Basic facts

Total records sold: 16 million copies
Albums: 22
Singles: 35
DVD's: 9
VHS's: 12

Biggest live appearence: Austria, Vienna (1995), audience of 250 000 people


20 years, since 1974 until 1994, they wandered through Europe and the USA, before there came hit that everybody knows today - if they either like it or not. We're talking about the song "An Angel" with Paddy and Angelo at microphone. Their album "Over The Hump" (including "An Angel") brought the final breakthrough. This album has sold more than 4,5 million copies in Europe. It has sold 3,5 million copies in Germany alone, making it German all-time best-seller. In 1994 their father got back on his feet thanks to his iron discipline, and for the first time since becoming ill, he appeared with his kids in 1994 in front of 16,000 people on the stage of the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund. The Kelly Family members are the most energetic live performers you could have experienced in the 90s. They are not just a pop or rock band - they are much more: Their Irish-American background provides a repertoire that ranges from emotional ballads to thunderous full vocal rock numbers. The most striking feature of their appearance on stage is spontaneity. They don't display any of the star-like poses which many bands deem necessary for a place in the popdome hall of fame. The Kelly Family have triumphed by following their hearts and by communicating directly to their audience through their love and sheer enthusiasm for music. In the summer 1994, 40 000 people saw the Kelly Family (who were unknown in Switzerland at that time) at the "Out In the Green" open-air festival in Winterthur when they played alongside bands such as Aerosmith and Whitesnake. The crowds who asked, "Who are they?" became totally spellbound and rocked the night away. Aerosmith commented: "Astonishing. One of the best performers I've ever seen for ages. The future belongs to them." By 1995, the Kellys have won all the big viewers' and listeners' prizes: Bambi, Goldener L�we, Golden BRAVO-Otto, Golden Europa, 2 Viva Comets and the German Video Prize. Platinum and gold awards for their albums and single started to come very soon. The family filled all European football stadiums and made its biggest live appearence in Vienna in front of an audience of 250 000. Streets, tents and squares became too small for this successful family. Each of their concerts was completely sold out. For example: during their European tour in 1996 and 1997 they played for (minimum!) 40 000-50 000 fans on each concert. The Kellys appeared on almost all the popular TV shows. They had their own TV-specials, too. Everyone loves this family, everyone wants to see them live.Their audience range is from 3 to 70 years olds. They are admired by kids, teens, rockers, "heavy metal" fans, grandmothers and "hip-hop" fans alike. But the Kelly Family didn't keep all the money to themselves. On concerts they collected money for people who have AIDS- and cancerpatients and they recorded the songs in 5 languages for the children in Kosovo during the war there, they gave the proceeds of that single to Unicef. Their fame became bigger and bigger until 1999, when family decided that they will make less shows a year. Understand them - they made even 400 concerts a year, so it must have been very hard. The Kellys had almost no time to their own lives. Everybody wanted them to perform somewhere or give interviews. They all needed to find true themselves. In 1999 they celebrated 25 years since the band foundation. "The Kelly Family" became the youngest legend of the world. Meanwhile, the Kellys are known on other continents, in countries such as China, South Africa and the USA. Worldwide, the singing family have collected a stack of gold awards and 48 platinum discs, just until today. In the spring of 2001 Angelo, Maite. Paddy, Barby, Joey, Jimmy und Patricia went into studio in the south of france and recorded their 15th studio album "La Patata" (named after one of the Kellys favorite restaurant), which was released on the 8th of April 2002. They also performed over 80 concerts throughout the whole Europe.Due to the decreased health from his operation before Christmas (2001) Daniel Jerome Kelly peacefully passed away at the age of 71 on August 5th, 2002. All the children were with him and prayed for him at that moment. His last words were: "Keep On Singing..." Shortly after his burial in Irland and the memorial ceremonie for the public, the Kellys completed their schedule apperances and continued touring. The funeral was small, but hundreds of fans gathered outside the gates of the church and were able to listen to the ceremony through loudspeakers. Dan's children wanted and were able to sing one last song for their father and through tears and sobs they sang him "Ave Maria". In the year 2003 the band performed a minimum of 40 concerts across Europe and intents to go in studio to record a new album. Paddy is also doing his own projects. He still sings and concerts with the family, but beside that he is about to release his first solo album called "In Exile" (released in March 2003). Some of the Kellys took part in actions against the war in Iraq, especially Paddy, who was arrested in New York for a few hours. On January 20th, 2004, Tanja and Joey had their second child, Leon. In February the Kellys came back to circus Roncalli, where they used to play in their beggings. Even after such a long time, the artists and the Kellys were able to do a great job. Beautiful shows. Then, they started to play every Sunday in Phatasialand, since April until September. Also, Johnny wrote his statement about leaving the band and describing all the problems. It was put on the official website of his wife and he recieved a lot of emails, then, which he gratefully thanked for. Maite felt burned out and decided to give some time to God. Also Angelo wanted to become a bit more independent, he started to perform with other bands besides the Kelly Family. In October 2004, we could here for the first time about Paddy's decision to become a monk. He's been in a monastery, learning to be a monk, thinking about his faith. In August 2005 the Kellys performed at the 20th anniverssary of "Welt Jugend Tag" ("World Youth Day"), a meeting of Catholics from all around the world. Jimmy said that Paddy needs to seek higher religious education and needs some time to think if he comes back or not. The Kellys went on "Who'll come with me" tour with Roncalli again, also Paul joined them. Kathy released her "Godspel" solo album.

"The Kelly Family" as a band is no longer excist since 2008 September.
The band had their last concert in Holland (Maastricht) in 2008.