Neil Hannon

Born in Derry, Northern Ireland, on November 11, 1970, Neil Hannon is also known as the creator of The Divine Comedy. The son of a clergyman, he grew up between Fivemiletown and Enniskillen, where his family settled in 1982. Attracted to pop and rock, he created The Divine Comedy project in 1989, which met with success in the mid-1990s with chamber pop albums such as Liberation (1993), Casanova (1996), A Short Album About Love (1997) and Fin de Siècle (1998). In 2000, he collaborated for the first time with composer Joby Talbot on Ute Lemper's album Punishing Kiss, and also composed the musical themes for the series Father Ted and The IT Crowd. In 2005, he reunited with Talbot for the soundtrack of the film The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, for which he sang some of the songs. He also lends his voice to the Doctor Who series for the track "Love Don't Roam" (2006) and collaborates with Murray Gold, Yann Tiersen, Air, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Pugwash, Vincent Delerm, God Help the Girl, Robbie Williams, Jane Birkin, Duke Special and Eg, for whom he composes or creates arrangements. Winner of the Mercury Prize in 2007 for The Divine Comedy's album Victory for the Comic Muse, he composed the music for the science-fiction film Lola (2022) and worked with Joby Talbot on the soundtrack for the musical Wonka (2023).