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 Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

The Script The Script are an Irish rock band formed in 2001 in Dublin, consisting of lead vocalist and keyboardist Danny O'Donoghue, lead guitarist Mark Sheehan, and drummer Glen Power. The band moved to London after signing to Sony Label Group imprint ...

and as a coach on the first two series of the television singing talent show ''

The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing competition television series. Created by John de Mol, it premiered on BBC One during the spring television cycle on 24 March 2012. Based on the original ''The Voice of Holland'', and part of ''The Voice ...

''. He was earlier a member of the Irish

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

Mytown Mytown was an Irish boy band formed in 1996 by members Danny O'Donoghue, Dermot Browne (World's Apart), Mark Sheehan, Terry Daly and Paul Walker. They released one album, the epomynous '' Mytown'' and had a number of singles before splitting up ...

Early life

Danny O'Donoghue was born in

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 ...

, 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

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 just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

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

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

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 is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan M ...

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

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 ''Science & Faith'' is the second studio album by Irish rock band The Script. It was released in Ireland on 10 September 2010, via RCA Records. It was preceded by the lead single, " For the First Time", on 3 September 2010. It debuted at numbe ...

'' in September 2010, '' #3'' in September 2012, ''

No Sound Without Silence ''No Sound Without Silence'' is the fourth studio album by Irish pop rock band The Script. The album was released by Columbia Records on 12 September 2014 in Ireland and other Friday-release countries and on 15 September 2014 in the United Kingd ...

'' in September 2014, ''

Freedom Child ''Freedom Child'' is the fifth studio album by Irish rock band The Script. It was released via Columbia Records and Sony Music on 1 September 2017. Background Speaking about how pop music has turned out since The Script went on a hiatus aft ...

'' in September 2017, and ''

Sunsets & Full Moons ''Sunsets & Full Moons'' is the sixth studio album by Irish rock band The Script, released 8 November 2019 through Sony Music Entertainment. It is supported by the lead single " The Last Time". The Script embarked on a European tour in 2020 in pr ...

'' 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 ''

'' alongside

Jessie J Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), known professionally as Jessie J, is an English singer. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End musical '' Whistle Down the Wind''. She studied ...

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas. ...

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 Lady Catherine Anna Brudenell-Bruce (born 25 November 1984), known as Bo Bruce, is an English singer-songwriter previously signed to Mercury Records. She has released one EP, '' Search the Night ''(2010), and an album '' Before I Sleep'' in 20 ...

, 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 Andrea Begley is a singer-songwriter from Pomeroy, Northern Ireland, who is most notable for winning the second series of the BBC talent search ''The Voice UK'', beating the favourite to win, Leah McFall. She is the niece of Irish country music ...

from his team went on to unexpectedly win. O'Donoghue co-wrote the track "Alive" for

'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 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 be a nidus (s ...

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. O'Donoghue is a supporter of English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. O'Donoghue has a brother who lives in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

References

External links

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