[1] Dugan's career began in 1968 at the age of sixteen, when he appeared on the television show New Faces and won the talent contest.

He subsequently released three albums for the British record label HMV before pairing with Gray Bartlett to make two singles.

Dugan became a household name in New Zealand in the 1980s, starring on the television show That's Country.

[1] In 2018 he celebrated fifty years as an entertainer with the release of single "Honky Tonk Heroes".

Brendan Dugan received the Benny Award in October 2018 from the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand.