Nominees

Daniel Francis Noel O'Donnell, MBE (born December 12, 1961 in Kincasslagh, Co. Donegal) is a nationally acclaimed Irish singer. He has sold over 10 million records to date. O'Donnell was brought up in a small village called Kincasslagh in County Donegal, Ireland.

On the 9 February 1983 he recorded his first single, Johnny McCauley's "My Donegal Shore", with £1,200 of his own money, selling all the copies himself. Later that year, he formed his own musical group, Country Fever. After the group disbanded, he formed The Grassroots. In 1985, the manager of the Ritz label, Mick Clerkin, saw him perform, and introduced him to Sean Reilly, who remains as his manager to this day.

Under the management of Reilly, Daniel started to sell concerts out in England on a regular basis. By the mid-1990s, Daniel O'Donnell had become a household-name, not only in his native Donegal, but in the rest of Ireland and throughout the United Kingdom also.

He appeared on the biggest television shows on both sides of the Irish Sea, and won countless awards. Among the accolades, Daniel was named ‘‘Donegal Person of the Year'' in 1989, which he still rates as the best award. He was given the ‘‘Irish Entertainer of the Year'' award in 1989, 1992 and 1996. Daniel's first chart hit single in the UK was in 1992 with ‘‘‘‘I Just Want to Dance With You'''' (later covered by George Strait). This also led to his first ever appearance on Top of the Pops.

During his lengthy career, Daniel has made friends with his childhood idols, including Cliff Richard and Loretta Lynn. He also forged a close professional relationship with the Irish songstress Mary Duff, who regularly tours with Daniel.

In 2002, he was awarded an honorary (due to his Irish citizenship) MBE for his services to the music industry. He has had twenty UK Top 40 albums as well as fifteen Top 40 singles and has sold 10 millions to date. Daniel garnered considerable success in North America, when he starred in seven concert specials on public television stations (PBS) in the US. He has charted 18 albums in the Top 20 of the US Billboard's ‘‘World Music Album Chart'' and also has had several entries in the ‘‘Independent Albums Chart'' too.