Born: 1954 in Melbourne
Place of residence: Dublin
Profession: Electrician
Hobbies: Fitness, watching black and white films
What were the names of the winners at the last Grand Prix Eurovision? Forgot – time moves quickly. To remain in contemporary memory, winning an international song contest is no longer enough. In Europe and many other countries around the world, however, there is no longer any need to explain to anyone who he is. He won the coveted singing trophy three times – twice as a singer, once as a composer – and thus became a legend: Johnny Logan. Unforgettable are his tracks “What’s Another Year” and “Hold Me Now”, which made him the crush of an entire generation and became evergreens – in contrast to many other winning titles that no one can seriously listen to today.
Timelessly good, not just the songs, also this voice. He probably has his father to thank for this, an Irish tenor who performed for John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, among others. Johnny Logan was born in 1954 as “Sean Patrick Michael Sherrard” in Melbourne, Australia. Three years later the family moved to Ireland and from then on little Sean accompanied his father on his tours. He learned to play the guitar and wrote his first songs at the age of 13. He had little enthusiasm for his apprenticeship as an electrician and was therefore grateful when he was offered the lead role in an Irish musical. A little later he was discovered by composer and filmmaker Shay Healy and sang his composition “What’s Another Year” in 1980 – the rest is history.
Despite many ups and downs in his career, he remained true to himself and his music, and excursions into the acting business (he starred in musicals and TV films, among other things) didn’t change that. The greats of the international music business graced him with the honor of Montserrat Caballé, Helen Shapiro, Ute Lemper, Helmut Lotti and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; He wrote songs and soundtracks from the track and field championships to the TV hit “Derrick”. And he repeatedly released his own albums.
The current one, entitled “We All Need Love,” was produced in Denmark and has already become a bestseller in the Scandinavian countries. With the album, the singer has fulfilled a dream and, in addition to his own compositions, sings titles that are among his absolute favorite songs: “Lean On Me”, “Favorite Waste Of Time”, “All Out Of Love”. With his unique voice he gives them an unmistakable profile. A total of 13 pop songs in a delicate guitar sound manifest the maturation process that Johnny Logan has completed in recent years. His music is still timeless and contemporary at the same time, so much so that the songs will undoubtedly find their way onto format radio – he and his producers have managed the necessary balancing act perfectly. And success abroad demonstrates that quality prevails. (But what the hell were the last Grand Prix winners called?)