Dermot Kennedy Concerts Tickets

ABOUT DERMOT KENNEDY

Irish singer-songwriter Dermot Kennedy grew up in Rathcoole, County Dublin, Ireland. He began playing guitar at age 14 and began performing at open mic nights in Dublin, where he was driven by his father who helped him get into the pubs he was performing in, despite being underage. Kennedy studied classical music at Maynooth University in County Kildare.

CAREER

At age 17, Kennedy began regularly busking on the streets of Dublin, which opened doors for him to travel to America to perform in Boston and also for him to open for fellow Dublin artist Glen Hansard, whom he had met whilst busking.

Whilst studying at Maynooth, Kennedy formed the band Shadows and Dust with three other performers, including Micheál Quinn who is his current drummer. Despite being a positive experience for him, the band split up in 2015.

In 2017, he performed at Bonnaroo Music Festival and in 2018, returned to America to perform at  Lollapalooza, South by Southwest Festival and Austin City Limits Music Festival. 2018 also saw him voted by listeners as NPR Slingshot's Best New Artist of The Year. Additionally, he appeared on NPR's Music Tiny Desk Concert in a 14-minute live acoustic session and on WGBH's Fraser performance studio in a 20-minute live session. The following year, he played both weekends at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and made the BBC's Sound of 2019 Longlist.

Kennedy’s debut studio album, Without Fear, was released on October 4, 2019. The album launched four singles, including  "Power Over Me" and "Outnumbered". It reached number one on the UK Albums chart and number 18 on the Billboard 200, as well as charting in several other countries across the world. It has been certified gold in the UK and platinum in Switzerland.

January 2020 saw Kennedy receive a nomination for Best International Artist at the annual BRIT Awards. The following year, he contributed a cover of the Metallica song "Nothing Else Matters" to the charity tribute album The Metallica Blacklist and in March 2022, he won the RTÉ Choice Music Prize Irish Song of the Year 2021 for his song "Better Days".