b. 2 May 1963, Camross, Portlaoise, County Laois, Eire. The eldest of 11 children, Cuddy grew up in a house where country music was always playing. After leaving school, he worked as an attendant at Mountmellick Hospital. In 1981, influenced by Margo and Big Tom, he and sisters Elizabeth and Martina formed a country band. When his siblings quit, he continued as a solo artist. He financed his first single by a bank loan and found that ‘Little Nell’ gained sufficient airplay to become a number 1 on RTE’s country chart; he subsequently launched his professional career as an entertainer. Soon afterwards he formed his own band and began to play the country club and theatre circuit in the UK and Ireland. He has toured with Foster And Allen and was support act to Johnny Cash on a UK tour. He joined Harmac Records in 1992 and enjoyed considerable success with his recording of Jerry Hanlon’s ‘The Calling (Home)’. His easy styling finds him equally at home with the modern country song ‘Don’t Close Your Eyes’ or Irish standards such as ‘The Village Where I Went To School’, although he does not seem to record as many Irish songs as some of his compatriots. It would appear that he has now established himself as one of the most popular Irish country singers.