Clodagh Rogers passes away after three-year illness.
The Northern Irish singer, Clodagh Rogers, who represented the United Kingdom at Eurovision 1971, has passed away at age 78. Her passing comes as a result of a three-year long illness. Clodagh’s song, Sam Sorbie, confirmed the news of his Mum’s passing on Facebook with a heartfelt tribute:
“With a heavy heart, my dear beautiful mum Clodagh has sadly passed away after battling an illness for the last three years. She passed away peacefully yesterday surrounded by her family in Cobham. Mum has lived an incredible life, full of love and happiness. Her fantastic career performing, traveling the world, devoting her life to her two sons and being the rock of this family. Life will not be the same without Mum, but she will finally be at peace now with dad, nanny and pappa.”
Clodagh Rogers was born in Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland in 1947. She began her professional singing career in 1960 at age 13, when she opened for English singer Michael Holliday. With the help of her father, Rogers signed with Decca in 1962, and made her television debut the same year, appearing as a guest on BBC show Let’s Jump The Broomstick.
Despite her earlier singles not charting in the U.K., Rogers remained a regular face on British television. After new management and a change of labels, Clodagh Rogers reached the U.K. top 3 with “Come Back and Shake Me” in 1969, and after further top five singles that year, she went on to become the best-selling female singles artist of 1969.
With a string of top 5 singles under her belt, and solidifying her status as a household name, Rogers was asked by the BBC to represent the United Kingdom at the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin. In preparation for Eurovision, Clodagh appeared on Cliff Richard’s prime-time show It’s Cliff Richard, where she sang one song each week for six weeks, followed by a performance of all six songs on the seventh week. Due to a postal strike making it impossible for people to send their votes in via postcard, the winning song “Jack In The Box”, was decided by regional juries.
Clodagh Rogers finished in 4th place with 98 points at Eurovision 1971. Her entry “Jack In The Box” reached number four in the U.K., became her most famous hit, and found great success across Europe as well.
Despite not releasing much music after Eurovision, Rogers remained a popular face on television in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and also performed in the West End in London. Towards the end of the 1970s, Clodagh Rogers went back to releasing music, achieving a handful of top-30 songs in the process.
After her divorce in 1979, Clodagh Rogers mostly left the industry, and prioritised motherhood over her music and television career, with only sporadic appearances here and there over the years. She passed away at her home in Cobham, Surrey, on April 18th, 2025, surrounded by her family.
We would like to send our condolences to Clodagh Roger’s family and friends during this difficult time.
