Val Doonican was born in Waterford, Ireland, on 3rd February 1927, one of eight children and died aged 88 in Buckingham England on 1st July 2015. He was a much loved Irish singer of traditional pop, easy listening, folk and novelty songs.
He was particularly successful in the United Kingdom where he had five successive Top Ten albums in the 1960s as well as several hits in the UK Singles Charts. ‘Walk Tall,’ ‘Elusive Butterfly,’ ‘If the Whole World Stopped Lovin’ and ‘The Special Years’ were among his big hits.
‘The Val Doonican Show,’ which featured his singing and a variety of guests, had a long and successful run on BBC Television from 1965 to 1986 and Val won the Variety Club of Great Britain’s BBC-TV Personality of the Year award three times.
Val was described as a “perfectionist who knew his limitations but always aimed to be ‘the best Val Doonican possible.'” He was sometimes compared to American singer Perry Como, though he claimed his main influence was Bing Crosby.
He appeared in three Royal Variety Performances. In 1976, he performed his hit song ‘What Would I Be’ on BBC One’s ‘A Jubilee of Music,’ celebrating British pop music for Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee.
Val was the subject of ‘This Is Your Life’ in 1970. Eamonn Andrews met him at the 18th green of the South Herts Golf Club as he played a round of golf.
He wrote two volumes of autobiography, ‘The Special Years’ (1980) and ‘Walking Tall’ (1905).
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Affectionately remembered. Some great milestones in my own youth were tied up in his songs.
I was born just a mile from Val’s birthplace in Waterford and knew the family down through the years. Didn’t know Val as he lived most of life in UK but always loved his rich velvet voice, his warm unassuming personality and his beautiful simple songs.