MICHAEL PATRICK KELLY | 6 years as a monk, 30 years as a musician

When Michael Patrick turns 12, the Kelly family moves to live on a floating boat in Amsterdam (Holland). Paddy begins to play a more prominent role in the group’s music, so much so that at the age of 15 he composes ‘The Kelly Family’s’ biggest hit, called ‘An Angel‘ 👼

• The single reached No. 1 in Austria, Germany and Switzerland and was a hit all over Europe. In the following years (mid 90’s) they would sell over 20 million records, selling out stadiums on their tours.
• The Kellys continued with their hippie lifestyle, which brought them a lot of ridicule.
• Even so, Paddy Kelly became the leader of the group and had to go with security staff on the street because of the fame he achieved.

In 1996, Michael wrote another of The Kelly Family’s big hits, ‘Fell in love with an alien‘.   In the late 1990s Paddy Kelly went through a period of great personal crisis, including suicidal thoughts. He began to read the Bible in search of answers. He found them and became a fervent Catholic.

• In 2002, the year his father died, he cut off his long hair and left The Kelly Family to start his solo career.

Paddy released his solo debut, ‘In Exile‘, in 2003. It was received positively, especially in Germany, with the single ‘When you sleep‘. After that, he would retire to a convent in France for the next 6 years of his life, living as a monk and calling himself Friar John Paul Mary 📿 In 2010 Paddy Kelly left the religious community for health reasons, despite this he has always said that his time in the monastery was the best of his life.

We dreamed of having a lot of houses, singing in big stadiums, living on a boat and living in a castle. None of these desires fulfilled me. What really matters in life, you can’t pay for with money.

On his return to the stage, he devoted himself especially to Christian pop music:

• In 2011 he started a Christmas tour with some of his siblings singing Christmas carols.
• In 2012 he did a solo project called Agape in 10 German churches, with the participation of local priests.
• In 2013 he married his childhood sweetheart, Belgian journalist Joelle Verreet.

It would not be until 2015 that he would release his 2nd solo album, ‘Human‘.

• The album consists of 10 songs that look deep into the human heart, lamenting its suffering, celebrating its strength, following its yearnings and, above all, demonstrating the confidence that Michael Patrick carries within.
• Our favourite track on the album is ‘Beautiful Soul‘.

Only a year later, in 2016, ‘Ruah‘, which means ‘breath of life‘ in Hebrew, would be released.

• 10 spiritual tracks including ‘Don’t Judas me‘, a poignant ballad about betrayal.

Michael would follow up in 2017 with his 3rd album, ‘iD‘, a pop-rock album, full of good songs that conquered the German charts and took Paddy on a tour in front of 500,000 people, which he immortalised with ‘iD Live‘.

What is B•O•A•T•S? Simply put, it’s a magnificent album 😻 15 songs based on real events. ‘Icon‘, for example, is inspired by Michael Patrick Kelly’s encounters singing to inmates, where he met one who had painted his entire cell with icons. ‘Running Blind ‘ tells the story of the blind runner who became a Paralympic gold medallist, and ‘Mother’s Day‘ tells how Michael, aged 5, plucked flowers from neighbouring graves to put them on his mother’s grave.

• Years later, he would take a van full of bouquets to the neighbouring graves from which he had stolen flowers, touching the whole village 🌺

‘Blurry Eyes‘, is our favourite track, an epic love song, for all those who need to hear that they are loved just the way they are. ‘Home,’ on the other hand, is presented as a testament to the end of our time on earth. The title track, ‘Boats‘ tells us that there is still time to right our wrongs. About ‘Throwback‘ Martin explained:

I wrote it to look back at the good times in life, and in particular, a very special night when I was the last one on the dance floor until 6am, dancing to a playlist from the 70’s

Musically, B.O.A.T.S. takes us through multiple soundscapes and moods, all sung with a voice full of humanity, that of Michael Patrick Kelly. We can’t end our review of this great album without mentioning Michael’s biggest recent hit, ‘Beautiful Madness‘, where he describes the feeling you get when suddenly everything is turned upside down and you can’t do anything but push through with confidence.

Michael Patrick Kelly is not stopping, releasing a new single called ‘Best Bad Friend‘ with Rea Garvey in 2022. We still have a lot more Paddy to enjoy, but while we wait, we leave you with Michael Patrick Kelly’s best songs.