Singer Damien Dempsey has revealed he had to perform in front of an audience half an hour after he was told his dad had died.
His father, Francis, passed away at 75-year-old last November after 42 days in the Mater Hospital in Dublin. He died with his partner Etna and sons Emmett and Gary by his side.
But Damien was in Kerry at the time for the Irish music show Other Voices in Dingle.
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The 47-year-old revealed how he found out about his dad dying just before his performance. Damien told Ryan Tubridy on RTE Radio 1: "I heard it just about half an hour before I went on the stage."
The musician chose to go ahead with his show in dedication of his father.
He said: "I said 'I'm going to sing for him, sing him across the great divide'. So I sang for him to pass over. I done what he put me on earth to do."
After the gig, Damien said: "I broke down. I collapsed. It's love. I'd rather feel the love than never feel anything. Grief is just love and it's beautiful to feel it. You have to feel it, let it in and just be with it.
When Ryan asked how he died, Damien explained: "His head went and he wanted to go. He didn't want to be a burden on anybody."
Damien opened up about his dad, saying he felt lucky to have him for so long, revealing he got his passion for music from him.
He said: "I was lucky to have him so long. We got to become great friends towards the end. He was a terrible slagger but he was a hardworking man.
"He passed down his love of unaccompanied singing. We used to go to houses and just sing songs with each other with no instruments.
"That's what I try to bring to the live shows."
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