Linda Martin

Linda Martin
Linda Martin in May 2013
Background information
Born	(1952-03-27) 27 March 1952 (age 64) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Genres	Pop, pop-rock, MOR
Years active	1969–present
Labels	CBS, Polydor, Rex, Spider, WEA

Linda Martin (born 27 March 1952) is an Irish singer and television presenter. She is best known in Europe as the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1992 with the song "Why Me?", and in Ireland as a member of the 1970s/1980s band, Chips.

Martin is of Irish, Scottish and Italian ancestry. Her family's surname was originally Martini. Her paternal great-grandfather Francis Martini was born in Dublin to immigrants from Saronno near Milan, Italy. Martin's maternal great-grandparents, William Green and Elizabeth Nangle had a coal-mining background; they had transferred to Belfast from Larkhall, Scotland.

Martin started off her musical career when she joined the band Chips in Omagh in 1969. They quickly became one of the top bands in Ireland on the live circuit and released hit singles "Love Matters", "Twice a Week" and "Goodbye Goodbye" during the mid to late 1970s. In 1972, Martin broke away from Chips to be a vocalist with new band Lyttle People, but rejoined Chips the following year.

The group appeared on Opportunity Knocks in 1974 and appeared a number of times on British television promoting their singles, but never scored a UK hit. With multiple entries to the Irish National finals of the Eurovision Song Contest, the band carried on into the 1980s. They scored a final Irish hit in 1982 with "David's Song", after which Martin broke away when she won the Castlebar Song Contest with "Edge of the Universe" in 1983. From this point she concentrated on a solo career as well as occasional live appearances with Chips until they recruited a new lead singer (Valerie Roe) in the late 1980s.

She participated in the National Song Contest four times as a member of Chips, however they did not score successfully. She participated another four times in the contest as a soloist and once more as part of the group "Linda Martin and Friends". With nine participations, she has been the most frequent entrant in the National Song Contest's history. She won the contest twice, going on to represent Ireland twice at the Eurovision Song Contest.