Johnny Logan Feature
(1976-present)
Sean
Sherrard was born in 1954 in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, the son of singer Charlie
Sherrard. When Charlie changed his stage name to Patrick O'Hagan,
Sean became Sean
O'Hagan and returned to Ireland in the late 1950s at the age of
three. Brother of Mick
O'Hagan, Sean started his career as an an apprentice electrician.
The first mention we found of Sean's career was in the Western
People when, in July 1976, Sean won the Harp Lager Singing Pubs
Trophy at the Crossmolina Nephin Festival Singing Pubs competition.
A few months later we found more news about the soon-to-be
Eurovision superstar, in a copy of Starlight magazine
dated September 30, 1976. The article announced Sean would be
starring as Adam opposite Annie Kavanagh as Eve in Alan Dee's new
musical "Adam and Eve." The article mentioned that Sean had
previously been singing with his brother Mick in the Rob Strong
band, something we did not know. Coincidentally, in October,
1976, future Sheeba star, Marian Fossett joined the case as the new
Eve.
He earned high praise around the country for
his role and after starring in the production of "Adam and
Eve" alongside another future Eurovision contestant and International star,
Colm Wilkinson (who played the Devil), Sean stepped into the role of Joseph,
following in the footsteps of of Tony Kenny, who also did the role
in the early 70's.
In December he starred in Noel Pearson's
"Cinderella's Christmas Dream" alongside Alma Carroll, Eileen Reid,
and his brother Mick O'Hagan.
In February, 1977, Sean and his brother Mick,
formed the O'Hagan Brothers Band and played their first gig
in the National Ballroom in Dublin on Friday, February 11th, 1977.
The band also included musicians Joe Monk (keyboards), Sam Nevin
(guitar), Carl Geraghty (sax), Frank Daly (bass) and Danny O'Keefe
(drums). By May, advertisements were promoting the band as
Sean O'Hagan and Rainbow, but we're not 100% sure this was the
same band. They were playing mostly cabaret gigs around Dublin.
Around this time, he was being managed by Jim Hand.
By August of 1977, it appears Sean was no
longer in a band as he was regularly appearing as a guest at many of
the major Dublin cabaret spots. In February 1978 we were first
introduced to Johnny Logan, Sean's new stage name. In an article in
the Sunday Independent he explained that he had changed his
name because he had "been advised that
Johnny Logan would catch on quicker on the continent." In the
same article (see below) it was reported that Johnny had started
singing age 13 with a Drogheda based showband, The Dawn.
For a time in early 1978, Johnny suffered a
little from some confusion about his career as reports listed him as
Johnny Logan and sometimes Sean O'Hagan and he was still doing
Dublin cabaret as well as trying to make it on the English scene as
a pop singer. By May, he had settled back into the cabaret scene in
Dublin now under his new stage name. His major push (under the
watchful eye of Jim Hand started with his first record, No, I
Don't Want to Fall In Love produced by hit maker Robert Danova,
who had also been working with Joe Dolan.
In late 1978 Johnny entered the Cavan Song
Contest with his song, Funny How You Knew, but failed to win.
In December 1978, it was announced Johnny would be singing his song
Angie in the National Contest of 1979. He would finish a
respectable third behind Cathal Dunne's
song
Happy Man.
In mid-1979, he would, like many stage and
cabaret singers of the day, try his
hand in the ballrooms, and with his new name and his first single
under his belt, he hit the road with his own Johnny Logan Band.
He was now being managed by Louis Walsh. He
continued to plug away at the ballroom circuit and started to create
a bit of a stir, although he never reached the top tier of the
showband elite. He was awarded "Best New Singer" by readers of the
Connaught Telegraph newspaper in 1980, but his ballroom days
were already numbered.
Johnny's life changed forever when he was
selected to sing Shay Healy's
What's Another Year as Ireland's entry
in the 1980 Eurovision song contest. The win, Ireland's first since
Dana in 1970, set him on a course for
International stardom. Johnny would also set a few records along the
way. Following his Euro win, he toured Europe and the World,
making it especially big in Germany.
He would return to Eurovision again in 1984 as
the writer of Ireland's entry
Terminal 3 sung by Linda Martin of
Chips. Finishing second, Johnny now was established as a songwriter
as well as performer. In 1985 his entry, "Hearts," performed by his
brother Michael, did not fair as well, but he remained committed.
His 1986 entry, "If
I can change your mind" (again performed by Linda) placed a
respectable fourth.
In 1987 though, Johnny would become the first
performer in history to win Eurovision twice, this time with his own
composition, Hold me Now.
The song was a number two hit in the U.K. and further enhanced
Johnny's career on the International circuit. Following his win in
1987, Johnny was busy touring and it wasn't until 1991 that he
ventured into Eurovision again, this time with brother, Michael
performing "When do I get over you?" The song finished sixth, but
Johnny was back the following year and recorded his third win with
Linda Martin performing his self penned song,
Why Me?
Following his third Eurovision success, Johnny
focused on his recording and television career and during the
nineties he recorded numerous hit songs in Europe and made dozens
of television appearances. Although he spends most of his time in
Germany these days, he remains one of Ireland's most successful
performers on the International stage, something no one could have
imagined as he held the trophy for Best New Singer in the Royal
Ballroom in 1980 (photo below)!
Click on thumbnails for full images
