The Irish Tenor on why the late count has had a profound effect on his career

MY HERO is the tenor John McCormack, because of the amazing success he had at home and internationally in the areas of opera and popular music. McCormack was just one man singing with a piano accompanist, yet he went on to conquer the world on the concert platform. Irish artistes across the board have achieved so much over the past 100 years, but the difference is that they've usually had several people performing with them, and have great opportunities to promote themselves through the mediums of television, the Internet and the media.

McCormack was born in 1884, and I feel that many of the sopranos and tenors who are singing today owe their careers to him, because he was the one who made it popular back then.

He came from a little town in Athlone, and his family wasn't well off, and his mother even couldn't write her own name.

I think it's fantastic that he was able to follow his dream and his heart when he got older. He came to Dublin to join the Palestrina Choir, and he won the gold medal at the 1903 Feis Ceoil competition, and from there he took off, and went on to conquer the world.

McCormack studied under Maestro Sabbatini in Italy, and he made his first concert appearance in Cavalleria Rusticana in Covent Garden in 1907. He became the ultimate concert singer . . . he could tell wonderful stories with his songs, and he won thousands of hearts.

I've seen documentaries about him with footage that showed that the auditoriums were packed to capacity when he performed, and he just stood in the centre and enthralled the audience, and captured them in the palm of his hand.

He had a rare gift, and when you listen to his recordings, the true, honest singing comes through. He was never a boring singer, and didn't just open his mouth and belt out a song . . . he had light and shade and tone and colour in his voice.

McCormack was also known for having a great sense of humour . . . he was the first artiste to record 'It's a Long Way to Tipperary', and could make people smile and cry in an instant, which I think was the key to his success and his magic.

I don't think McCormack really looked for financial success, even though he liked his lifestyle, and he got paid $500,000 for 'Song of My Heart' in 1926. He was very intelligent by all accounts, and worked hard at his craft, and it has been said that he spent hours and hours practising every day until he drove himself insane. I work hard at what I do too, and I envy the time that he was around really, because the music he was singing was so popular back then . . . it was the music of the day.

It would have been a wonderful time to be performing, when you think of the people McCormack would have associated with. It's a testament to his great talent that he worked with people like Fritz Kreisler, and Sergei Rachmaninoff, who wrote songs for him.

He was great pals with the likes of Enrico Caruso, and had songs like 'Macushla' and 'The Rose of Tralee' written for him to sing.

One of the highlights of his career was singing 'Panis Angelicus' in the Phoenix Park at the first Eucharistic Congress in 1932. It wasn't until World War One that opera as an art form wasn't as Mcontemporary any more, and the likes of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra were coming onto the scene.

I was in my teens when I first heard McCormack singing, and it was only when I got older and started to learn more about the recordings and the time they were made, that I became more impressed with them.

There is a wonderful new box set of his recordings out now, Icon of an Age, and it's brilliant because it's bringing the music to a new generation . . . it would be such a shame if people forgot about McCormack as time goes on, and I think it would be great if singers today took the time to research his works rather than sticking with the music they are hearing today. I'm inspired by him because he made Irish music known the world over, and while I'm not McCormack, I want to carry the flag and continue to earn the respect of people for a job well done.

McCormack was made a Count by Pope Pius X1 for his charitable works, and he was able to do things to help people, because he had the pulling power to, for example, put on a concert for charity in Carnegie Hall.

He was known to be very religious, and he had a little church and an altar built in his home in Monkstown. I think he felt that he had received his gift from God and his work for charity was probably his way of showing that he didn't take anything for granted . . . I think he knew he had been given a golden opportunity in his life at a tough time for many other people.

'John McCormack . . . Icon of An Age' box set is out now. 'A Little Christmas Song' with Anthony Kearns, is on 6 January at the Brehon Hotel, Killarney . . . 064 30700.