Northern Ireland

Co Down singer Catherine McGrath tells how Sir Elton John praised her via FaceTime

Catherine McGrath was given a boost after she was called on FaceTime by music legend Sir Elton John
Catherine McGrath was given a boost after she was called on FaceTime by music legend Sir Elton John Catherine McGrath was given a boost after she was called on FaceTime by music legend Sir Elton John

A COUNTRY pop singer from Co Down has told how she was called on FaceTime by music legend Sir Elton John after he played one of her songs on his radio show.

Catherine McGrath, a songwriter from Rostrevor, had not even released her debut album when she received the out-of-the-blue call from the `Rocket Man' singer.

Sir Elton had played Talk Of This Town, from her album of the same name which is released this week, on his BBC radio show.

Despite the 21-year-old, who is tipped for stardom, being no stranger to showbiz superstars, recently opening for Michael Bublé at his Hyde Park gig in London, she was stunned to find out the Grammy winner was a fan of her work.

"I went into my label - Warner Bros Records - and Phil Christy (president of Warner Bros) said: `I've got something really exciting to show you. I'm going to play you this clip'," she told RTÉ Entertainment.

"He played this voice clip and it was Elton John talking about me. I thought that he had the wrong Catherine McGrath and that it was a mix-up.

"Then he played my song on his BBC Radio 2 show. It was crazy. I couldn't understand how he'd heard of me. It was insane.

"Then he FaceTimed me a while after he played my song. We had a chat and he interviewed me and we were talking about songwriting.

"He said he couldn't believe that this was my first album and he just loved all of the songs. He was just so nice."

McGrath, who is often compared to Taylor Swift, started writing songs when she moved to London.

"I didn't have a particular place where I was going with it. I didn't know there was going to be an album or a record deal or anything."