Margo celebrates 55 years on opening night

Millennium Forum, Derry on Saturday, June 15.

Raised in the small village of Kincasslagh in The Rosses area of County Donegal, Margo rose to prominence during the 1960s in the Irish Country Music scene and has

had an extensive career since. Having started performing country music at a very young age in 1964 with a local showband, The Keynotes, Margo recorded her first single in 1968, ‘Bonny Irish Boy/Dear God’.

She explained: “I always sang as a young girl in our church choir and concerts in our local halls. In 1964, I was approached by a local group of lads from home, the Keynotes Showband, to sing with them, and with my parents’ consent and strict orders from my dad for them to look out for me, I joined them and would sing locally at weekends and school holidays, and then we ventured to Scotland.

“I never intended singing to be my full time occupation as I always wanted to be a nurse. I recorded my first album ‘Bonny Irish Boy’/’Dear God’ in 1968 with the Keynotes and following our record release ‘Margo and the Keynotes’ were in great demand.”

Margo has been a successful singer for over five decades now, has sold more than 1,000,000 records to date and has performed with country music icons such as Johnny

Cash, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and numerous more worldwide, household known artists.

She presented numerous TV shows for RTÉ in the 1970’s and has collected many awards during her career. Her albums usually include covers of popular country music

hits from the 1960’s and 1970’s and indeed, her 2019 album ‘Old and New’ contains original tribute songs to two of her greatest influences, Liz Anderson and Jean Shepard.

Margo has also recorded a number of songs written by Dolly Parton and on her album ‘Margo and Friends’ she duets with Dolly on ‘God’s Coloring Book’.

Sister to Irish singer Daniel O’Donnell, who got his start with Margo’s band in the early 1980’s while attending college in Galway, the ‘Girl from Donegal’, released her second single, ‘If I Could See the World Through the Eyes of a Child/Road By the River’, in 1969 which proved another tremendous success.

She continued: “We recorded our second single ‘Road by the River’ and ‘Eyes of a Child’ in 1969 and it was a huge success. I was then approached by a Dublin entertainment promoter and was offered a contract of security and a good future. It broke my heart but I left the ‘Keynotes’ in late 1969 and ‘Margo and the Country Folk’ were born. It was explosive, that is the only way I could describe it. It is very hard to understand but it was a wonderful era.”

Now known worldwide as ‘Ireland’s Queen of Country Music’, Margo was named 2007 ‘Donegal Person Of The Year’ and spent most of that year travelling Ireland as an

ambassador to her native county. She has now made her home in Castleblayney, County Monaghan, where she has lived for several decades.

She added: “On September 25th 2004, I celebrated 40 years in show business with a night to remember in Donegal, where it all started, and the Keynotes reformed specially for the night. In 2014, I celebrated 50 years in the music business, my ‘Golden Jubilee’. Now that’s a lifetime! I did a concert tour in August, October, November 2014 which I really enjoyed and this year, 2019, I celebrate my ‘Emerald’, 55 years of entertaining and I’m delighted to be appearing on Opry le Daniel in Millennium Forum, Derry in June.”

Country Music lovers far and wide are sure to give her a massive Opry le Daniel welcome at Millennium Forum, Derry on Saturday, June 15. Tickets are now on sale and will sell out quickly so contact Millennium Forum Box Office for your tickets now. Tel: 02871 264455 [04871 from R.O.I.] https://www.millenniumforum.co.uk/shows/opry-le-daniel/