Watch Singing Priest Father Ray Kelly Amaze Another Wedding, Treating Church to 'You Raise Me Up' (VIDEO)
Father Ray Kelly of Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland hit the viral jackpot this week with this surprise performance of a rewritten "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen at the wedding of Chris and Leah O'Kane. The YouTube video is now at 9 million views and going strong.
Regaling audiences in song is nothing new to the priest from Tyrrelstown in County Westmeath. He had vocal training in Dublin and was part of "The All Priests Show."
"I love to sing, and I love the buzz of performing," Fr. Kelly told The Irish Times. "I travelled to America and did shows there."
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However, viral stardom is quite a different experience.
"I've never had to deal with anything like this before, but I'm coping," he said.
Fr. Kelly also has experience as a recording artist and is working on his third album, which is good news for a world who's fallen hard for him. Friday night, the singing priest will appear on the venerable "Late Late Show" in Ireland.
Lucky for his new fans, another wedding performance by Father Ray Kelly is now online. Here he is, singing the classic tune "You Raise Me Up" by Secret Garden – popularized by Josh Groban – for a wedding in 2010.
