Tributes have been paid to hugely popular local businessman and entertainer Owen ‘OG’ Gray who passed away suddenly on Sunday evening. Owen was a watchmaker, jeweller and a born entertainer who has been supporting local and national charities via his much loved annual ‘OG Cabaret Show’ which he has been running since 1990.
Owen established Goldstar jewellers in the Demesne in 1986 and ran the shop with his son Alan with the duo boasting over 70 years between them in the jewellery trade. But it was music that was Owen’s real passion and shining a light on local talent which he did via The OG Talent Show which gave local artists the chance to be heard.
Paudie Breen was one of those local talents who blossomed under Owen’s guidance and the Muirhevnamór man who is one of the most talented stage actors to come out of Dundalk played a glowing tribute to the man he was proud to call a friend.
“I first met Owen in 1993, when my aunt Fiona Jeffers became part of the OG show. That Christmas I got a guitar from Santa and when asked by my Guitar teacher, the late Owenie Kelly, what music I wanted to learn to play, I replied “OG Music”.
“Ten years later I would go on to win The OG Talent and become part of the Cabaret show myself. Owen worked tirelessly for charity and there are so many kind deeds he did for people privately and quietly. As a young person anxious for a platform to perform, the OG Show was the perfect place, Owen nurtured and advised and gave myself and so many peers the opportunity to be heard and to fine tune our craft.
“He has made an enormous contribution to the live music scene across the North East and will be missed by so many but especially by his family who he adored and by those of us who were fortunate enough to call him a friend,” concluded Paudie.
Owen was a huge music fan and adored many artists particularly from the 1950’s and 1960’s era. His last post on social media came last Saturday a day before his death where he sent out a clip of one of his favourite singers, Nat King Cole, singing the classic song ‘Smile’ which includes the lyrics:
“Smile, what’s the use of crying?
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile’.
And that is how many will remember Owen. The born entertainer whose face was almost permanently etched with a smile.
