Showbandobit: Joe Dolan

The funeral has taken place of Joe Dolan, as commenters have pointed out.

One of eight children born to a family in Mullingar, Dolan had initially trained as a journalist before deciding to give music a try. The Drifters Showband, formed with his brother Ben, proved to be a successful gamble, and Dolan quickly established himself as a star. A cover of Del Shannon's Runaway in 1964 was his first track; he went international in 1969 when a deal with the Pye label saw him take Make Me An Island to number one in fourteen countries.

Dolan made a spot of geopolitical history in 1978, when he became the first Western artist to play a gig in Communist Russia; to keep the capitalists happy, within a couple of years he was granted a six-week residency in Las Vegas. By 1990, his success had reached a point where he was able to start his own label - Gable - although he saw out the decade on EMI. It was in this period when his career low-point occurred, when he attempted a novelty hit by re-recording his classic Good Looking Woman in a duet with, erm, a turkey. It paid off - making number one - but still felt a little cheap. Almost as an act of penance, Dolan followed up by recording two albums of covers of contemporary songs. He nailed tracks by REM, Pulp and Blur across Joe's 90s and 21st Century Joe.

Dolan fell ill on Christmas night and died Boxing Day. Thousands of people queued to sign official condolence books set up in his home town; amongst the mourners at his funeral were representatives of the Taoiseach and Irish President.