Margo (singer)
Margo | |
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Margo in concert. | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Margeret Catherine O'Donnell |
Also known as | "The Queen of Country and Irish" |
Born |
County Donegal, Ireland | 6 February 1951
Genres | [music |
Occupation(s) | Singer |
Instruments | Vocals |
Years active | 1964–present |
Associated acts | Daniel O'Donnell |
Website | Official website |
Margo (born Margeret Catherine O'Donnell; February 6, 1951) is an Irish singer. She rose to prominence during the 1960s in the Irish country music scene and has had a successful career since.[1]
Background
Margo was brought up in the small village of Kincasslagh, County Donegal, Ireland. She grew up in a Catholic family, with her parents Francis and Julia (née McGonagle) O'Donnell, and her siblings: John (the eldest), Kathleen, James, and her son Daniel. Her father died of a heart attack when she was young.
Career
Margo started performing country music at a very young age in 1964 with a local showband, The Keynotes. She recorded her first single in 1968, "Bonny Irish Boy/Dear God", which was a success as was her second single, "If I Could See the World Through the Eyes of a Child/Road By the River", released in 1969 cemented her newfound stardom with fans. Margo has been a successful singer for five decades and has sold more than 1,000,000 records to date, and performed with Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton. She presented numerous TV shows for RTÉ in the 1970s and has collected many awards during her long career.[2]
Personal life and achievements
Margo is elder sister to Irish singer Daniel O'Donnell, who got his start with Margo's band in the early 1980s while attending college in Galway. Margo was named "2007 Donegal Person Of The Year" and spent most of 2007 traveling the length and breath of the country acting as an ambassador to her native county.
Margo has spoken publicly about her battles with alcoholism and depression, which she attributes to the stress of years of touring and financial difficulties due to poor management contracts.[3] She makes her home in Annahale, Castleblayney, County Monaghan, where she has lived for the past two decades.
Albums
- Ireland's Country Queens: The Way Old Friends Do (with Philomena Begley) (PADDY CD 17)
References
- ↑ Margo profile, regorecords.com/margoodonnell; accessed 25 February 2014.
- ↑ Margo O'Donnell bio at official website; accessed 25 February 2014.
- ↑ Nicola Tallan article on Margo, The Times; 2 April 2006
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