Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I’M PHIL LYNOTT’S SECRET SON
Kevin, 37, wants DNA test to finally prove rock legend is dad
A MAN last night claimed he is rock legend Phil Lynott’s secret son.
Kevin Finnie revealed his foster parents told him when he was seven that the late Thin Lizzy star was his dad – and he wants a DNA test to finally prove this.
Kevin, 37, born and raised in Liverpool, said: “As life’s gone on, I’ve thought about it more and more. Now I feel the time is right to tell the world Phil Lynott was my dad.”
A MAN has come forward to break a 30-year silence, claiming: “I’m Phil Lynott’s secret son.”
Kevin Finnie says he was first told he was the illegitimate child of the late Thin Lizzy legend by his foster parents when he was seven years old.
The father of four, who bears a close resemblance to the Irish rock icon, said he now wants a DNA test to prove beyond doubt his link to Philo.
Kevin, 37, who was born and raised in Liverpool, said: “As life’s gone on, I’ve thought about it more and more, and now I feel the time is right to tell the world Phil Lynott was my dad.”
Records show Kevin, who still lives in the city, was born on November 27, 1981, and initially named “Jesse Noordin”. There is no mention of his father on his birth certificate.
His birth mother Michelle Delaney is known to have had a tough life and battled a diabetic-related illness up to her death in 2004.
When Kevin was four months old he was placed in the care of long-term foster parents, the start of a loving relationship that lasts until this day.
It is understood a substantial sum of money was offered to the foster parents for his care, which they turned down.
He has also claimed that his late mother – who had no further contact with him after he was placed in foster care – was paid off to keep quiet about his “famous father”.
His foster parents, who would later adopt him, were always open with Kevin about his background. And in 1988 – two years after the rocker’s death – they sat down with him and showed him a video of a Thin Lizzy gig and told him for the first time the charismatic frontman was his real father. Kevin said: “I have absolutely no doubt in my own mind that my father was Phil Lynott.
“I’ve known this since I was seven years old, as have my family and close friends.
“I’m not looking to gain anything from this, I just want the truth to be known.
“I would have spoken about this sooner, but I was very aware that Phil’s mother, Philomena Lynott, had been seriously ill up until her death, and I didn’t want to upset her in any way.” Up to now Macdaragh Lambe, 50, was believed to be the rock icon’s only known son – a fact that he only discovered in 2003 after tracking down adoption papers.
The late singer also has two daughters, Sarah and Kathleen, from his marriage to Caroline Crowther.
Kevin knows that to prove his roots beyond any doubt, he must get it confirmed by DNA evidence.
He insisted he will not give up his quest to prove his lineage, saying: “I need to get this DNA test done to bring complete closure to this.”
Although details about Kevin’s birth mother remain sketchy, it’s known she spent time in Liverpool between 1977 and 1982, during which time she was a frequent visitor to London where she had family and friends.
He said he believes his mother may have met Phil at a party in the city in early 1981.
I would’ve spoken sooner but Philomena was ill up to her death KEVIN FINNIE YESTERDAY
Kevin said: “Because I was fostered out at such a young age, I used to get checked up on by social workers. “One suggested to me that my birth mother was given money to disappear and was told to use the money for my future, maybe even a termination.
“I was named Jesse Noordin, just to throw everyone off the scent. It was vital there was no written reference to who my real father was.” Kevin, who attended the unveiling of a memorial to the Thin Lizzy legend in West Bromwich during the summer, added: “I also know that after Phil Lynott’s death in 1986, Michelle told a social worker that he was my birth father.”
In a Late Late Show appearance on RTE the year Kevin was born, Phil told Gay Byrne he used to have a wild boy image but marriage to Catherine Crowther in 1980 had made him “faithful to one woman”.
Meanwhile, Thin Lizzy have been nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.
The band is one of 16 acts on the shortlist for next year’s ceremony, with Judas Priest, Motorhead and T-rex also among the nominees.