Eddie Friel

Edward Joseph Friel was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 25 April 1962, according to Eurovision-Spain and the German Wikipedia. His parents were John and Bridie Friel, both of whom died before him, and he had four sisters: Catherine, Dorothy, Mary and Susan. The family raised him in County Donegal, across the border in the Republic of Ireland. In his teenage years he was organist and choir director in his local parish, an early sign of the keyboard career that followed.

Friel graduated in music with honours. The institution has not been named in the sources consulted. In 1986 he began working as a music teacher, but he left teaching after one year to focus on performing and writing music.

After leaving teaching in 1987, Friel built a living in piano bars and live venues across Ireland, with early engagements in Canada and other European countries. In Belfast he played Sunday nights at the Regency Hotel on Botanic Avenue, singing songs such as Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis" and Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me", as one regular later recalled in The Orkney News. He was musical director at the Belfast Arts Theatre, wrote arrangements for a Scottish ballet company and played piano on the first album by Niamh Parsons and the Loose Connections.

He toured as a pianist with Van Morrison and played on Morrison's 1991 double album Hymns to the Silence: piano on "I'm Not Feeling It Anymore", "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "Green Mansions", organ alongside Georgie Fame on the title track, and synthesiser on "Be Thou My Vision" with the Chieftains. According to Eurovision-Spain, he later rejoined Morrison's band for a Scandinavian tour and the Montreux Jazz Festival.

In 1997 he released the single "Missing You Tonight" on MDM Records, with "A Cradle in Bethlehem" on the same release. Early in the 2000s he moved to Austria and became the resident singer and pianist at the Zürserhof hotel in Zürs am Arlberg, a post he held for about 25 years, playing at afternoon tea and after dinner. He self-released the albums Catch a Falling Star (2006) and My Old Cufflinks (2012). In 2014 he played at the first Jazziplatzl open-air event in Zürs. With producer Rino(IO)DJ he released the dance track "Jesus in the Afternoon" in 2015, followed by "Jericho" in 2016 and a reworked "Jesus in the Afternoon" in 2018. He was billed for evening entertainment at the Zürserhof in December 2025.

Two friends, the songwriters Richard Abbott and Barry Woods, asked Friel to sing a demo of their song "Dreamin'". As he told The Guardian in 2026, they entered it in the Irish selection without telling him. On 12 March 1995 he performed it at Eurosong '95 at the Cork Opera House, presented by Pat Kenny, and won with 99 points from ten regional juries, ahead of Naoimh Penston's "Always You" on 92.

Ireland had won Eurovision in 1992, 1993 and 1994 and was hosting for a third consecutive year. Soon after the selection the song was accused of resembling "Moonlight", a 1971 song by Julie Felix. RTÉ held three days of meetings with music and legal experts, and Penston was briefly considered as a replacement, before an agreement with Felix allowed "Dreamin'" to continue.

At the Point Theatre in Dublin on 13 May 1995, Friel sang second, after Poland and before Germany, with Noel Kelehan conducting and Eamonn Toal among the backing vocalists. He placed 14th of 23 with 44 points, including 10 from Sweden, ending Ireland's run of three consecutive wins.

Friel lived in Austria for roughly 25 years, latterly in Innsbruck, while working at the Zürserhof in Zürs. Eurovision-Spain reported that he moved to Austria for love; no partner has been named in the sources consulted. He remained close to his four sisters, who travelled to Innsbruck to be with him in his final illness. His sister Susan Steele lives in Bangor, County Down.

Friel took the Eurovision experience lightly. He rejected the long-running claim that RTÉ chose a weak song because it could not afford to host again, calling it ridiculous and "just scaremongering". He said the night itself was "brilliant" and that he was relaxed on stage. When he learned that the Father Ted episode "A Song for Europe" appeared to draw on his story, he said he found it funny and was not offended.

Friel holds a distinctive place in Eurovision history as the singer whose 14th place in Dublin ended Ireland's unmatched three-in-a-row winning streak, and whose entry became entangled with plagiarism claims and rumours about RTÉ's finances. The story is widely seen as one of the real-world inspirations for the 1996 Father Ted episode featuring "My Lovely Horse". Within Irish music he is remembered by fellow players as a gifted pianist on the Belfast scene and a contributor to Van Morrison's Hymns to the Silence, and in Austria as a fixture of the Zürserhof's evenings for a quarter of a century.

Winner of Eurosong '95, the Irish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Cork Opera House on 12 March 1995. No other formal awards are recorded in the sources consulted.

Recordings include: Van Morrison, Hymns to the Silence (1991, as pianist, organist and synthesiser player); "Dreamin'" (1995, Eurovision entry); "Missing You Tonight" (1997, MDM Records); Catch a Falling Star (2006, self-released); My Old Cufflinks (2012, self-released, including "These Foolish Things", "'S Wonderful" and "L.O.V.E."); Rino(IO)DJ featuring Eddie Friel, "Jesus in the Afternoon" (2015, Smilax Publishing), "Jericho" (2016) and "Jesus in the Afternoon (Rework)" (2018). Broadcaster Ronan Kelly noted that Friel was the first person to appear in his 1996 UTV documentary marking Downtown Radio's 20th birthday. In May 2026 Friel was one of the Eurovision figures interviewed by The Guardian.

Shortly after Eurosong '95, "Dreamin'" was accused of plagiarising Julie Felix's "Moonlight" (1971). RTÉ's managing director of organisation and development, Liam Miller, said both RTÉ and the composer acknowledged similarities between the songs but that it was not for RTÉ to take a position on copyright, and the entry remained unchanged after an agreement with Felix. The entry was also shadowed by rumours that RTÉ wanted to avoid the cost of hosting a fourth year, which Friel rejected. The controversies concerned the songwriting and the broadcaster, not Friel personally.

Eddie Friel died peacefully in hospital in Innsbruck, Austria, on 14 October 2026, aged 64, after a short illness. His sister Susan Steele said the four sisters were with him as he fought sepsis. A death notice was published in the Tiroler Tageszeitung on 20 October 2026, and news of his death spread in Ireland and among Eurovision fans on 29 October 2026; some outlets gave 29 October as the date of death, but the family's death notice gives 14 October. A Requiem Mass is to be held at 10am on Saturday 7 November 2026 at St James' Church, Shore Road, Whiteabbey, Newtownabbey, County Antrim.