Biography

John Kelly is one of Ireland’s best-known broadcasters. A SONY, EMA & multiple PPI award-winner, he has presented some of most critically acclaimed programmes on the Irish airwaves.

For many years John has been at the forefront of music and arts broadcasting – best known for his radio show Mystery Train and for The Works Presents – a series of in-depth television interviews with artists, actors, writers and musicians.

He also presents the U2 X-Radio show ELEVATION on Sirius XM – broadcast weekly throughout the United States and Canada.

John has also presented public interviews and events at many prestigious venues including the Kennedy Center in Washington, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, The Barbican, the Royal Festival Hall, The National Concert Hall in Dublin, Áras an Uachtaráin and the Abbey Theatre.

Over the years John has interviewed many leading figures in arts and culture including:
Nina Simone, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Van Morrison, David Lynch, Allen Ginsberg, Seamus Heaney, Philip Glass, Brian Wilson, John Berger, B.B. King, Richard Ford, Amy Winehouse, Elvis Costello, Margaret Atwood, U2, Sam Shepard, Ray Davies, Julian Schnabel, Herbie Hancock, Gil Scott-Heron, Tracey Emin, Solomon Burke, Jeff Buckley, George Martin, Al Green, Laurie Anderson, James Ellroy and Marina Abramović.

John has written extensively for various publications, notably the Irish Times. A novel From Out of the City was shortlisted for Irish Novel of the Year at the Bord Gáis Irish Book Awards in 2014. A radio play The Pipes was broadcast on RTÉ.

A first poetry collection Notions was published in 2018 by Dedalus Press. A second collection Space was published in 2022.

John currently serves on the board of Music Generation – Ireland’s national music education programme.