The Script singer Danny O’Donoghue on bandmate’s death: ‘I hit the drink and couldn’t write a thing’

Frontman says band will never be same without Mark Sheehan

Danny with Glen Power and Mark Sheehan (right)

Kelly Allen

Danny O’Donoghue was only able to begin writing again at the start of this year after the death of his bandmate Mark Sheehan in April 2023.

The Script frontman and the rest of the group have just released the new single Both Ways, ahead of a tour that kicks off in Belfast on November 13.

Danny (43) said: “I couldn’t articulate, I couldn’t write anything for seven to eight months. I started hitting the drink pretty hard and just really went off the rails, as you do during those situations

“It would have been around Christmas time that I’d had my fill of Guinness, you know, back home in Ireland.

“I got back here (London) on December 27 and just went ‘That’s it, I’m finished. I’m finished drinking, I’m finished feeling sorry for myself. It’s not what (Mark) would have wanted’.”

The Script

Remembering his bandmate, who was also in the band My Town with him, Danny said: “We’d been friends for nearly 30 odd years. We wrote these songs together and his memory lives on through his music. We’ve always said that.

“What’s our legacy? I don’t have any kids, so for me, it’s my music. But for him, it’s his kids, his family and what he’s done for Irish music.

“He’s a genius lyricist and we are never going to fill his shoes. Why would we even want to try?

“We’ve retired the three-piece and now we’ve got two other members in. It’s not the past — we never will repeat that — but it’s a new chapter for The Script.”

Danny is continuing the band alongside Glen Power with new bassist Ben Sargeant and guitarist Ben Weaver ahead of the release of their new album Satellites.

He said: “(We tried to make the music) a bit more uplifting. We feel that after the year that we had last year, we could do with a bit of positivity.

“I went off the rails after Mark passed away, like everybody does. I was out drinking, smoking, everything.

“I had a writer’s block for a long time last year. It was only around Christmas time that I came up with lyrics. It was the first time I was really able to articulate how I felt about the situation. The floodgates really opened.”

Tickets for the The Script’s tour are available now