Born in County Carlow in 1949, Kavanagh was diagnosed with psoriasis on his hands at the age of 44 and that led him to wearing gloves as part of his signature outfit, which includes dungarees and his trademark Hanna Hat of Donegal.
He spent his early days as a chef and later a lorry driver.
Kavanagh, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2010, explained he would do comedy shows and create his songs on drives home, saying: “If you got a good chorus, the verses would fall into place.”
He became an Irish phenomena in the 1990s with the release of Aon Focal Eile, that song saw him travel the world performing.
His other songs include The Mobile Phone, Stay Wut Her Johnny, Chicken Talk and Get Out Your Focal Leabhar.