Mayo-based songwriter pens lyrics for Gipsy Kings' new single
THE legendary Gipsy Kings have turned to Brendan Graham for lyrics to their new single, 'Abandonado', released this Friday to promote the band’s 2023/24 world tour.
'Abandonado' is taken from the band’s Renaissance album.
The Mayo-based songwriter is best known as the lyricist of 'You Raise Me Up', and for writing/composing Ireland’s last two winning Eurovision songs, 'Rock ’n’ Roll Kids' (1994) and 'The Voice' (1996).
Gipsy Kings founder Tonino Baliardo, announcing the news, said: “Our new single 'Abandonado' will be out on September 8. The lyrics will be in English and have been written by Brendan Graham, who wrote the worldwide hit 'You Raise Me Up' by Josh Groban. We are very excited about this release.”
'Abandonado' (Abandoned) is a typical Gipsy Kings, guitar driven melody, with the passionate emotion of loss and abandonment captured by Baliardo’s extraordinary vocal expression of Graham’s lyric.
“It was an honour to be asked,” Graham said, “as well as a challenge, to write an English lyric for this legendary band and the unique voice of Tonino Baliardo. It’s one of the joys of being a songwriter when the song works, and it gets embraced by artistes of such stature as the Gipsy Kings.”
Songwriter 'by default'
Graham, who became a full-time ‘songwriter by default’ in his late 40s, has had songs recorded and performed by artistes across a wide spectrum of music: Josh Groban, Aretha Franklin, Westlife, The Chieftains, Liam Neeson, Johnny Mathis, opera’s Sumi Jo, trad and folk artistes Dervish, Karen Matheson, Seán and Dolores Keane, etc. Three of the 78-year old’s songs feature on Breath Upon the Flame, the current album from the Dublin Brass Ensemble, featuring Eimear Quinn.
In the pipeline
Meanwhile, Cathy Jordan, pianist Feargal Murray and guests have completed Storybook - The Songs of Brendan Graham, set for release in the coming months.
The songwriter will host a gala concert of his songs with the National Symphony Orchestra and a wide range of artistes at the NCH in January 2024.
The Gipsy Kings play Dublin’s Olympia Theatre next March.