{"id":14968,"date":"2020-06-03T17:36:31","date_gmt":"2020-06-03T21:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=14968"},"modified":"2020-06-05T09:57:53","modified_gmt":"2020-06-05T13:57:53","slug":"youll-never-be-alone-again-with-gilbert-osullivan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=14968","title":{"rendered":"You’ll Never Be ‘Alone Again’ With Gilbert O’Sullivan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Each week we will highlight one artist from Paddy McCarthy\u2019s regular Music And Entertainment Guide for your reading pleasure. To read the full weekly guide, visit our ePaper.<\/em><\/p>\n

Gilbert O\u2019Sullivan\u00a0(born\u00a0Raymond Edward O\u2019Sullivan) is an Irish singer songwriter, best known for his early 1970s\u00a0hits\u00a0\u201cAlone Again (Naturally)\u201d, \u201cClair\u201d, and \u201cGet Down\u201d. Worldwide he has charted 16 top-40 records, including six No. 1 songs, the first of which was 1970\u2019s \u201cNothing Rhymed\u201d.<\/p>\n

Across his career, he has recorded 19 studio albums, up to his UK top 20 self-titled record in 2018. Speaking in 2009 he said, \u201cI write pop songs. That\u2019s all I want to do. I have no interest in just touring, and living in the past.\u201d The music magazine\u00a0Record Mirror\u00a0voted him the top UK male singer of 1972. He has received three\u00a0Ivor Novello Awards, including \u201cSongwriter of the Year\u201d in 1973.<\/p>\n

At the end of 1970, O\u2019Sullivan achieved his first UK\u00a0Top 10\u00a0hit with \u201cNothing Rhymed\u201d, which also reached\u00a0No. 1\u00a0in the\u00a0Netherlands,\u00a0where it earned him his first\u00a0gold disc. Subsequent hits followed including \u201cUnderneath The Blanket Go\u201d (which also reached\u00a0No. 1\u00a0in the Netherlands), \u201cWe Will\u201d and \u201cNo Matter How I Try\u201d, the latter being named \u201cBest Ballad or Romantic Song\u201d at the 17th Ivor Novello Awards in 1972. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Sullivan released his debut album,\u00a0\u201cHimself\u201d, in 1971. In 1972 O\u2019Sullivan reached international\u00a0stardom\u00a0with \u201cAlone Again (Naturally)\u201d, which reached No. 3 in UK; No. 1 in the US, spending six non-consecutive weeks at\u00a0No. 1\u00a0on the\u00a0Billboard\u00a0Hot 100\u00a0chart\u00a0and selling nearly two million copies; No. 2 in New Zealand (11 weeks on the charts in total); No. 1 in Canada for 2 weeks (13 weeks in the Top 40); and No. 1 in Japan (21 weeks on the chart). The guitar solo was played by\u00a0Big Jim Sullivan.<\/p>\n

In total US sales for 1972, O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s hit was topped only by\u00a0Roberta Flack\u2019s \u201cThe First Time Ever I Saw Your Face\u201d. Both songs were nominated for a\u00a0Grammy Award\u00a0in the\u00a0Song of the Year\u00a0and\u00a0Record of the Year\u00a0 categories in 1973, but Flack won both. O\u2019Sullivan followed \u201cAlone\u201d with \u201cClair\u201d (1972, from the album\u00a0Back to Front). The single reached No. 2 in the United States on the Hot 100 and No. 1 in the UK and Canada (14 weeks in the Canadian Top 40). O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s\u00a0disc\u00a0sales exceeded ten million in 1972 and made him the top star of the year. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s success led to him taking part in the\u00a0BBC\u2019s anniversary program\u00a0Fifty Years of Music\u00a0in November 1972. \u201cOut of the Question\u201d (also from\u00a0\u201cBack to Front\u201d) reached No. 17 in the US and No. 14 in Canada.\u00a0\u201cGet Down\u201d (1973), from the album\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m A Writer Not A Fighter\u201d, reached No. 1 in the UK and in Germany, No. 7 in both the US and Canada, and No. 3 in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

Following \u201cAlone Again (Naturally)\u201d and \u201cClair\u201d, \u201cGet Down\u201d was his third million-seller, with the\u00a0RIAA\u00a0gold disc award presented on 18 September 1973. His November 1974 single \u201cChristmas Song\u201d reached No. 12 in the UK and No. 5 in Ireland. <\/p>\n

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