Danny O'Dono who? Now everyone knows the star of The Script - thanks to The Voice

Things are different for The Script this time around.

Two years ago, when they released their second album Science & Faith, the Irish trio were known for their soft-rock songs that tugged at the heartstrings.

The Script (from left): Glen Power, Danny O'Donoghue and Mark Sheehan

They were on the cusp of chart-topping success, but hardly household names.

Now, thanks to a stint alongside Sir Tom Jones, Jessie J and Will.i.am on BBC talent show The Voice, singer Danny O’Donoghue is a fully-fledged pop star. His Celtic charm has made him a huge hit with the show’s ten million viewers.

For The Script, on the eve of their third album, this is good news. The invisible band are now public property — and it isn’t just frontman Danny who is enjoying the limelight. The higher profile stands to benefit guitarist Mark Sheehan and drummer Glen Power, too.

Mark, 35, a softly-spoken Dubliner: says:  ‘When Danny was offered The Voice, I saw it as a great opportunity for the group.

In the past, we let our music do the talking, but our anonymity was becoming detrimental. Danny has put a public face to the band.’

Mark and Danny make an entertaining double act (Sheehan describes Danny as ‘the graceful swan’ and himself as ‘the grubby, webbed feet underneath’), but there is serious business on the agenda, too, with the pair keen to talk about their third album.

Conveniently titled #3, it maintains the R&B-influenced approach of Science & Faith, but spices up the beats with soul-searching lyrics.

‘People have always sung along to the Script, now they can dance to us, too,’ says Danny, 31.

Mark, sporting a vintage David Bowie T-shirt, agrees: ‘It’s vital to evolve as a band. I love Coldplay, but I wish they would experiment more. We have one foot in rock and another in R&B.’

Nowhere are the R&B leanings more apparent than on new single Hall Of Fame, a duet between Danny and Voice colleague Will.i.am. Getting the hyperactive Black Eyed Peas man into a studio wasn’t easy. ‘I played Hall Of Fame to Will, and he said: “I need it for my record”,’ Danny recalls.

‘I told him he couldn’t have it, so he agreed to guest on it instead. Then, when we arranged a session, he flaked out because he had been invited to dinner with Bill Clinton!

‘So, the next night, after The Voice, I jumped into his car. Mark came along, too, and we taped his lines in a hotel room. It must have been strange for him to be caught in a headlock in his own hotel by two Irish blokes.'

Thanks to a stint alongside on The Voice, singer Danny O'Donoghue is a fully-fledged pop star

While Mark was keen for Danny to embrace The Voice, he admits the series did put a strain on the band.

With their singer working long shifts on the show, it was left to the others to pick up the slack in terms of producing the new album. Tensions arose. ‘I was spending all day in the studio, and Danny would arrive at 7pm,’ Mark says. ‘I needed his undivided attention, but he would be tired. We had some screaming rows, but it was ever personal. It was always about the music.’

Another side-effect of the band’s higher profile has been increased interest in Danny’s private life. Earlier this year, he broke up with long-term girlfriend Irma Mali, a Lithuanian model. He has since been linked with 27-year-old protegee Bo Bruce, a finalist on The Voice.

The singer refuses to confirm or deny the romance. ‘I don’t have much to say about Bo,’ he tells me. ‘Everybody wants to fan the flames, so I’m happy to let them churn out their stuff. People want me to respond, but I’m not going to.’

Danny is more effusive when talking about his new songs, particularly If You Could See Me Now, a number that addresses the death of his father and Mark’s mother shortly after The Script formed  in 2008.

Although the band were based in America, they returned to Dublin when Mark’s mother fell ill. Her passing was followed, four months later, by that of Danny’s dad, Shay. He died suddenly of an aneurysm on Valentine’s Day, and his son sports a rose tattoo on his left arm to mark the date.

‘That song is all about two grown men sitting down and dealing with things,’ says Danny. ‘With that song, Mark and I left the realm of songwriters and began to bare our souls. It’s not a look-at-me song. It’s us wondering what our parents would think of us now.

‘They’d probably tell me I drink and smoke too much, but I think they’d also be proud.’

Source: Mail Online