JOHN MCGLYNN bio
“…unexpected chills. An enchanting, theatrical soliloquy, sparse with just vocal and elegiac Vangelis keys / all but wraps a macabre black bow around a minor key Greek tragedy."
POP MATTERS - Matt James
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“Absolute Beauty”
HOT PRESS - Siobhán Long
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“If All She Has Is You is a worn synth pop song with a chorus to fall head over heels in love with.”
WRITTEN IN MUSIC - Pieter Visscher
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"Then your solo performance of 'If All She Has is You” came on and our jaws dropped and had tears from how beautiful. [it was]. We decided right then we would make it the one cover on our debut album”
ELECTRIC YOUTH - Austin Garrick
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“A very accomplished debut”
IN DUBLIN MAGAZINE
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Dublin and raised in various hotels in Ireland usually remote, he was educated for a year in Colaiste na Rinne where he learned to speak and sing fluently in Irish. He graduated as an Architect with a diploma from Bolton Street College of Technology and a degree from Trinity College Dublin in 1990.
In 1991 he joined his twin brother Michael's group Anúna and was asked to sing U2's "Mysterious Ways" live on The Gay Byrne Show on the morning of the release of “Achtung Baby” in November. In 1993 he became the original male lead singer in Riverdance, opening in Dublin'd Point Depot, Radio City New York and The Hammersmith Apollo. He remained a member of Anúna for the duration and recorded on all of their albums including Classical Brit Award nominated Deep Dead Blue, which contained his song "The Fisher King" in 2000.
In 2007 he was co-producer and writer/singer on the CD and DVD Celtic Origins which was released exclusively through Borders and statewide on PBS. It reached no.1 on SoundScan for World Music and was accompanied by a 14 week tour across the USA. In 2008 another partnership with Borders and PBS resulted in a second CD and DVD release Christmas Memories. It reached No.6 on the Billboard World Music Charts and was accompanied by a 5 week tour of the USA.
In February 2011 he opened the Gothenburg International Film Festival with English Folk singer Ian King. On November 8th 2011 John guested for Madeleine Peyroux in The National Concert Hall in Dublin.
His 1997 debut album “Songs for a Fallen Angel” was re-released in 2008 having been previously owned by Danú Records [Anúna's label]. In 2009 it was nominated in the Best Adult Contemporary Album category of the largest independent music awards in the world - The JPF awards. In 2009 he was asked to guest on the Irish tour of the legendary Moving Hearts. He opened for them at the Olympia Theater, Dublin, Glór, Ennis and The Cork Opera House. The same year his second album “Fragments” went straight to number 1 in the Irish iTunes download charts. The album was partly funded thanks to a hugely successful Fundit crowdfunding campaign that raised over €10,000.
His songs feature on multiple Anúna albums and DVDs.
Most recently “If all she has is you” was recorded by Canadian synth pop duo “Electric Youth” [their song “A Real Hero” was the closing scene in the movie Drive featuring Ryan Gosling]. They included it on their debut release “Innerworld” in 2014. The album was produced by Vince Clarke [Depeche Mode, Erasure, Yazoo].
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John also runs the highly successful group Anúna Corporate
"Thank you for your genius of melody and harmony" - Bono