Michael Patrick Kelly: The musician and his path to becoming a solo artist

It's his evening on "Sing my song": On Tuesday the songs will be sung by Michael Patrick Kelly.

Host Michael Patrick Kelly (42, "iD") is the last person in the group to be surprised by his colleagues with new interpretations of his own songs at "Sing mein Song – Das Tauschkonzert" (8:15 p.m. at VOX, also via TVNOW) . The finale will be crowned on Tuesday with a duet evening. Michael Patrick Kelly can look back on a turbulent career path – from the beginnings as a Kelly Family member to successes as a solo artist.

The tenth in the league

Michael Patrick "Paddy" Kelly was born on December 5, 1977 in Dublin as the tenth child of Daniel Jerome Kelly (1930-2002) in a camper. He was the sixth offspring that Kelly had with Barbara-Ann Suokko (1946-1982). After the death of his mother in 1982, Michael Patrick Kelly's father was a single parent. The entire Kelly family had been on stage since early childhood and played together. They toured Europe and the USA as street musicians and later became famous as The Kelly Family.

Homeschooling and musical beginnings

Michael Patrick Kelly did not attend a state school and was taught by his father, who worked as a teacher. Early on he learned to speak English, German, French, Spanish and Dutch fluently. As the first instrument, Kelly learned the tin whistle, a beak flute that finds its way particularly into Irish folk music. In his family band, Michael Patrick Kelly mainly played guitar, electric guitar, bass, piano and keyboard. As early as 1984, he led the band's appearances as an announcer. At the age of 15 he gave the family his musical breakthrough.

The man behind the hit "An Angel"

Michael Patrick Kelly composed the song "An Angel". In Germany, the song stayed in the top ten for a total of eleven weeks and also enjoyed worldwide success. The Kelly Family became a polarizing celebrity with its alternative look and unconventional street musician existence. Michael Patrick Kelly was celebrated as a teen star and took over the musical direction of the band at 18. His father died in 2002 and the structure of the band began to change. In 2003 he released his solo debut album "In Exile", on which the musician also discussed his faith, which had been found through a pilgrimage. This prompted him to make a radical decision at the end of 2004 …

Monastery stay and study

He turned his back on the fast-paced show business and lived as a monk in a Catholic monastery in Burgundy, France and Belgium. There he was given the name John Paul Mary. "The move to the monastery meant for me from one day to the next: no guitar, no concerts, no credit card, no partner and no family anymore – instead silence, prayer and peeling potatoes", Kelly said in an interview with spot on news in early May 2020. Kelly studied philosophy for four years and theology for one year. After six years in the monastery, he longed for music again.

Solo paths and TV appearances

In 2015 he came back with his second album "Human" – his fans hadn't forgotten him. The comeback factory climbed to number 3 on the German charts and a successful tour followed. In 2017 he released his last album "iD". In the same year Kelly became part of the most successful season of the VOX show "Sing mein Song – Das Tauschkonzert", in which he interpreted songs of the other musician with Lena Meyer-Landrut (29) and Mark Forster (37). In 2018 he made another successful TV appearance and won "The Voice of Germany" with his talent Samuel Rösch (25) as a juror. In 2019 and 2020 he returned to "Sing my song" as host.

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