Where are they now: Dana
Ever wondered what became of the stars of yesteryear? In this occasional series, we look at the life of famous faces from years gone by
‘Some fans have been friends since 1970 and they still come to my shows. I still get recognised a lot, which is amazing to me’
It was 1970 and Eurovision was in the air. Julio Iglesias and Mary Hopkins were among the big names to take to the stage in Amsterdam but it was an 18 year-old schoolgirl called Dana who charmed viewers to win the contest for Ireland, with her song All Kinds of Everything.
Born Rosemary Brown in London but brought up in Derry, Northern Ireland, she got the nickname Dana – which means mischievous or bold in Irish – at the age of 15.
And following her Eurovision debut, Dana was the name on everyone’s lips as she followed up her success with a string of hit records such as Who Put The Lights Out?, Please Tell Him That I Said Hello, and It’s Gonna Be A Cold Cold Christmas. She toured with Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, and won The Most Popular Girl On Television Award, thanks to her 1974 TV series, A Day With Dana.
She also starred in the 1971 film Flight Of The Doves with Ron Moody, Jack Wild and Stanley Holloway. So popular was Dana that, when she married Newry hotel owner Damien Scallon in 1978, local factories and schools closed so people could watch the wedding, and such a crowd turned out that it took Dana 12 minutes to walk the five yards from the car to the Cathedral! But the newlyweds left Northern Ireland after terrorists destroyed Damien’s hotel in 1979. They moved to Dublin, to England, to Warren Point, and then to America for eight years, where Dana hosted a religious TV series.
She has sung for several Popes and always enjoyed a whiter-than-white image – “I’ve never had a drug problem, I’ve never had a drink problem and I’ve never been promiscuous,” says Dana, now 66.
All of this stood her in good stead when she decided to try her hand at politics by running as an independent candidate for the Irish presidency in 1997. She came third and, following the 1999 European Parliamentary Election, spent five years as an independent Irish MEP.
Today, she doesn’t regret it, but says she doesn’t miss it and is glad to have since made a low-key return to showbusiness, most recently as a judge on The All Ireland Talent Show. “I’ve never enjoyed being away from my family,” Dana explains, who has two daughters, Grace and Ruth, and sons John-James and Robert.
“Our children and grandchildren are scattered throughout the world so time we spend with them is so special. The grandchildren are brimming over with dancing and singing. The two girls are very musical and I’ve two nieces and a nephew in an excellent pop/rock band.” As for friends, Dana has maintained friendships since her days in music with the likes of Cliff Richard, Gloria Hunniford, Anita Harris and of course her still-loyal fans.
“Some fans have been friends since 1970 and they still come to my shows. I still get recognised a lot, which is amazing to me. Maybe I will do a proper UK tour in the near future.
I’d also really like to go on Strictly Come Dancing.”