The Irish priest whose wedding serenade went viral last spring will release his debut album next month.
Father Ray Kelly will release Where I Belong through Universal Records on December 5.
The Oldcastle, Meath priest sang a personalised rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" while officiating a couple's wedding, and the footage was uploaded to YouTube in April. The media frenzy that followed led to Kelly signing a recording contract with Universal Music Ireland.
"It's all go and I'm working away and there's been a producer and musical arranger over from Austria working with me," he told the Irish Mirror in August.
"We're looking to get an album out before Christmas and there'll be three or four originals on it that I wrote and one new wedding song, as well as one or two Christmas favourites.
"We'll target the Irish market at Christmas, then Germany in January next year, and after that the US around St Patrick's Day."
Where I Belong includes the new track "Together Forever (The Wedding Song)," and Kelly worked on the album in his brand new, home studio.
"Ray made it clear to everyone that he wasn't giving up his job as parish priest," his label said in a press release. "Indeed, to record Ray's album, his producers built a recording booth in the lounge of his house, so that he could attend to his parish duties."
In deciding which record company to sign with, Kelly considered the time he would have to spend away from his parish, and the monetary compensation offered.
"I would like to be in a position to be able to donate more to certain charities and to look after members of my own family, some of who are in negative equity," he said. "I also have personal needs and want to look after myself, as I'm not on a huge salary as a priest."
He considered his viral video, which has been viewed nearly 38 million times, to be an extraordinary stroke of luck.
"It's kind of like somebody winning the Lotto – and then all of a sudden their life changes forever," he told the Irish Independent. "Somebody even compared me to a male Susan Boyle.''
