RONAN TYNAN: SONGS FOR A WORLD CLASS VOICE

The great Irish tenor gives voice to a great new collection of modern original songs

Ronan Tynan

"When Ronan sings," wrote U2's Bono, "the clouds cry but the sun turns up sooner than it would have." He's referring to Ireland's great tenor Ronan Tynan, who performed at the funeral of Bono's father. "He sang for my father, Bob, as we put him in the ground," wrote Bono in the liner notes to Tynan's new debut CD, Ronan, "and it felt like shelter. The wind died down, the rain stopped for the loudest, softest voice we have... A great Irish tenor."

Tynan is an extraordinary and dynamic vocalist, a former member of the famed Irish Tenors, who has overcome adversity in his life, and used his abundant gifts to help others surpass the profuse sorrow life often delivers. He sang at many memorial services honoring those who lost their lives in the 9-11 attacks, and at the funeral of Ronald Reagan.

But he also brings his magnificent tenor to happy occasions, such as Yankee games, where he performs "God Bless America." Singing in Yankee Stadium is a humbling experience, he said during a recent interview from his Manhattan home. "You have 58,000 people there," he said. "You sing, and they just love it. I am so proud to be there. I love to sing 'God Bless America' because it demonstrates what this great country is about. It's an awesome experience. Irving Berlin wrote an amazing song. It's like a hymn, with a beautiful melody and meaningful words."

Tynan was born with a lower limb deformity, and at the age of 20 a car accident caused him to have both legs amputated. But it didn't stop him for a moment. In only a year after the accident, he won multiple gold medals in the Paralympics, and between 1981 and 1984 he won a total of eighteen gold medals. He also set an astounding fourteen world records.

Yet he didn't start singing professionally until he was in his early thirties. "I was a late bloomer," he said with a laugh. He was a physician for ten years, specializing in sports injuries, but in time he made the transition from medicine to music. "It wasn't really that hard of a transition to make," he said, "because music is like a bug. When I had my first singing lesson, I became completely addicted."

His new album represents his eclectic taste in music, which range from Mario Lanza to Meat Loaf. On Ronan he performs classics, such as "Amazing Grace," as well as new songs written for him by such songwriters as Richard Marx and Desmond Child. Marx wrote the song "Ready To Fly," which has become the theme song of Tynan's current concert tour.

Ronan also wrote one song himself, in collaboration with Brian and Margaret Byrne, which focuses on his mother's tragic struggle with Alzheimer's. "I wanted to write some songs myself," he said, "and 'Passing Through' was one. I wrote the lyric first and showed it to Margaret, but it was like prose. She used my words to craft the lyric, and Brian came up with a beautiful melody for it. I think it's a song that will stand the test of time, because it's meaningful to people. Music has to allow the listener the intimacy of nostalgia. It has to let a person go to a place in his heart and his mind that he doesn't share with anybody."

The stylistic amalgam of music on Ronan came to be because when he performed in concert, people requested classics such as "Amazing Grace" and "How Great Thou Art," but also newer songs, such as "From A Distance," by Julie Gold, all of which are on the album. "I decided to listen to the fans," he said. "Because they are the people who buy your album. And I wanted to present a mixture of different kinds of music. I love singing new songs as much as I love classics."

He not only brings out the beauty of songs with his voice, he uses his gift to bring consolation to those in grief, as in the many 9-11 events for which he sang. "For everybody it was an extremely sad experience," he said of 9-11 and its aftermath. "This country has been great to me," he said, "and I wanted to give something back. That was the best way I could do it. America is great. People will you to succeed, and they're thrilled when you do. America opens its arms and envelopes you. If you are willing to put your heart and soul into what you are doing, you will get the reward."

He credits his parents with instilling within him the confidence to do what was in his heart. "It all stems from the foundation that you've been given as a child," he said. "I was very lucky, I started out with two great people, a father and a mother who wanted the best for me. My mother said to me, 'Put courage in your dreams, Ronan, and leave the rest to the Man Above, and then you will carve your footprints in the sand.' Those are words I've lived by my entire life."

By Paul Zollo