Kennedy made his debut in 1988 as a chorus on the recordings of Van Morrison, a Northern Irish singer-songwriter.

This album featured the lead single "Captured" which was a minor hit in both the UK and Irish charts.

[5] In the mid-1990s, pop manager Simon Fuller took on Kennedy, signing him to RCA Records for his second solo album which saw greater success.

In 2001, he released his fourth album Get on with Your Short Life, which rendered only a No.81 placing for its title track in the UK.

[3] Later that year, he performed on the original Secret Garden version of the song "You Raise Me Up", which went on to be recorded by many other artists, such as Josh Groban and Westlife.

[12] The series screened on RTÉ during the early months of 2012 and Kennedy mentored the eventual runner-up in the final, Richie Hayes.

[14] He has described in public the violence of The Troubles, during his childhood and teen years,[15] including seeing a young man being chased and then shot dead by a soldier a few feet away from him.