His hair is greyer, his heart is younger and his voice is deeper, said friends of legendary Dubliner Ronnie Drew, whose handprints were taken in a special ceremony in his home city this week. They are to be cast in bronze for a permanent display on the footpath outside the Gaiety Theatre.
"He's younger now," said New York-based BP Fallon, who joked that he has known Drew since 1904. "I love him. I think he's brilliant."
"He hasn't changed at all," said singer Johnny McEvoy, who has known Drew since 1963. "He's just got greyer like myself. The voice has got better, lower. He has great stamina. He's just unique. There's only the one Ronnie Drew."
"He's still the same - grumpy - but he's really soft-hearted behind it all. He's a very kind man behind it all," said musician Barney McKenna, who has played music with Drew since they teamed up around 1961. Later, they asked the late Luke Kelly and Ciaran Bourke to join them, and soon after that, John Sheahan too.
Drew himself believes his voice is "less raspier some days, depending on conditions of climate".
"His voice is unique. He's singing in a lower register these days," said former singer Jim McCann, who lost his own singing voice four years ago due to throat cancer. He has known Drew since the 1960s. "His voice marches to its own drum. Nobody can put over a song like he can. His delivery is faultless."
Drew describes himself as "more of a journeyman" than a legend. He plays at the Gaiety next week from Monday until Saturday with singers Liam Clancy, Finbar Furey and Johnny McEvoy in a show called Legends of Folk.
Others whose handprints are cast in bronze and set in granite slabs outside the theatre include John B Keane, Maureen Potter and Luciano Pavarotti.
"I don't believe all this," said an incredulous Drew as he rolled up his sleeves and got ready to sink his hands into the plaster. Then the cameras started flashing and the moment was captured for posterity.