Daniel John Mark Luke O'Donoghue (born 3 October 1980) is an Irish singer-songwriter best known for being the frontman of the Irish rock band

The Script The Script are an Irish Soft rock, soft-rock band formed in 2001 in Dublin. The band currently consists of Danny O'Donoghue (lead vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards), Glen Power (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Benjamin Seargent (bass, backin ...

and as a coach on the first two series of the television singing talent show '' The Voice UK''. He was earlier a member of the Irish

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

Mytown.

Early life

Danny O'Donoghue was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland, to Shay O'Donoghue, a member of the band The Dreams, and Ailish O'Donoghue. He is the youngest of six children and was raised in Ballinteer,

. As a child, he was initially against the idea of being a musician; however, he ended up dropping out of school to pursue a musical career.

Early career

O'Donoghue was originally a member of a late 1990s band called Mytown with friend (and now also band member of the Script) Mark Sheehan, after being signed to

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

in 1999. After its moderate success, O'Donoghue moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with Sheehan to write songs and produce for artists such as

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men ( ) is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. Formed in 1985, they have been a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris, tenor Wanya Morris, Wanyá Mo ...

and

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

. After one year of writing, O'Donoghue and Sheehan moved back to Dublin and, recruiting drummer Glen Power, started working on their own material. They formed the band

the Script The Script are an Irish Soft rock, soft-rock band formed in 2001 in Dublin. The band currently consists of Danny O'Donoghue (lead vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards), Glen Power (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Benjamin Seargent (bass, backin ...

in 2001.

The Script

The band released their eponymous debut album on 8 August 2008. O'Donoghue co-wrote all the songs on the album. The album went on to become a commercial success, especially in their home country of Ireland, peaking at number one on the Irish Album Chart. The band has since released six more albums: '' Science and Faith'' in September 2010, '' #3'' in September 2012, '' No Sound Without Silence'' in September 2014, '' Freedom Child'' in September 2017, and '' Sunsets & Full Moons'' in November 2019. The Script have toured since early March 2013 for their ''#3'' tour in the UK. They performed in some of the UK's largest arenas and cities such Birmingham, London and Manchester.

''The Voice UK''

In 2012 O'Donoghue made his first appearance in '' The Voice UK'' alongside Jessie J, will.i.am and Tom Jones as a coach. The decision was supported by bandmates Glen Power and Mark Sheehan, who said: "Danny did ''The Voice'' to put a face to The Script. We know about producing, song writing and performing – we’ve been doing it since we were 14 or 15. Danny on a show about singing was good for us. People saw how passionate he is about music, how much it means to him and it made our band better known." The appointment of O'Donoghue as coach initially drew criticism, with Twitter users branding him "Danny I Dunno Who" and comedian James Corden joking about it at the 2012 BRIT Awards. O'Donoghue retaliated saying "James who? Whatever. It’s up to other people to make up their own minds. I know I’m on this show for what I’ve done in my career. I’ve spent 15 years in the music industry, it’s all I know." Since then, however, the show has helped contribute to O'Donoghue's popularity, with O'Donoghue stating there was a "big outpouring of love for The Script" but adding that it "could have gone the other way." In the first series, he coached Bo Bruce, who went on to become the runner-up. Since then, she has had moderate success. He was asked to appear as a judge for ''The Voice'' again in 2013 after leading 'Team Danny' to great success. In the second series, Andrea Begley from his team went on to unexpectedly win. O'Donoghue co-wrote the track "Alive" for Bo Bruce's album '' Before I Sleep''. On 16 July 2013, O'Donoghue announced he was leaving the show to concentrate on The Script.

Personal life

O'Donoghue's father, Shay, died of stomach

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward :wikt:bulge, bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also b ...

on 14 February 2008, at the age of 63. The rose tattoo on O'Donoghue's left arm and the song "If You Could See Me Now" from their album ''#3'' are dedicated to the memory of his father. His mother Ailish, died 8 February 2019. In June 2024, O'Donoghue revealed he attends

Catholic Mass The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass "the same Christ ...

daily and gave up on alcohol, smoking and caffeine. O'Donoghue is a supporter of English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. O'Donoghue has a brother who lives in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:ODonoghue, Danny 1980 births Living people Irish male singer-songwriters Irish singer-songwriters Musicians from Dublin (city) The Script 20th-century Irish male singers 21st-century Irish male singers