Pop icon Leo Sayer reveals how he forced Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley to shake hands

Sunday World

a day ago

IRISH LINK |
'I grabbed Gerry Adams out of his seat and I made him shake hands with Ian Paisley, all the bodyguards stood back 'cause they didn't know what the f**k to do'
Thunder In My Heart singer Sayer (77) also recalls a bizarre encounter with the late Martin McGuinness at a Miriam O'Callaghan TV show — during which McGuinness told him where to find the body of his uncle, a brother of Leo's mother, Teresa, who was from Fermanagh and one of 14 siblings.
'I spent a lot of my childhood up to the age of 15 on summer holidays in Fermanagh, Cavan or Donegal,' Leo tells Magazine+ as he gets set for an Irish tour.
'One of my uncles, Uncle Phil, went missing one year. It was always kind of rumoured, although nobody said it out loud, that he was a serious guy in the IRA, a commander for his area.
'Of course, where we were in Fermanagh was very much rebel country, so they needed somebody who knew the lie of the land, and that's who he was.
'Uncle Phil was not seen for 20 years. Then I'm doing the Miriam TV show (Saturday Night with Miriam in 2005) and Martin McGuinness is on the show.
Leo Sayer performing ib 1980
'He comes up to me backstage and says, 'Hello, I'm Martin McGuinness, there's something I gotta tell you.' I was kind of admiring Martin because of what he did with the Peace Process, which was very good at the end.
'But he did have a chequered past.
'He said, 'Look, I want to do something for you because I know that Phil Nolan was your uncle. 'We didn't see Uncle Phil,' I said to him. He said, 'Well, he was working with us and I want to give you the geo-coordinates of where he is buried.'
'He had died in some shooting and they buried him on the spot in the field so the other side couldn't claim they had shot an IRA leader. It would be a big score for them.
'So I got the geo-coordinates from Martin McGuinness, gave it to the remaining family and they dug Uncle Phil up and gave him a proper burial.'
Looking back at his encounter with Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley at one of his live shows during the height of The Troubles, Leo says: 'I remember it was at a show I did in the Kings Hall in Belfast, a huge place. Most of the Protestants were one side and the Catholics were on the other side and Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley were there.
'So I jump off the stage and I grab Gerry Adams out of his seat and I bring him over and I make him shake hands with Ian Paisley... and all the bodyguards stood back 'cause they didn't know what the f**k to do.'
Leo Sayer says his cousins will be looking for tickets for his Irish shows
Today's News in 90 Seconds - June 13 2025
'So I made them stand in the middle of this massive area between the row of seats and I made them shake hands, and somebody got the photo. It was one of those moments.'
Sayer, who started out in songwriting and co-wrote most of the songs on the debut solo album of The Who's Roger Daltry, including Giving It All Away, tells how he crossed paths with many unscrupulous characters throughout his career.
His first manager, former British pop star Adam Faith, ripped him off at the start of his career.
Leo had a string of hits like The Show Must Go On, One Man Band, Long Tall Glasses, Moonlighting and You Make Me Feel Like Dancing.
As the chart-toppers racked up, the money rolled in, but Sayer says the late Adam Faith took advantage of him. 'Because I didn't look at the contracts there were consequences,' he says. 'Adam made more money than I did and it [their relationship] ended in a bit of bitterness.'
'However, he was a wonderful manager in that he opened doors for me and, also, he taught me so much stuff from his own experience. But at the same time he was a thief. I wouldn't have had the career that I've had without having the thief as well. So I think you always have to balance it up.
'I've known so many rogues in my life. I've played many, many shows with Bill Cosby in America and we were friends. That Weinstein guy [Harvey Weinstein] was my agent one time in America.
'And Andy Coulson [former News of the World editor, jailed in 2014 on phone hacking charges] was my PR guy. So, honestly, I'll tell you, I've had some rogues.' Read more
However, Sayer adds that he has also met many good guys along the way, including our own Fr Brian D'Arcy who promoted him in Ireland at the start of his career.
Fr Brian was writing for The Cross magazine at the time and knew Leo's cousin, Fr Salvian. And it was Leo's mother who wrote her son's press release, which the singer recently posted on social media.
'You saw my mum's attempt at being my PR person? It was wonderful. It's golden isn't it,' he laughs.
'Fr Salvian, my second cousin, used to room with Brian in the seminary, so Brian was always hearing about me as I was coming up. And I think the interview with The Cross came via Mum.
'Fr Salvian said to her 'it would be really useful if you would give Fr D'Arcy some info about Gerard, which is my real name. So Mum wrote a piece for Fr Brian.
'Brian and I used to be very close we'd chat all the time,' says Leo, who now lives in Australia.
'One day I was hanging around with some of the boys from U2 and Bono comes flying into the room going, 'You know Brian!'
'We were sitting down, me and Paul (Bono) as I used to know him, talking about Brian D'Arcy and what an amazing man he always was.
'Brian knew all of Bono's family really well, so he also followed Bono coming up as a young wannabe.
'Brian also knew my grandad on my mum's side. Grandad married twice and had 14 kids, so mum was one of 14 siblings.
'I've got many, many cousins there today. When I play a concert there will be a request from the cousins for the guest list. I said to Pat Egan [promoter], I need 27 tickets… so that's why we're doing it in the Bord Gais Energy Theatre — the Olympia Theatre would be too small,' he laughs.
'I've had so many wonderful experiences in Ireland through the decades. Tommy Swarbrigg was promoting me one time and I played everywhere from Mullingar to Arklow, all those places. I remember one time playing on the back of a truck in a field. It was extraordinary some of the experiences I had.'