Kiev Connolly

Kevin "Kiev" Connolly (born 5 April 1956)^{[citation needed]} is an Irish songwriter, producer and musician. His group, Kiev Connolly and The Missing Passengers, represented Ireland at the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest.^[1]

Early life and education

Born in Ballymote, County Sligo, Connolly attended school in Cork.^{[citation needed]} He moved to Germany in 1978, and worked as a studio musician and producer in West Berlin.^[2]

Career

Connolly formed the pop group "The Missing Passengers" in 1985.^[2] The group secured a recording contract with Ariola/RCA in Germany and "toured Europe extensively".^[2] In 1985, the group performed Connolly's song "Did She Tell You" on both the Extratour program Radio Bremen/ARD, and the Musik Convoy program on WDR/ARD.^{[citation needed]} Connolly returned to Ireland in 1987.^[2]

In 1989, Kiev Connolly and The Missing Passengers represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest in Lausanne, Switzerland with Connolly's song The Real Me.^[3]^[4] The song reached number 17 in the Irish Singles Chart in May 1989.^[5] Yugoslavia won the Eurovision Song Contest that year.

In 2000, Connolly established Feature Music Studios.^{[citation needed]} Connolly was involved in arranging and producing several live performances and albums of The Wolfe Tones. This included credits on the Wolfe Tones' 2001 album "You'll Never Beat the Irish".^[6] He also occasionally supported the Wolfe Tones, in performances, on keyboards and guitar.^[7]

References

^ "Participant - Kiev Connolly and The Missing Passengers". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Ireland in 1989 - Kiev Connolly and the Missing Passengers - Biography". esctoday.com. Archived from the original on 21 November 2006.
^ Roddy, Laura (1 January 2020). "Inside 1989: What Irish business looked like 30 years ago". Fora.ie. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
^ "RTÉ Archives - Ireland's Eurovision Entry - 30 April 1989". rte.ie. RTÉ. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
^ "Search - Artist - Kiev Connolly". irishcharts.ie. Irish Music Rights Association. Archived from the original on 20 February 2024.
^ "The Wolfe Tones - You'll Never Beat The Irish". theballadeers.com. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
^ Fell, Alex (26 July 2018). "The Wolfe Tones now". irishecho.com. Retrieved 20 February 2024. They [The Wolfe Tones] are assisted occasionally by [..] Kiev Connolly on keyboards and additional guitar. He is seen on stage from time to time, as well as working behind the scenes with the arrangements

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Jump the Gun with "Take Him Home"	Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1989 (with The Missing Passengers)	Succeeded by Liam Reilly with "Somewhere in Europe"