The BBC knows a thing or two about battling the annual misery of shortening days and decreasing temperatures. Since 2004, the British national broadcaster has brightened the mood of millions of viewers around the world with some dodgy live-band pop-music covers, dozens of left feet, neon-clad celebrities, and an innate understanding of how to delight just by saying the word ‘seven’. And now Daniel O’Donnell is to stomp the stage in 2015’s Strictly Come Dancing.
The inclusion of the Donegal crooner in a cast of familiar British names and assorted BBC employees hoping for a career boost (any jobs going on Top Gear?) might seem an odd choice to Irish audiences, who were treated to a medley of Wee Daniel’s greatest hits as part of the interval act during Wednesday’s Rose of Tralee broadcast.
O’Donnell (53) joins an (as yet incomplete) list of dancers made up of celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott, 90s heartthrob and reality-TV veteran Peter Andre, and Olympic-medallist and professional boxer Anthony Ogogo.
O’Danny Boy! Welcome Irish international singing sensation #DanielODonnell to #Strictly. https://t.co/B4Css1g4LG
— BBC Strictly (@bbcstrictly) August 20, 2015
But anyone wondering whether or not the Irish country singer has a big enough following in the UK to merit a coveted spot on the Beeb’s flagship autumn/winter Saturday night show needs to stop and admire the tidy and lucrative career that Daniel has built up over a career spanning more than 30 years on stage.
While we accept, with varying degrees of respect, Daniel’s capacity to sell albums and fill seats at concert venues around Ireland, make no mistake, he is arguably one of the most consistently big musicians across the Irish Sea as well, with accolades and records smashed year in, year out.
Outclassing Madonna, Elvis, and The Beatles
Forget the Beatles and The Rolling Stones, it’s Daniel O’Donnell who holds the title for being the first singer to have had a different album feature in the UK Top 40 each and every year for 25 years in a row. 15 of those albums have charted in the top 10, while 14 of his singles have been in the top 30.
He received an honorary MBE from British monarch Queen Elizabeth II for his services to music, and even got the This is Your Life treatment from the BBC and Michael Aspel.
Blessed with a core and loyal audience of devotees that still think that the way to purchase music involves going into a shop and picking up a CD, his unthreateningly sweet appeal to mammies, aunties and grannies has served him well in amassing a net worth of, according to some wishy-washy-but-for-the-sake-of-digital-journalism-superficially-sensationalist websites, almost €18m.
TV is Daniel's next move in his media empire
Daniel's empire is not entirely built on CD sales, though. In 2013, the Irish Independent reported that his entertainment brand and touring company, DOD, turned over €3m in profits, largely from concert dates, while last year the Irish Examiner revealed that DOD had accumulated profits of €1.5m.
The downturn was linked to the singer's extended break from touring and recording, as he spent more time with his wife and collaborator Majella, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014.
The celebrity couple, who wed in 2002, looks set to make a stab at conquering Irish TV together with a new travel show set to air on UTV Ireland later in the year. Daniel and Majella’s B&B Road Trip will see the pair touring the island of Ireland, staying in bed-and-breakfast accommodation, and will add a new feather to the crooners bow as he diversifies his media portfolio.
And now, with a place on the Strictly roster, Wee Daniel is opening himself up to more than just some cruel words from Craig Revel Horwood – he's opening himself up to millions of viewers and an entirely new audience.
