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Joe Dolan: Thanks for the music BY Hilary O'Shaughnessy
 FRIENDS,
family and fans have paid tribute to Joe Dolan after the sudden death
of the hugely-popular singer.
The 68-year-old died in the Mater Hospital in Dublin following a suspected
brain haemorrhage.
He had been taken ill at his home in Foxrock on Christmas night.
Former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds said: “It’s a huge shock,
he went so quick.
“We started more or less around the same time in the ballroom business.
He was a phenomenon. I haven’t known anybody who made the grade
so quickly and held onto it for so long.
“He was a real professional. He always gave the audience what they
wanted.
“I never heard anybody saying a bad word about him. Never.”
Joe Dolan sold millions of records and had a string of hits around the
world in a career which spanned four decades.
He began in the showband era during the early 1960s and became a star
in both Ireland and Britain.
He continued to tour extensively only recently cancelling concert dates
for the first time in his career after falling ill during a show in Laois
in September.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said: “It is only a couple of months since
I last met Joe and it was always great talking to him.
“He had an amazingly loyal legion of fans in Ireland and abroad.
These fans will be saddened to hear of his death and I share their sorrow.”
Joe Dolan first came to prominence in 1964 when his Drifters band recorded
The Answer to Everything.
A string of hits followed launching a worldwide singing career.
Tony Allen of Foster & Allen said: “It is terrible news. Joe
had number one hits all over Europe and was probably the only Irish showband
star ever to tour Russia.
RTÉ presenter Derek Davis said: “When Joe Dolan tickets went
on sale people started queuing around the corner to get them.”
Séamus Whelan — whose father Billy wrote the song The Westmeath
Bachelor which was synonymous with Joe — said: “I remember
being in Moscow once and a man told me there he knew of only one Irish
person — and that man was Joe Dolan.
“He was a great ambassador for Westmeath.”
Irish Post readers give their own tributes to Joe Dolan:
“He was a great man. One of the best entertainers ever.”
Maria Culloty
Manchester
“We have lost one of the greats.”
Patrick Sullivan
London
“A sad day. Joe could hold a crowd in his hand. He was a true great,
a legend.”
Michael O’Neill
Birmingham
“Rest in peace Joe. You gave me very many happy days and nights.
I’m playing your records now.”
Siobhan Doran
Leicester
“To a true gentleman. Thanks Joe.”
Sinead Patrick
Newcastle
“We’ll never see your like again. But you gave great pleasure.”
Martin Goode
Coventry
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