The passing of gentleman Gene Stuart

THE Country music scene in Ireland is all the poorer for the passing of singer Gene Stuart who was one of the most unassuming stars on the circuit.
Aged 72, he battled bravely with serious illness for the past few months but the velvet voiced big man from Dungannon was laid to rest last Sunday week.
Gene’s peak time in showbusiness was during the 1970s. He had ten Top 10
hits during the first five years of that decade including Before the Next Teardrop Falls, Kiss an Angel Good Morning, I’m Just Lucky I Guess
and his number two in the Irish Pop charts in 1974, Christmas in My Hometown.
He recorded over 20 albums including one in Nashville and fronted two bands, first The Mighty Avons, having replaced Larry Cunningham in 1970, and later his own band The Homesteaders.
Gene, who previously worked as a photographer with his local newspaper in Dungannon, was a consistent crowd puller on the Country music scene in Ireland for over two decades.