He is the first artist to win the Eurovision Song Contest twice: Today the Irish-Australian singer Johnny Logan celebrates his 70th birthday. There is no talk of retirement.
No one else has achieved this before: he has won it twice himself, and once again he was at the top as a songwriter for Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest. And recently Johnny Logan was in Malmö as a break act at one of the semi-finals of the ESC. The Irish-Australian cuddly singer will be 70 years old on May 13th.
When asked in an interview by RTÉ Radio presenter Joe Duffy what he would say at Heaven’s Gate, Johnny Logan smiled and said: “I’ve done my best but often blown it. Can I please see my parents now ?”
But the singer and composer is actually far from thinking about retiring or even saying goodbye to the afterlife – quite the opposite. He is currently on tour, which also takes him to Büsum and Munich for live performances, but also to Austria, Denmark, Slovenia and the Netherlands.
Ireland wins the Eurovision Song Contest seven times
Logan won the ESC in 1980 with the song “What’s Another Year” composed by Shay Healy and again in 1987 with “Hold Me Now”. That must have been a particularly emotional moment for the Irishman, because Logan performed this ballad even though his marriage had broken up just a few days before: he had actually written the song for his wife.
The winning song “Why Me?” sung by Linda Martin from 1992 was also written by Johnny Logan. He has contributed to almost half of the victories for Ireland, which has won the Eurovision Song Contest seven times so far – only Sweden has achieved this. Ireland received the most points in 1970, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996.
Although he was born in Melbourne, Australia, Seán Patrick Michael Sherrard O’Hagan, as Johnny Logan is properly called, is known as a pop star from Ireland. A manager in Italy recommended his stage name to him at the beginning of his career. For a long time, Logan made a clear distinction between Seán and Johnny – one was a “husband and father, the other an entertainer who conquered the Eurovision Song Contest,” he says in the interview with Joe Duffy.
It was only after his mother’s death that he was able to reconcile the two personalities. On stage at a concert in Sweden, he spontaneously decided to speak from his heart about the loss – suddenly “Johnny Logan was sharing the spotlight with Seán Sherrard”. And that’s when it occurred to him: “People liked Seán much more than the image of a pop star,” he says. “During that time I became myself.” Logan lives partly in Ashbourne, half an hour north of Dublin, and partly in Munich, with his partner and manager Tanja Surmann.
Logan was already touring at the age of twelve
The musician came to Ireland with his siblings Michael, Eamon and Fiona at the age of three when their parents wanted to return to their homeland. With his father, the tenor Patrick O’Hagan, who was known on the Emerald Isle and Down Under at the time, Logan toured Australia and New Zealand at the age of twelve.
The father strongly encouraged his son to become a musician. It was logical for Johnny Logan to learn to play the guitar and write his first songs as a teenager. After a short detour through an apprenticeship as an electrician after school, he began to perform as a singer in pubs and clubs.
Johnny Logan, that stands for 16 albums – including several number one positions in Scandinavia. His work also includes ten compilations, joint recordings with Andrea Berg, a title song for the German series “Blaues Blut”, a country version of the song “Miss You Nights” with Elvis Presley’s band and appearances in the rock opera “Excalibur”. .
Children’s punch instead of mulled wine
The Irishman has not drunk alcohol for many years and lives a life of abstinence, having previously drowned his sorrows in alcohol. He says that although he loves German Christmas markets, for example, and used to enjoy drinking mulled wine, he has now switched to children’s punch.
Johnny Logan knows that he has tried a lot in his life – including musically. He often changed his style, which “confused not only myself, but also my audience.” Sometimes it felt like “I didn’t have a real musical identity. Apart from my Eurovision songs.” He says he has now come to terms with himself more.