Introduction to a Personal Journey
Peter Cunnah, the pop star behind the iconic 1990s hit "Things Can Only Get Better," has experienced a remarkable personal journey alongside his musical career. Known for his work with the band D:Ream, Cunnah spent over fifty years searching for his birth parents. Recently, he successfully reunited with his biological father, Patrick Hanna, in an emotional meeting that spanned from Northern Ireland to England.
It was revealed that Cunnah's musical talent has familial roots; his father, Patrick Hanna, was a touring musician, and his half-sister, Philippa Hanna, is an internationally recognized Christian music artist.
"It's kinda surreal still,"Cunnah reflected on the emotional moment he knocked on his birth father's door in Barnsley, Yorkshire.
This reunion brought Cunnah's story full circle. Born in a mother-and-baby home in Belfast in 1966, he was adopted by Les and Monica Cunnah and raised in Londonderry.
Discovering His Adoption
As a young boy, Cunnah learned from his adoptive mother Monica that he was adopted.
"One night (she said): You know son, you're not my son, somebody else has given you to me,'"Cunnah shared during an interview with BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme.
"Mind-blowing, very young, trying to process it, I was going 'that's all right Mum, you're my real mammy and daddy' and I sort of left it at that.
"I had that knowledge my whole life, I had friends who found out later on in their 20s that they were adopted,"he added.
"It was like someone had pulled the carpet from underneath them, their whole life had been a lie in some regards, so I was really glad she told me."
Fame, Fortune, and Uncovering Family History
In the early 1990s, Cunnah rose to fame with D:Ream, a band that included Prof Brian Cox on keyboards before Cox became a renowned physicist and broadcaster. Their breakthrough hit, "Things Can Only Get Better," reached number one in the charts in 1994 and was later adopted by the Labour Party as their 1997 election anthem.
However, the lifestyle that accompanied this success led Cunnah into struggles with addiction to cocaine, ecstasy, and alcohol, from which he is still recovering.
During this period, Cunnah also uncovered more about his origins. In 1991, his adoptive mother Monica received a letter that changed everything.
"I said 'mum, you open it', so she opened the letter over the phone and there was tears and she was reading this thing to me - it was a pouring out of emotion by a woman called Ann McCrea, who was my natural birth mother,"Cunnah recalled.
"And she said: 'I'll understand, all I want is a photograph'."
Cunnah decided to meet his birth mother, who lived in Strabane, County Tyrone, near his hometown of Derry. He was surprised to learn he had three half-brothers and one half-sister.
"And that was that,"he said, noting that he has now known his birth mother for longer than he did not know her.
Searching for His Birth Father
Despite reconnecting with his birth mother, it took Cunnah another 34 years to locate his biological father. Ann McCrea had told him his father's name was Patrick Dusky and that Cunnah resembled him closely.
"But, it turned out, Dusky was a stage name,"Cunnah explained.
"When you tried to find him, he was like a ghost,"he added.
Eventually, detective work by Cunnah's sister-in-law uncovered a social media profile for Patrick Hanna. However, initiating contact was challenging.
"It's a big thing to go: 'Hello, I think you might be my dad.' How do you phrase that initial contact,"Cunnah said.
He emailed Hanna but received no response. He also reached out to Stuart Zender, another famous 90s musician and son of Hanna, but again received no reply.
Last year, Cunnah contacted Philippa Hanna, Patrick's daughter from his second marriage and a global Christian music artist. After phone conversations and photo exchanges, she encouraged him to take a DNA test, having taken one herself two years earlier to confirm her relation.
Six weeks later, the results confirmed a perfect match.
Cunnah immediately traveled to Manchester, then drove to Barnsley to meet Hanna.
"I brought my youngest daughter Madeleine with me and we just hung out for the whole afternoon.
"I loved it. I have a moment when I walked through Ann's door and I have a photograph of that and I have a moment when I walked through Patrick's door and they caught us in an embrace and, do you know what, we both snivelled a bit."
Completing the Family Circle
Meeting both his birth parents has brought a sense of completeness to Cunnah's life.
He currently resides with his wife Ruth in the seaside village of Fahan, County Donegal, just a few miles from Derry and near the mother-and-baby home where he was born.
Continuing his musical career, Cunnah now lives free from the addictions that once troubled him.
"Things have only gotten better."
