When singer Donna Taggart uploaded a video of her version of Jealous of the Angels on Facebook, she never expected it to reach 75 million people.

The Antrim woman, who describes her sound as a mix between Eva Cassidy and Mary Black, shared the video on the social media site in August and was shocked as the views and shares started to clock up rapidly.

“It really has just been a whirlwind since everything has taken off. You’re still doing the normal things at home and so as much as it’s brilliant, it’s still quite hard to take in,” she says.

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Donna has been performing and recording music for over 10 years, but social media stardom – and an appearance on The Late Late Show in October – has seen the singer’s career reach a new level in Ireland and abroad.

The success of the video resulted in her 2013 album, Celtic Lady Vol. 2, hitting number one in the Billboard World Music Catalogue Album Charts. The song Jealous of the Angels also went to the top of the charts on iTunes in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the USA, Ireland and the UK

“I had recorded the song three years ago, just before I had children. Then I had children and the promotion of it sort of took a back seat because I was busy doing other things,” she explains.

“I was off on maternity leave in 2016 then, after having my second child Matthew at Christmas time. In the summer, I thought I’d give the video a push on social media to see what would happen.

“Within four days it had 12 million views. People were sharing it at a huge rate online,” she says.

Now, after supporting Phil Coulter before Christmas, Donna is embarking on her own tour across Ireland and has already sold out dates in Armagh, Antrim and Tyrone. She has also taken a career break from her work in children’s education to focus on music.

The tour kicks off in Cork Opera House on 9 February and preparations are well underway.

“I’m putting in a lot of hard graft getting ready for it, with rehearsals and getting the sets ready and promotions. There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes that people don’t know. It’s very exciting and I’m really looking forward to February,” she says.

“I just finished a tour with Phil before Christmas and it was brilliant – he had a lot of advice to offer with 50 years in the business. It was lovely to meet so many people up and down the country and to bring a flavour of what I do to them.”

Having performed locally in concerts and at events, the singer is quick to dismiss the notion of “instant fame” after her viral hit.

“I suppose it looks that way to a lot of people, but there has been a lot of hours spent behind the scenes,” she says. “If you’re not there, there is no chance of ever getting the break. It just so happens that I have been given a break, which is great.

“People all the time talk about overnight success but very seldom does something come out of nowhere. I’ve been at it now for around eight years. I’ve saved up, funded all my own albums, videos and website. I have been working very, very hard for little to nothing coming back,” she says.

Though Donna mainly focuses on covers, she is also hoping to write a few original numbers in the next year.

“Time hasn’t allowed me to put my creative juices into full practice. Hopefully that will be something I can explore in the future, having one job and one focus in terms of music. As a young woman in my 30s, having had children and a lot of life experience, I have plenty to write about at this stage of my life,” she says.

Performing as a solo artist is daunting, but after years of waiting for a break, Donna is ready for the next stage of her career.

“Listen, I mean when you have two children, two years apart… managing that alone, alongside a huge social media craze, thousands of emails and organising a tour, is crazy anyway. It’s orderly chaos, as I call it,” she says. “I mean, it takes a lot of hard work and a lot of resilience, but you know I’m doing it and getting there and taking each day as it comes.”

Visit http://www.donnataggart.com/ for details on Donna Taggart’s tour CL