Beverley O'Sullivan (16 January 1981 – 2 November 2009) was an Irish singer and actress from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. She was killed in a traffic collision in India in 2009.

Biography

O'Sullivan was born in the Donaghmede district of Dublin. As a child she had

glue ear Otitis media is a group of inflammatory diseases of the middle ear. One of the two main types is acute otitis media (AOM), an infection of rapid onset that usually presents with ear pain. In young children this may result in pulling at the ear, ...

and began to wear a

hearing aid A hearing aid is a device designed to improve hearing by making sound audible to a person with hearing loss. Hearing aids are classified as medical devices in most countries, and regulated by the respective regulations. Small audio amplifiers su ...

. With her fellow members of Fifth Avenue she toured with

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...

for three consecutive years before they split. She did not inform her fellow members of Fifth Avenue that she had hearing difficulties when she auditioned to be in the group. They found out when she developed a sore ear during a Westlife performance. She lost a further ten per cent of her hearing whilst flying to Spain to appear in the music video of the group's first single "Spanish Eyes", released in 2004, despite being warned beforehand that her hearing was at risk if she flew. O'Sullivan spoke of her deafness in an article in the British newspaper ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', shortly before her demise. The newspaper compared her with other deaf musicians, such as

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

and

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...

, although noted that their deafness developed ''due'' to their careers. She continued performing for fans at weddings and in other areas throughout her career even when Fifth Avenue split. Her vocals appeared on the tracks "Through the Light" and "Don't Look Back" on

John O'Callaghan John O'Callaghan may refer to: * John O'Callaghan (Medal of Honor) (1850–1899), American soldier and Medal of Honor recipient * John O'Callaghan (politician) (died 1913), secretary of the United Irish League * John O'Callaghan (musician), Irish ...

's 2009 album '' Never Fade Away''. In January 2008 her cousin, 15-year-old

Amy Fitzpatrick The disappearance of Amy Fitzpatrick occurred on New Year's Day 2008. At 10pm on that day, 15-year-old Irish girl Amy Fitzpatrick said goodbye to her friend Ashley Rose, with whom she had been babysitting Ashley's brother at a house in Mijas Cos ...

, disappeared while walking home from a friend's house in Malaga, Spain.

Death

O'Sullivan's death occurred in Bharatpur, India on 2 November 2009. She was a passenger in the car. Her boyfriend, 32-year-old Stephen Reeves, was also in the car at the time. He was injured and hospitalised in RBM Bharatpur General Hospital. The couple had been holidaying in India for a few days and had hired the car. Westlife singers Mark Feehily and Nicky Byrne paid tributes: ''"I am so sad to hear the news of Beverley O'Sullivan's death. I sung alongside her at my cousin's wedding this summer. She was gorgeous and talented"'', said Feehily. ''"My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends. I am in shock"'', said Byrne. O'Sullivan played a cabaret singer in ''

Happy Ever Afters ''Happy Ever Afters'' is an Irish film written and directed by Stephen Burke and starring Sally Hawkins and Tom Riley. The film was first shown at the Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea on 10 October and released on 21 October 2009 ...

'', a film which was released on 25 December 2009. Her voice appears on six songs on the film's soundtrack.

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osullivan, Beverley Deaf musicians Irish film actresses Irish pop singers Road incident deaths in India Actresses from County Dublin 2009 deaths 1981 births 21st-century Irish women singers Irish deaf people Irish musicians with disabilities Musicians from County Dublin People from Donaghmede