Kennedy, Nigel - Who’s who on UK TV from hellomagazine.com, HELLO!

British TV celebrities

Nigel Kennedy

Musician
Born: Dec 28, 1956
Famous for: making classical music popular, particularly among young people
Born in Brighton, violinist Nigel Kennedy was a child prodigy who by the age of ten was picking out jazz tunes on the piano after listening to his stepfather’s records. He attended the prestigious Juilliard School in New York before making his recording debut in 1984 with the Elgar Violin concerto. His most recognised work is a 1989 interpretation of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, which topped the UK classical charts for over a year and sold over two million copies. His talents have been recognised with a Classical BRIT award for outstanding contribution to British music, and a male artist of the year gong in 2001. Non-classical artists with whom he has collaborated include The Who and Kate Bush. The violinist, who in April 2008 announced he would be performing in The Proms for the first time in 21 years, divides his time between homes in Worcestershire, London and Krakow, where he lives with his second wife Agnieszka. Away from music he's a keen Aston Villa supporter, and once painted his Jaguar in the football team's colours.