Dermot Kennedy (IE)

About

Also known as: Dermot Joseph Kennedy

Dermot Kennedy has built his reputation on a voice that GQ described as rich and reverbant, with songwriting that leans darker and more melancholy than most of his pop contemporaries. The Dublin singer spent years developing his craft through busking across cities like Dublin and Boston before finding his footing, and that hard won experience shows in the emotional weight he brings to his work. His 2019 debut album Without Fear pulled together tracks spanning nearly a decade, with "Outnumbered" cracking the UK Singles Chart top ten. He also featured on MEDUZA's "Paradise", which hit the UK top five. Kennedy describes his music as an attempt to bridge folk and hip hop, a shift away from his earlier purely acoustic material. He won the RTÉ Choice Music Prize Irish Song of the Year for "Better Days", contributed a Metallica cover to The Metallica Blacklist charity album, and followed Without Fear with Sonder in 2022. His third album, The Weight of the Woods, made him the first Irish artist to land three albums at number one on the UK Albums Chart.