Irish singer Daniel O’Donnell comes to New Westminster

You can hear the enthusiasm in Daniel O’Donnell’s voice as he speaks to New West Anchor by phone: he’s counting down the days to when he’ll be able to see his Canadian fans. 

"I'm really excited for it," O'Donnell says. "I've made such a connection with people over the 30 years, and I'd always met people after the shows prior to COVID. This year, I decided I'd do a meet-and-greet after the show if anybody wants to."

Like many artists, the last couple of years have been a challenge with the pandemic, and you could say the Irish singer—whose roots are in Donegal—can’t wait to hit the road. One of his stops includes the Massey Theatre on Friday, Sept. 23. 

Fun facts about Daniel O’Donnell:

• He’s outpaced big names like Madonna and U2: O’Donnell has had a hit on the UK album charts every year since 1988. Along with the aforementioned artists, not even Michael Jackson or the Rolling Stones have been able to do this.

• His North American connection: O’Donnell had his first PBS special in 2002, called The Daniel O’Donnell Show. Since then, he’s had 15 more specials with PBS.

• He has an MBE: O’Donnell received the honour in 2001. The Independent previously reported that the Queen Mother was believed to be a big fan of his music.

• He was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing: the show is one of his favourites; he was the third contestant to leave his season. Strictly Come Dancing is the basis for Dancing With the Stars on ABC.

“We’re starting the tour [in Ontario]...we’re travelling all over. We’ll travel all the way across [Canada]....eventually we’ll end up [in New Westminster],” says O’Donnell, who has visited parts of BC before—including Vancouver and Whistler.

“We have a friend who we met on a cruise, she lives in Vancouver, and she has a place, so we stayed with her, went up Grouse Mountain, up on a plane to Whistler, had a great time and then we went up to the Rockies,” explains O’Donnell, who adds that this will be his first visit to New Westminster. After some rest and relaxation, O’Donnell says he’s been working non-stop to make sure the tour is a success. 

“On PBS a lot of people saw the shows, the material I would have done on that over the years. [There’ll be] a lot of that, singing some of those songs. We’ll be singing the traditional country music and Irish ballads; a lot of inspirational music,” says O’Donnell. 

As the crooner looks back on his career, he’s grateful for the connections he’s made not only back home, but in Canada and the US. Part of that, he believes, is the sense of welcoming he was brought up with—he’s been known to wait long hours after shows to sign autographs for fans. 

“We’re a very small country, and I was brought up in the country—just a little village—and it’s still the same. Everybody knows everybody; for miles and miles we’d know people. I think being brought up in that atmosphere, it’s kind of an extension of that when I do the shows,” he explains. 

“It’s amazing. I just enjoy it, and I’ve been very fortunate that enough people enjoy it to want to come to the shows and to the tour.” 

You can purchase tickets to the show via the Massey Theatre’s website.