KILDARE MUSICIAN Damien Rice stands to make a small fortune after it was announced last night that Little Mix, will release his Cannonballsong as their debut single.
Traditionally, the X -Factorwinner's single sells in the region of one million copies over the Christmas/New Year period and because you earn more for writing a song than performing it, Rice (38) is looking at a substantial Christmas bonus this year.
Cannonballis from Rice's 2002 O album which was a big critical and commercial success. While his own version was a moderate hit on its release in 2003, it will be re-released this week in tandem with the Little Mix version. It's not inconceivable that Rice's own version could outperform the Little Mix effort – particularly in the Irish charts.
Traditionally, the X Factor winner's single is the automatic Christmas number one in the UK and Ireland but with Christmas falling on a Sunday this year (the day the UK charts are announced) the single is being released this Wednesday so either version of Cannonballcould well be number one at the end of this week.
Rice is a reclusive type who hasn't released an album since 2006's 9. Known to disdain media coverage, it is unlikely he will surface to promote his own version of Cannonballover the next few weeks. Rice began as part of the Kildare rock band Juniper before going solo – the rest of Juniper are now known as Bell X1.
