Paul Kelly (singer, 1964)

Paul Kelly 2012

Paul Kelly (born March 16, 1964 in Leominster , Massachusetts ) is an American singer and musician . He became known at a young age as a member of the pop and folk band The Kelly Family . He left the band in the mid-1980s, but rejoined the band in 2005. Since then he has performed together with some of his siblings who are still musically active. Since 2017 he has occasionally made music again with some of his siblings.

biography

Musical career with the Kelly Family

→ Main article The Kelly Family

Paul Kelly was born as the fourth and last child of the American teacher Daniel Jerome Kelly (1930-2002) and his first wife Janice (1935-2018) in Leominster. He has eight half and three full siblings. He has been making music with his family since early childhood and performed as a street musician with them. He played violin and saxophone in the band .

Thanks to the first record deal with Polydor , the family recorded their first chart success in 1980 with the single David's Song (Who'll Come With Me) . After the death of Daniel Kelly's second wife Barbara-Ann in 1982, the music-making family became quieter. In the mid-1980s, Paul performed with his father and siblings on the Paris Metro. In France he also made his last recordings together with his family.

In Paris he devoted himself to training as a chef and left the band.

In 2004 he was a guest musician on his siblings' studio album Homerun and played the hurdy-gurdy for the song Babylon . He has been a full member of the Kelly Family again since October 2005 and has accompanied them on tours with the Roncalli Who'll Come With Me circus (2005/2006) and Circus Meets Music (2006), the Church tours Good News (2006) / 2007) and More Good News (2007/2008), as well as the Christmas tours Silent Night (2011, 2012).

Musical projects based on the Kelly Family

Despite his job as a cook, Paul Kelly continued to travel the streets of Europe and host street concerts where he performed with his hurdy-gurdy. Occasionally, in the early 1990s, he was back on stage as a guest musician with his siblings. Between 1991 and 1997 he recorded a total of four solo albums with mainly Irish, but also Spanish, Basque and German folklore.

Since 2017 he has occasionally appeared again with six siblings in the group The Kelly Family .

In 2019 he worked with his family in the music video Who Laughs Survives with his sister Kathy Kelly . He plays his father, whom he looks a lot like.

Solo albums

• 1991: Paul Kelly and His Hurdy Gurdy (as Paul Kelly)
• 1992: La vielle À Roue Voyageuse (as Paul Kelly)
• 1993: Celtic Drones (as Pôl O'Ceallaigh)
• 1997: Trí Agus Trí (as Pól Ó Ceallaigh)

Web links

• Profile on kellyfamilysite.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.schlagerplanet.com/news/aktuelle-nachrichten/kelly-family-comeback-in-dortmund-2017_n9254.html