He has become one of our biggest musical exports in recent years - but how much do you actually know about Dermot Kennedy?
To mark the release of his third album The Weight of the Woods, here’s a recap on everything you need to know about the enigmatic Dubliner’s career to date.
HOW DID HE START PLAYING MUSIC?
Like many musicians who have trodden a similar path before him, Rathcoole native Kennedy began playing publicly by busking on Dublin’s Grafton Street when he was 17. He obtained a degree in Classical Music from Maynooth University - although that genre hasn’t reared its head in his output yet - but it wasn’t until he was in his mid-twenties that he got his big break. During his college years, he also spent a summer busking on Boston’s Newbury Street while there on his J1 visa, but he has said that busking was always a means to an end; simply a way to make money to get into the studio.
HOW DID THAT BIG BREAK HAPPEN?
Kennedy supported acts like Glen Hansard (another former busker) early in his career and came to attention with his debut single An Evening I Will Not Forget in 2015, which he self-released on Spotify. After a smattering of further singles (including After Rain) and an EP which grew his fanbase significantly, he signed a record deal with Universal Music Group (Island Records in the UK and Interscope in the US) in 2018.
WHAT HAVE BEEN HIS BIGGEST HITS?
Kennedy came to wider prominence with his major label debut album Without Fear in 2019, which set him on the path to international success. The album went to #1 in the Irish and UK charts, broke into the Top 20 in the US Billboard Hot 200 chart, and spawned hits like Outnumbered and Power Over Me. His second album Sonder was released in 2022 and he scored another mega-hit with the rousing Better Days, which you may have heard soundtracking any number of sporting montages over the last few years.
OH YEAH - ISN’T HE BIG INTO SPORTS, TOO?
Sport continues to play a huge role in his life; he has proudly spoken of his schoolboy days playing for Crumlin United, is a passionate supporter of the Irish national soccer and rugby teams, says that Roy Keane is his hero and is personal friends with NBA stars like Jimmy Butler and others.
AND HE ALSO HAS SOME OTHER FAMOUS FANS…
He’s worked with a few of them, too. Paul Mescal famously joined him for his mid-pandemic virtual performance at London’s National History Museum in 2020, performing the song Giants. Taylor Swift is a fan, too - she praised him for his 'poetic’ songwriting as far back as 2019, and included his song Boston on one of her Spotify playlists. He is also pals with country megastar Zach Bryan, whom he supported and duetted with at his gigs in London and Dublin last summer.
HE’S DONE WELL OUTSIDE OF IRELAND TOO, RIGHT?
He certainly has - to the extent that he has headlined (and sold out) iconic venues like Madison Square Garden, the Ryman Auditorium and Red Rocks in the US, as well as Sydney Opera House, London’s O2 and multiple stadiums around the world. Misneach, the festival he founded to celebrate the Irish diaspora, staged huge gigs in Boston and Sydney in 2025.
WHAT IS HIS NEW ALBUM ABOUT?
The Weight of the Woods sees Kennedy going back-to-basics by working with one producer (Gabe Simon, who also oversaw Noah Kahan’s extraordinary rise) and veering away from the anthemic in favour of folkier ruminations. As the title suggests, it was inspired by long walks in the forest behind his home on the Dublin/Wicklow/Kildare border and is more ‘grounded’ than some of his earlier work, with themes of family, home and Irishness abounding.
WHEN IS HE NEXT PLAYING DUBLIN?
He’ll play his biggest Irish shows to date when he headlines the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on July 11th and 12th. The Weight of the Woods, meanwhile, is out now.
