel is beautiful. It's very special. Every Christmas since
:56:10. > :56:15.Daniel was a boy he has sang on Christmas Eve in midnight Mass in
:56:15. > :56:18.his church at home. # All across the land dawn as
:56:18. > :56:27.brand-new morn # This comes to pass
:56:27. > :56:30.# When a child is born # But he has always sang and it is
:56:30. > :56:35.really important. It's a real tradition, we go to midnight Mass,
:56:35. > :56:39.he sings, we go back to his sister's house. We have soup and
:56:39. > :56:42.sandwiches, every single year. lot of people think Christmas is
:56:42. > :56:47.overcommercialised and the religious means has disappeared.
:56:47. > :56:54.Can you still sift through the tinsel to get that? I think so.
:56:54. > :56:57.Sure it is commercialised but when you strip it all down, even if
:56:57. > :57:01.you're giving presents, whether we are big or small, you're giving
:57:01. > :57:06.them. That's giving to somebody. You're giving to somebody. The
:57:06. > :57:13.closest we are going to get to God on this earth is the person we meet
:57:13. > :57:19.next. So when you give, that's who you're giving to really. What's
:57:19. > :57:29.your best present that Majella has given you? I think herself more
:57:29. > :57:33.than anything. Good answer. What we have together is priceless. Daniel,
:57:33. > :57:43.happy Christmas. Thank you very much. It's been lovely. Thank you
:57:43. > :57:53.very much. It's a pleasure. # God be with you till me meet
:57:53. > :57:54.
:57:54. > :57:59.again # By his counsel's uphold you #
:57:59. > :58:05.Has meeting him today changed my preconceived ideas you have about
:58:05. > :58:09.him? Isn't he funny? Isn't he shrewd? And doesn't he have a
:58:09. > :58:13.fantastic marriage with Majella? And I love his faith. It's sincere,
:58:13. > :58:20.it has a simplicity and he is open about it. I'm a big Daniel
:58:20. > :58:24.O'Donnell fan. Next week I meet Dionne Warwick,
:58:24. > :58:27.music legend and trailblazer for black performers. She talks about
:58:27. > :58:34.her enduring faith through 50 years in show business.
:58:34. > :58:37.And how that belief helped her deal with the death of her cousin,
:58:37. > :58:41.Whitney Houston. It is now at the point where I'm beginning to