Ryan Dolan

Ryan Dolan (born 22 July 1985) is an Irish pop singer from Strabane in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.^[1] He is known for representing Ireland in the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest with "Only Love Survives".

Dolan singing for Ireland during the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest.

Ryan Dolan
Ryan Dolan at a press conference four days before the Eurovision Song Contest 2013.
Background information
Born	(1985-07-22) 22 July 1985 (age 39) Strabane, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Genres	Pop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Years active	2012–present
Website	ryandolanofficial.com

Career

2013–2014: Eurovision Song Contest and Frequency

His song "Only Love Survives" won Ireland's Eurosong 2013 song contest, and Dolan went on to represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden.^[2] He performed the song in the first semi-final at Malmö Arena on 14 May 2013, and qualified for the final after finishing in the top ten.^[3] In the final, held on 18 May 2013, Dolan finished last in the final, receiving only five points from three countries.^[4]

He released his debut album Frequency on 13 May 2013. On 7 March 2014, he released his second single "Start Again" after his coming out on RTÉ Radio 1. Its music video is a story of suicide of a gay boy. It has been watched more than one million times on YouTube.^[5] He gained attention from LGBT communities and sang in some pride festivals including Pride in Newry 2014 and Bristol Pride 2015. On 20 June 2014, he released his third single "Fall to the Floor". It performed moderately in music chart, charted at 88 on Irish Recorded Music Association.

2015–present: Eurovision Song Contest 2015 and Under the Covers, Vol.1

In the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, he was one of the five members of the Irish jury. On 20 November 2015, he released his fourth single Uptown Downtown. He uploaded his cover of "Hello" by Adele on YouTube on 18 December 2015 and from then, he's uploading several cover songs like "Pillowtalk" by Zayn Malik and "Hands to Myself" by Selena Gomez. On 19 February 2016, he released a cover album Under the Covers, Vol.1.

Personal life

During an interview on RTÉ Radio 1 in February 2014, Dolan came out as gay.^[6][7] He said, "In school I was confused about who I was, and it was really hard for me growing up because of that. It was hard to deal with because I knew that I was gay, but I couldn't get the courage to talk to someone about it".^[8]

In November 2019, Dolan bought a pub in County Tyrone with SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan.^[9]

Discography

Albums

Title	Details
Frequency	Released: 13 May 2013 Label: JM13 Format: Digital download, CD
Under the Covers, Vol.1	Released: 16 February 2016 Label: self-release Format: Digital download, CD
Under the Covers, Vol.2	Released: 2016 Label: Format: Digital download, CD
Deep Covers	Released: 2017 Label: Format: Digital download, CD

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions			Album
		IRE [10]	BEL (Fl) [11]	UK Indie [12]
"Only Love Survives"	2013	17	67[A]	33	Frequency
"Start Again"	2014	71	—	—	TBA
"Fall to the Floor"		88	—	—
"Uptown Downtown"	2015	—	—	—
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released.

Notes

A ^ Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts. Added 50 position to actual Ultratip position.

References

1. "Strabane singer Ryan Dolan for Eurovision final". BBC News. 15 May 2013. Archived from the original on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
2. "Ryan Dolan wins Eurosong contest". RTÉ Ten. 22 February 2013. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
3. "Ireland's Dolan qualifies for Eurovision final". RTÉ News. 15 May 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.^{[dead link‍]}
4. "Denmark wins Eurovision Song Contest". RTÉ News. Retrieved 19 May 2013.^{[dead link‍]}
5. "Ryan Dolan - Start Again [Official Music Video]". YouTube. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
6. O'Reilly, Brian. "Eurovision star Ryan Dolan comes out as gay". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 6 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
7. Jude, Padraig (5 February 2014). "RYAN DOLAN: I WISH I CAME OUT A LONG TIME AGO". Wiwibloggs.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
8. "Ireland: Ryan Dolan talks about his sexuality". Esctoday.com. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
9. Hughes, Brendan (12 November 2019). "SDLP's Daniel McCrossan to open pub in Strabane with Eurovision singer Ryan Dolan". The Irish News. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
10. Hung, Steffen. "Discography Ryan Dolan". Irish Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
11. Hung, Steffen. "Discographie Ryan Dolan". Belgian Charts PortalPortal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
12. Peak positions for the Indie singles in the UK:

    • For "Only Love Survives": "Chart Archive > 1st June 2013". Official Charts Company. 1 June 2013. Archived from the original on 1 November 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2020.

External links

• Official website

Preceded by Jedward with "Waterline"	Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013	Succeeded by Can-Linn featuring Kasey Smith with "Heartbeat"