Ben’s our number one hero

A NEW single by a Northside singer-songwriter in memory of Batman Ben is already racing up to the top of the charts just days after its release.

Batman Ben Farrell, who loved the DC Comics superhero, died from a rare form of cancer last August but the story of his brave battle for life touched tens of thousands of hearts.

‘Ben’, written by Don Black and made famous by Michael Jackson, was re-released last Friday by Kiera Dignam after local Finglas music promoter, Stephen Browne, came up with the idea for the tribute single.

“Like most people hearing the heartbreaking story of Ben, I just wanted to help,” said Stephen, who is manager of recently reformed local band the Brilliant Trees.

“When the idea for the song came to me I decided to chance my arm and contact Don Black, not really expecting a reply.

“To my surprise, I received a reply within an hour from Don, not only offering his support but he had also made contact with Sony to get the process moving. What a kind man.”

Royalty fees were waived by Black and Kiera Dignam, daughter of Aslan’s Christy, was happy to lend her amazing voice to the cause. Artwork for the single was given free of charge by Printbroker.ie and the cost of recording and production was provided through a grant from eBay Ireland’s Global Impact Team.

Don Black, who had originally offered the popular song first to Donny Osmond before Michael Jackson turned it into a smash hit, says he is thrilled with this new recording of the Oscar-nominated single.

“I do love this version of the song, it’s a terrific vocal,” he said.

“I’m so upset to hear this sad news; this is a truly heartbreaking story and I send my condolences to all the family.”

Ben’s mother, Val Farrell, hopes proceeds from the single will help towards finding a cure one day for the awful disease that took her son. 

Filled with emotion, she explained how Ben loved this song.

“When Kiera told us she had been working on possibly releasing a single for Ben, I thought how lovely, what a great idea – but when she told me the song was ‘Ben’ as sung by Michael Jackson I cried.

“Through Ben we hope to find the strength to continue. We hope to continue to be inspired to live as fully as he did and we hope to continue to allow Ben’s smile to change the world for the better. We hope to make him proud.”

Within hours of its release the single had reached number 2 in the main iTunes singles charts and number 1 in the R&B/Soul chart, much to the delight of singer Kiera, whose dad, Christy Dignam, was by her side in the studio during recording to offer guidance for the track produced and recoded by Stuart Gray.

Kiera’s only hope for the song is that it will help raise much needed money for a worthy cause.

“Ben by Michael Jackson seemed to be the perfect song and I then found out Ben had it on his iPad and loved the song, which sealed it for me that this definitely had to be the song,” she said.

“Recording it, I wanted to strip it back and just have my vocal not overly produced with loads of backing vocals. I wanted it simple with nice guitar and strings.

“Producer Stuart listened to what I wanted and was on the same wavelength and I’m delighted with the finished product.” 

Kiera admits it was emotionally challenging to record the song because Ben had just died when they went into the studio to make it. It was, of course, all the more poignantly painful in light of her own father’s battle with an incurable cancer. 

“By the time I got into the studio to put down my vocal, Ben had just passed away,” she explained.

“So, what would have been a very difficult thing to do became a hundred times harder.

“But my aim was to do Ben’s memory justice and to give his parents and family something they could listen to and think of Ben – and I hope it can be of some comfort to them.” 

Kiera played the song last week for Ben’s mother who was moved to tears when she heard it. Val sent a simple but touching text message to all those who chipped in saying: “It’s absolutely beautiful. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

The single costs €5 on CD and €1.29 on iTunes, with all proceeds going to two charities that supported Ben and his family: the Gavin Glynn Foundation and Aoibheann’s Pink Tie. 

It’s available from various outlets and online at the iTunes store.