A 22-year-old Monaghan musician whose genre-bending blend of classical and Irish traditional influences has topped charts across the world says his life has changed forever by the success.
Jamie Duffy, from Glaslough was studying politics at university in Belfast when he released his first single, Solas which was the most successful debut song on streaming from an Irish artist since Take Me To Church by Hozier. His debut single has had more than 60 million plays on Spotify.
According to Jamie, the track was originally posted online one night and life changed after that. For Irish Music Month in 2021 Jamie performed his song "Genie" in a collaboration with Rachel Hoctor, and was chosen as one of the finalists for the Hot Press Awards for Shannonside Northern Sound.
He now has nearly one million monthly listeners on Spotify alone, and has been number one in the classical charts in countries like the Netherlands and Kazakhstan. Since then the Monaghan native has continued to have huge success with other singles and he says he is looking forward to another busy year ahead.
When Jamie was 17 he started out working as a pianist at Castle Leslie, carrying on a family musical tradition at the popular local venue. The Glaslough native says his debut single has opened so many doors for him with entering the American classical charts witch he has described as 'mind blowing'
