Tatler Lifetime Award is music to Paul’s ears

Born in Belfast in 1948 and raised in Strabane, County Tyrone, Paul received the award to a huge standing ovation from a full house of more than 400 guests at a ceremony held at Belfast City Hall.

In his citation, Ulster Tatler Managing Director Chris Sherry described Brady as one of the most accomplished and successful musicians, performers and songwriters that Northern Ireland has ever produced.

Now Paul joins a growing list of local luminaries who have picked up the award in the past, including Dame Mary Peters OBE, Sir James Galway, Brian Friel, Phil Coulter, Gloria Hunniford, Michael Longley, Gerry Armstrong, Barry McGuigan, Terri Hooley, Marie Jones, Ciaran Hinds, Pat Jennings, John Linehan, pianist Barry Douglas MBE, Pamela Ballantine and last year’s recipient Ian McElhinney.

“Paul Brady is truly one of the most gifted, successful and versatile musicians that this country has ever produced,” said Ulster Tatler Managing Director Chris Sherry. “He has had an incredible six-decade career and it’s great to see that he’s still going strong, with a Belfast gig at the Waterfront Hall just around the corner in November!

“With 12 solo albums, three live albums and countless other albums and collaborations with other artists, he is incredibly well respected amongst his peers and fellow artists – and his 1985 song ‘The Island’ remains one of the best songs ever written by an Irish artist.

“It is an honour for me to award this year’s Lifetime Achievement accolade to Paul Brady whose name will now be added to our long and illustrious list of former winners, which includes fellow music industry legends Phil Coulter, Sir James Galway, Barry Douglas MBE and Terri Hooley.”

Paul Brady was educated at Sion Mills Primary School in Strabane, St Columb’s College in Derry and University College Dublin (UCD). His musical career began as a piano player in Bundoran in 1963 and, in the late 1960s, as part of the worldwide folk boom, he joined popular Irish band The Johnstons.

They moved to London in 1969 and subsequently to New York in 1972 to expand their audience, before Brady returned to Ireland in 1974 to join the Irish folk supergroup Planxty, a band that would subsequently launch the solo careers of Andy Irvine, Liam O'Flynn, Dónal Lunny, and Christy Moore.

When Planxty disbanded in late 1975, Brady formed a duo with Irvine from 1976 to 1978, a partnership that produced the successful album Andy Irvine/Paul Brady.

The next few years saw him establish his popularity and reputation as one of Ireland's best interpreters of traditional songs, including definitive versions of ballads like ‘Arthur McBride’, ‘Mary and the Soldier’ and ‘The Lakes of Pontchartrain’ which influenced countless singers including Bob Dylan who covered all three.

In 1978, Brady released his first solo album, ‘Welcome Here Kind Stranger’, which won him critical acclaim and was awarded the Melody Maker Folk Album of the Year.

The years that followed saw Paul move from his traditional folk roots into the world of pop and rock, with the release of the 1981 album ‘Hard Station’, followed by a number of successful solo albums including ‘True for You’ (1983), ‘Back to the Centre’ (1986), and ‘Primitive Dance’ (1987).

By the end of the decade, Brady was recognised and accepted as a respected performer and songwriter, writing for and collaborating with a long list of established artists, including Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, Art Garfunkel, Phil Collins, Joe Cocker, Santana, Dave Edmunds, Carole King, Curtis Stigers, John Prine, Mark Knopfler, Bonnie Raitt, Ronan Keating, Brian Kennedy and Cara Dillon.

Eric Clapton once described Brady as “a troubadour, an honest man, fearless and true, an inspiration to anyone who would like to be a storyteller… and that’s without trying to to describe the way he sings and plays, that’s beyond me.”

The legendary Bob Dylan also name-checked him as a ‘secret hero’ when he said: “Some guys got it down – Leonard Cohen, Paul Brady, Lou Reed, secret heroes. John Prine, David Allen Coe, Tom Waits. I listen more to that kind of stuff than whatever is popular at the moment.”

Other big winners on the night, which was hosted by UTV presenter Pamela Ballantine, included superstar golfer Rory McIlroy who was awarded the Sportsperson of the Year Award after an amazing year which saw him complete the Grand Slam by winning The Masters at Augusta and, more recently, lift the Irish Open trophy with a typically thrilling finish at The K Club. As McIlroy prepares for the imminent Ryder Cup, his award was picked up on the night by Captain Trevor Heaven and Lady Captain Ruth Watt of Holywood Golf Club where Rory learned his trade.

The Celebrity of the Year award was won by actor Jamie Dornan and was picked up on the night by Miss Northern Ireland Carly Wilson.

Winners in other categories included:

· Businessman of the Year: Vivion Connolly, Connollys of Moy;

· Businesswoman of the Year: Loraa White, Music Video Marketplace, Dromore;

· Arts Personality of the Year: Johnny Hamilton (Jossiepops), Belfast;

· Spa of the Year: The Johnstown Estate, Co Meath;

· Beauty Salon of the Year: Eden Beauty, Portadown;

· Hotel of the Year: Elephant Rock Hotel, Portrush;

· Fashion Boutique of the Year: Cityman Menswear, Londonderry;

· Fashion Designer of the Year Gråinne Maher, Belfast;

· Interior Designer of the Year: Watson & Browne, Carryduff;

· Hairdressing Salon of the Year: Hair & Co, Newtownards;

· Restaurant of the Year: Roam, Belfast;

· Coffee House of the Year: Coan, Kircubbin;

· Family Business of the Year: Steensons, Belfast;

· Aesthetic Clinic of the Year: Belfast Skin Clinic, Belfast;

· Sportsperson of the Year: Rory McIlroy, Holywood;

· Celebrity of the Year: Jamie Dornan, Belfast;

· Outstanding Contribution to Architecture: Des Ewing;

· Lifetime Achievement Award: Paul Brady, Strabane, Co Tyrone.