Cork singer Stephanie Rainey pours her heart into her music

The tragic death of her nephew inspired Stephanie Rainey to write a song in his honour, writes Ed Power

THE words to ‘Please Don’t Go’ came unbidden to Stephanie Rainey as she stood shivering at a friend’s hospital bedside. The songwriter was taken back to the death, a decade earlier, of her infant nephew, claimed by meningitis the day after his first birthday. She went home, cried a little, and poured her feelings into her music.

Six months later, ‘Please Don’t Go’ had charted in the US and Rainey was being sweet-talked by record labels. As you can imagine, she is still pinching herself.