THE VOICE
‘I am the Voice…I will remain’
The Voice was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1996, performed by Eimear Quinn for Ireland. This victory marked Ireland’s fourth win in five years (and seventh overall), reinforcing its dominance in the 1990s.
The Voice was subsequently added to the GCSE music syllabus throughout Britain, confirming its status as a song to learn – and a song to learn from.
Eimear Quinn
“In 2018 I had the enormous pleasure of hearing the singer Eimear Quinn performing at the St Patrick's Day dinner I attended in London. The Voice is the song, written by Brendan Graham and very Celtic in its feel, with which Eimear won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1996”
-King Charles III
"Singing 'The Voice' has been an endless blessing in my life. The premise of the song, and its lyrical construction, renders me a messenger. The reality, after singing it hundreds of times, is that it now actually 'sings' me, and I'm simply the conduit. Rather than tiring from singing the same song, it has become more hypnotic and freeing with each performance"
-Eimear Quinn
Praise for The Voice
“It was difficult to be left unmoved by the brooding traditional melody”.
— The Irish Times
“The Voice is still requested…demanded. It has been a gift to me…a blessing.”
— Eimear Quinn
“Haunting Gaelic inspired song”
— Herald Tribune, NY
“‘The thing about The Voice, whatever way the song is structured it has its own internal energy and vibration I would say…it’s like it sings itself’”
— Marty Whelan, RTE Lyric FM
“The Voice scored Ireland its fourth victory at the Eurovision in five years and remains a beloved song on these shores and beyond. In 2021 in a national radio broadcast, HRH Prince Charles listed 'The Voice' among his all-time favourite songs alongside tracks by Diana Ross, Edith Piaf, Barbra Streisand, and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’”
— Hot Press