There'd have been no Dickie Rock row had I known how big his two boys are, jokes Johnny Logan after special tribute gig

The Irish Sun

21-04-2025

JOHNNY Logan has revealed he would never have gone to war with showbiz rival Dickie Rock — if he knew how tall his sons were.
The
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Johnny Logan joked about Dickie Rock sons being bigger than him
Credit: The Irish Sun
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The National Concert Hall held a concert in honour of Dickie Rock
Credit: Crispin Rodwell - The Sun Dublin
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Johnny opened his set with What's Another Year
Before going on stage, Johnny embraced
And the Hold Me Now star joked: 'If I had known Dickie's sons were so big, I would have been more careful with my mouth.'
This was a reference to the famous Irish Sun front page in May 2020 when Dickie threatened to give Johnny
It came after the two-time Eurovision-winning performer claimed in a chat with The Irish Times that rival Dickie lived in a 'fantasy world'.
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READ MORE ON DICKIE ROCK
But that was all forgotten on Saturday evening when Johnny sang Candy Store, one of Dickie's biggest hits, at the National Concert Hall.
He took to stage at a show staged by the Rock family in memory of their dad, who died last December aged 88.
Johnny told the crowd: 'I couldn't come to a Dickie Rock
Introducing Johnny on stage, concert host Ronan Collins told how the two entertainers had often shared a stage together and recalled Dickie one remarking about rival Johnny: 'Not only is he (Johnny) a great singer, he's way too good looking.'
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Despite their spat, Ronan praised Johnny, who he said only had to be 'asked once' to perform at the gig 'because he said yes right away'.
And Jason told
'A LEGEND' RTE star leads tearful funeral tributes to late Dickie Rock
Discuss the interaction, Jason told The Irish Sun: "When myself and my brother Richard walked up and introduced ourselves to Johnny backstage he looked up at the two of us and said, "If I had known Dickie's sons were so big I would have been more careful with my mouth.
'CRACKED UP'
"Myself and Richard just cracked up laughing.
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"We spoke about (the row) and we slagged each other for a while and everything was great between us and him.
"He gave us both a big hug. Johnny is a good man.'
It was also a poignant night for Johnny, who opened his set with What's Another Year — the song that first won him the Eurovision Song Contest in
He had asked to perform in the first part of the concert because he was due in
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'ABSOLUTE PLEASURE'
Jason told The Irish Sun: 'We were delighted Johnny was here honouring our dad by singing one of his songs. We spent the day with Johnny — he was an absolute pleasure to deal with and such a pro.'
Like Johnny, Dickie also represented us at Eurovision, coming fourth in 1966 with the song Come Back to Stay.
Songwriter Rowland Soper was among the guests at Saturday's gig, along with other pals of Dickie, including comedian Sil Fox, 92, and Mr Pussy, aka Alan Amsby.
The Rock family had approached promoter Pat Egan to stage the concert in memory of their beloved father.
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And Pat declared: 'It was a sellout and a fitting tribute to a great entertainer.'
'SO PROUD'
Dickie's long-time musical director Eugene McCarthy, who masterminded the evening, told us: 'Dickie himself would have loved this, to hear a full National Concert Hall sing all his great hits spanning six decades.
'I was so proud to put it all together in his memory. I loved every minute I worked with him.'
Singer Sandy Kelly and Murty Quinn of The Miami Showband took to the stage with Dickie's backing band The Sugarcubes.
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And Dickie's son Richard told the crowd: 'Because of you, we had the life we had. And for all the support you gave my dad, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.'
When compère Ronan told the crowd that having Jason and ­Richard singing would give an idea of what Dickie must have looked like back in the 60s, one punter shouted: 'He was so ­gorgeous!'
The night ended with the Rock brothers and Ronan on stage playing a medley of Dickie's hits.
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They played many of Dickie's big hits at the venue
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Richard Rock also performed on stage in honour of his father