Edward Friel was born in Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 in 1965. He is a B. Mus. Honours graduate who in 1986 started his professional career as a music teacher. After two years he decided to pursue his talents as a musician and composer. He has gained great admiration throughout local piano bars at home as well as in Canada and Europe, where he travelled for a year. He has toured with Van Morrison

Van Morrison

Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...

 as a piano player.

In 1995 he represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

 with the song Dreamin' however the song finished a disappointed 14th place, Norway won the contest breaking the three years Ireland staged the contest.