Brendan Graham

Brendan Graham
Born	1945 County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland
Associated acts	Secret Garden

Brendan Graham (born 1945)) is an Irish songwriter and novelist. Among songs he has written or co-written are "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" (1994) and "The Voice" (1996), both of which won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland in their respective years, and "You Raise Me Up"(lyrics) (2002), which was an international hit as covered by various artists.

Graham was born in County Tipperary.

Brendan Graham is one of Ireland's most famous lyricists and song writers. In an article about the song tradition of Ireland, Con Hooligan wrote, "Some of the best poetry being produced in this country today is in the form of smonk – Christy Moore and Brendan Graham and Jimmy McCarthy are touched by genius." In a feature article, the Irish Times described Graham as a ‘Musical Midas in the Mayonaise Silence.’

Graham wrote the lyrics for the 2002 song "You Raise Me Up". Rolf Løvland, who wrote the music, was inspired to write the song after reading The Blackest Pepper, Graham's first novel. "You Raise Me Up" was a huge international hit for Irish boyband Westlife. It has been covered by different artists almost 420 times. "You Raise Me Up" has been awarded ‘’Million-Air’’ status by the American Performing Rights Society BMI, meaning that it been broadcast over one million times on American radio. It is the most downloaded sheet music song of all time.

Graham wrote or co-wrote four of Ireland's entries in the Eurovision Song Contest, including two winning entries: "Rock 'n' Roll Kids", which won in 1994, and "The Voice", the winner of the 1996 contest. He also wrote the 1976 entry "When", which was sung by Red Hurley, and the 1985 entry "Wait until the weekend comes", performed by Maria Christian.

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