Brendan O'Brien, RIP

Former showband star Brendan O'Brien died suddenly at his Cork home last week at the age of 66.

Just four months after he had joined emotional tributes to Joe Dolan on his sudden death, the singer was found dead in his Cork city centre flat.

It seems that he had apparently died while in an armchair in his sitting room reading a newspaper.

He is survived by his five children, Brendan, Conor, Trish, Aideen and Sinead, all of whom are now based in Canada.

Tributes flooded in to the family after the news broke.

His long-time collaborator Sean Lucey paid tribute to his friend saying, "He played a few concerts in Cork recently, two in the Opera House and one in the Silver Springs Hotel. His health seemed grand."

"He was my best friend, he was always with me. As well as the band, we were partners in an amusement caterers' business for ten years and we had a comeback together in 1982," he added.

Joe McCarthy, The Dixies legendary drummer admitted he was shocked by the news.

"This is the day I dreaded," he said, "I often thought, 'how would I be able to handle it if it did happen?' and now that it has happened I can't handle it at all. I'm in bits."

Brendan O'Brien joined The Dixies -- the Cork-based showband -- in 1961 after a brief period as a stand-in musician.

The Dixies hit the big time in 1963 with their smash-hit single, 'Christmas Time', and they became one of the leading acts on the showband circuit.

Agreeing a contract with PYE Records in 1964 and had two Top 10 hits -- and for a time they rivalled such showband legends as The Drifters, The Miami, The Cadets and The Royal Showband.

The band achieved their biggest hit in 1968 when 'Little Arrows' went to number one in the Irish charts and stayed there for a record-breaking 26 weeks.

It also charted as well in a dozen European countries.