Two years ago no-one had heard of Danny O’Donaghue, but now he’s the toast of the music industry. Andy Welch talks to The Script’s frontman about how he wrote his own success story. He may only be 25, but Danny O’Donaghue, lead singer of hotly tipped trio The Script, has packed a lot in. A couple of years ago, Danny and his friend Mark Sheehan were happy working with other groups in an American recording studio – learning from the likes of Rodney Jerkins, who has worked with Mary J Blige, Brandy and Teddy Riley, who was not only a member of influential soul band Blackstreet, but also produced Michael Jackson’s Dangerous and Invincible albums.
While living in Virginia Beach, Danny and Mark also became friends with local heroes and R&B overlords Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, aka The Neptunes, or N¤E¤R¤D. “That time was amazing,” he says. “I believe you have to take whatever opportunity you’re given and me and Mark got the chance to go to America, so we did. “I remember this one time, we were in a hotel and Pharrell was talking to Mark. Later on, it turned out he’d given Mark a tape of beats he’d made up that he wanted us to write over. It was just amazing to be around people like that. “We got to hook up with them again recently. We hung out after a show and exchanged numbers. I think it was a milestone for The Script, hanging out with N¤E¤R¤D!” How did it measure up to Pharrell’s rider? “Put it this way, I don’t think you could bite into their fruit, your teeth would smash,” he smiles. “Too many diamonds.”
*yorkshirepost.co.uk
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