Finbar Wright

In 1995, Wright performed at the State Dinner in Dublin Castle in honour of US President Bill Clinton. He was invited to sing again for President Clinton in Washington, DC. In 1999, Daniel O'Donnell asked Wright to join him at the London Royal Albert Hall for a concert, prompting him to state: "Daniel and I are going to be like the new Irish rat pack". On his 50th birthday (4 October 2007) at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Wright was presented with a five-foot cake and a leather-bound book of well wishes from former President Bill and Hillary Clinton, and old friends Daniel O'Donnell and Phil Coulter, among others.

In 2004, Wright and Irish Tenors' friend Anthony Kearns were asked by ABC's Good Morning America to sing the hymn "Amazing Grace" for their coverage of the funeral of former US President Ronald Reagan. In 2006, the trio hosted the nine-part Summer variety series for RTÉ produced by Bill Hughes' Mind the Gap productions, The Irish Tenors, Heroes & Friends, which included Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, Finbar Furey, Hayley Westenra, Sharon Shannon, Rebecca Storm and Shane Ward, among others. In 2006, the Irish Tenors welcomed newcomer Karl Scully into the group, replacing John McDermott, who had stepped-in temporarily in 2004. In 2007, the South Carolina Legislature issued a "Proclamation" welcoming the trio to that State at their performance in Charleston.

In 2001, they filmed a historic PBS special at New York's Ellis Island, hosted by Irish/American actor Martin Sheen. Their album Ellis Island topped Billboard's Heatseeker list and landed on its "Top 10 Best of 2001". In 2003, the Irish Tenors participated in the UNICEF Snowflake Lighting celebrations to kick off the festive season in New York, sharing the stage with the mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, and movie star Liv Tyler, who hosted the event.

The Gift of Glib (often referred to as "Gift of Gab") was not lost on this Corkman as Finbar began writing song lyrics several years ago, four of which have appeared on his recordings. A more literary style emerged and he began writing full-length verse. Private Friends is a collection of some of Wright's poetry published in 2001 and dedicated to his brother, Robert, who, at age 47, had died suddenly the same year.

The first to be asked by producer Bill Hughes to join a new group called The Irish Tenors in 1998, Wright had to decline under the terms of his contract with Sony BMG Music. In 2000, having left Sony, he was asked to step in at the last minute to replace John McDermott, who had decided to leave the group, for the Live from Belfast PBS special. Since then, Wright has recorded six albums and five PBS specials with the Irish Tenors.

Wright was nominated for, and won, the Irish Recorded Music Association's "Male Entertainer of the Year" for two consecutive years, in 1992 and 1993. He has performed with Phil Coulter, Kiri Te Kanawa, Jerry Lee Lewis and Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber. In 1993, Montserrat Caballé invited Wright as special guest artist at her concert in Dublin, after hearing him sing a Spanish song on one of his albums. He is fluent in Irish, English, Spanish, Italian, French and Latin, and his concerts and recordings include songs in most of these languages. The single "South of the Border" (written by Jimmy Kennedy), with its syncopated rhythms and Spanish flair, is a favourite Wright song with American audiences.

Wright is a classically trained tenor who emerged during the 1990s in Ireland and has become one of that country's "most popular singers", concentrating on romantic, jazz and pop standards for the adult contemporary audience. Referred to as one of Ireland's great romantic singers, his first album, Because in 1991 reached the top of the Irish music charts. Wright's second recording, Whatever You Believe, also reached the top of the Irish charts with triple platinum certification and produced the number 1 hit single, "Whatever You Believe", now a Christmas favourite in Ireland. His subsequent recordings have also received gold and/or platinum status.

In 1990, Wright began his professional music career in earnest, with recitals and concerts around Ireland. By 1991, he was starring in his own video for the United States Public Broadcasting System: Finbar Wright in Concert. His first album, Because (1991), was produced by Phil Coulter and reached the top of the Irish music charts and platinum status. Later that year, Coulter invited Wright to accompany him on a world tour. As his popularity grew, RTÉ invited him to co-host the television series Music of the Night with singer/actress Angeline Ball. Wright's second album, Whatever You Believe went triple platinum in Ireland and made the Mike Batt title song "Whatever You Believe" a Christmas classic in that country. All of Wright's recordings have reached gold and/or platinum status.

As a priest, Fr. Finbar returned to Farranferris College to teach Spanish and Latin. In 1987, following the deaths of his eldest brother and his father, and citing philosophical differences with the Church, Wright, at age 30, made the decision to leave the priesthood and was laicised.

In 1987, Wright made his television singing debut on RTÉ's The Late Late Show, hosted by Gay Byrne. He entered the Feis Ceoil competitions in Dublin, winning its major singing awards and, in 1989, he was chosen as Ireland's representative to the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.

Formal vocal studies began in 1984 as Wright attended the Cork School of Music, where he studied music theory with George Dunne, singing with Robert Beare and piano with Angel Climent. He subsequently studied with Ernst Haefliger in Munich, Germany, and with the Romanian soprano Ileana Cotrubaș at Aldeburgh, England. He was chosen to study with Dr. Veronica Dunne, regarded as Ireland's pre-eminent vocal teacher.

While attending classes at the Cork School of Music in 1984, Wright met Angela Desmond and, after he left the priesthood, they married in 1990. "By the time I left the priesthood I hadn't seen her for a few years. Then in 1988 I met her [again], by chance, and we met every day for a month and we haven't been apart since." The Wrights live with their two children in County Cork, Ireland. Wright's son Fergus produced and wrote 3 songs for his father's album "60".

1979 saw the historic first visit by a Pontiff to the island nation of Ireland. On 29 September 1979 in Phoenix Park, Dublin, John Paul II celebrated an open-air Papal Mass to an assembled congregation of 1.25 million, at that time roughly one-third of the population of Ireland. Wright was appointed deacon for that Mass and, beneath the commemorative 100 ft (30 m) steel cross, read the Gospel (and sang the Responsories) to the largest gathering of Irish people ever recorded in one place.

While studying in Spain, Finbar developed his lasting appreciation and love for the Spanish culture and music. He returned to Ireland to take a Bachelor of Divinity Degree at National University of Ireland Maynooth, in County Kildare, where he joined the choir and became senior cantor in charge of liturgical singing. In 1978 Wright, at age 21, was ordained to the Catholic priesthood below the canonical age of 24, a distinction which required special dispensation by the Pope.

Edward Finbar Wright (born 26 September 1957), known popularly as Finbar Wright, is a popular music singer, songwriter, and poet from County Cork, Ireland.

Born in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland in 1957, Finbar Wright was the youngest of eight children in a Roman Catholic farming household. Finbar's paternal grandfather, whose family tree includes 7th President of the United States Andrew Jackson, was the son of a Presbyterian farmer living in County Monaghan where he met his future bride, a Catholic from County Cork. The couple married and moved to Cork to begin a family. Grandfather Wright started up his own hackney service which became the family business until one son, Robert, decided to go into farming. Robert later met and married Julia O'Donovan and together raised their eight children on their Ballinspittle farm. Three years after the arrival of their seventh child, Julia gave birth to Finbar on 26 September, one day after the feast-day of Saint Finbarr, the Patron Saint of Cork.