With his pompadour quiff and 6ft 4ins frame Danny O'Donoghue is a commanding presence as he charms 6,000 fans in a sell-out audience at New York's Radio City Music Hall.
Then he's off the stage wandering among the young women in the front rows. He offers the mic to the crowd to sing along on Together We Cry as, all around him, a mass of iPads and iPhones rise to capture the moment. These are certainly exciting times for The Script.
In the UK and their native Ireland, O'Donoghue, 32, and his bandmates - guitarist Mark Sheehan, 36, and drummer Glen Power, 33 - enjoy even greater popularity, boosted hugely by Danny's time as a judge on The Voice UK alongside Tom Jones, Will.i.am and Jessie J. Having spent years in boyband Mytown hungering for the success that's now come their way, Danny and Mark understand that even the arduous parts are worth enduring.
"Being on the road can drive you mad," says Danny, the morning before the Radio City show, sipping coffee in a New York hotel bar.
"A lot of people have likened it to being in jail. I think that's why a lot of rock stars take to drink and drugs - to take their mind off the craziness. It's a hard balance to strike because you need to be in the best physical shape you can."
But being on tour is in Danny's genes because his late father Shay was the keyboard player in Irish showband The Dreams and also worked as a road manager, on one occasion driving for O'Donoghue's mate Tom Jones.
"Tom remembered him," Danny says, "because dad drove him down to have a paddle in the sea and while he was there somebody stole Tom's shoes."
Initially he was reluctant to follow the family tradition. "I vowed I'd never leave my ma because she always had me pegged as a musician. But then puperty hit and I met this fella," he says, pointing to Mark. "He was teaching at a performing arts school and I joined his class. My mam would say, 'You look after him', and he's kept me in line over the years."
The offer for Danny to appear on The Voice came at a crucial point in the band's career. Their first two albums had made them a multimillion selling band without a recognisable public face. The primetime TV slot would make Danny a household name in time for their third album. Together they decided the potential rewards outweighed the risks of over-exposure.
"We'd fallen in love with the American show before I was asked to do it," says Danny. "It was one thing getting on it, but there was always the possibility of making a k***head of yourself."
Newly single, following a split with Lithuanian model Irma Mali, his relationship with contestant Bo Bruce became the subject of much press speculation.
"It was our first experience of real press attention," Danny says. "You have no control over it - you just have to sit it out."
Mark's personal situation is very different. He is married with three kids while Danny is free to enjoy the offers that come with being a successful, handsome pop star.
"There's too many women around for him to get broody," Mark smiles.
"Even when I had a girlfriend they were still trying," Danny adds. "It's no different now." friend nny adds.
" At present, O'Donoghue isn't prepared to look too far into the future. "If we can do three albums in four years," he says, "imagine what we can do in 10, 15 or even 30 years. But if you look too far down the line you can get false dreams in your head. "We just try to take it day by day, then the future will take care of itself."
'Even when I was in a relationship girls were trying it on with me. It's no different now...'
Source: Irish Daily Mirror / Edited: DannyODonoghue.Net
.jpg)
