Daniel Kelly, 71; Head of Irish American Folk, Rock, Pop Group
Daniel Kelly, 71, patriarch of the Irish American folk, rock and pop group the Kelly Family, died Monday in Germany after a long illness.
The Kelly Family--four sons and two daughters--is a phenomenon in Europe, where they have sold more than 15 million albums and perform at sold-out concerts. Their 1994 album “Over the Hump†sold 4.5 million copies.
Kelly and his wife, Barbara Ann, and their children left the United States in 1966 and settled in Spain, where the children began singing and dancing to folk music with their parents.
Family members made their Spanish television debut in 1975 and then began touring. By the late 1970s, they had their first recording contract. They had their first hit in Holland and Belgium in 1980 with “Who’ll Come with Me.â€
The family, which for years lived on a houseboat in Cologne’s harbor, bought a castle in western Germany in 1998 for $7.3 million.
Barbara Ann Kelly died in 1982. Kelly had a major stroke in 1990.
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