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The three Catholic priests are singing to raise money for charity work. (Times photo) |
CAIRO — Three Roman Catholic priests are venturing into the positional music industry with a multi-million-dollar contract, which they promise to use for charity work.
"We are singing sacred music, continuing what we have always been doing," priest David Delargy, 44, told The Times on Thursday, April 24.
"Singing is very much what we do. This is bringing it to a wider audience."
Last year, an Irish pop musician heard Delargy, his old friend Father Eugene O'Hagen, 48, and his brother Martin, 45, singing.
He asked them to perform a demonstration recording and presented it to Sony BMG, one of the Big Four music companies.
The record company signed a £1 million contract with the trio.
"Their voices are incredible. I said, 'I think we’ve found three pop stars'," Nick Raphael, managing director of Epic Records, part of Sony BMG, recalled his impression after listening to the demonstration recording.
"They're going to be wonderful global superstars," he expects.
"The quality of their singing is quite scary."
The priests' coming record is planned for release around November.
Charity
The priests, who all hold parishes in the Northern Ireland diocese of Down and Connor, have a special exemption in their contract allowing them to break off from promotional duties to deal with parish work.
"Our work means a great deal to us," insists Father Martin.
"We are priests first and foremost. Our work will be at the heart of our plans."
Father David agreed.
"I think we’ll be keeping our feet firmly on the ground. We have not let ourselves get too carried away."
The priests all attended The Seminary in Belfast and concluded their training at the Irish College in Rome, before returning to Ireland to tend to parishioners and carry out official duties at church services.
Father Eugene said the signing money will go to various charities.
"[But] we haven’t decided which."
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