The Belinda Mahony Story

Belinda Therese Mahony is the oldest child of Damian and Susan Mahony and was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1982.

Belinda has had intellectual and physical disabilities from birth, which were diagnosed in later years as being due to rare chromosomal abnormality, of which there are only a small number of known cases in the world and Belinda is the only one known in Australia. Despite her disabilities, Belinda has a truly inspirational singing voice and sings with incredible passion.

When she was first diagnosed as having developmental problems, it was thought that she would not be able to speak fluently and would have difficulties with her physical coordination. However with early intervention and Belinda’s will to achieve, she has been able to follow her dreams into the world of music.

Belinda’s language development was aided by her repeatedly watching the movie, The Sound of Music. It was through this musical and her acting out the characters in the story with her Poppy (grandfather), that she was able to develop her gift of singing.

Belinda moved to Queensland with her parents and two younger brothers, John and Christopher in 1995, and her first public performance was in the same year when she sang as a finalist at the Tropicarnival Eisteddfod on the Gold Coast.

Over the next 4 years however, Belinda was to experience further physical and psychological pain which took the form of frequent uncontrolled seizures due to her epilepsy; orthopedic operations on her ankles; chronic yet undiagnosed leg pain, and then severe depression. Despite these enormous hardships, Belinda was able to persist with her dreams and her love for singing. She has the ability to fully engage her audiences who feel her struggle and marvel at her triumph over many adversities

The Variety Club of Queensland discovered Belinda and decided to help make one of her dreams come true…to make her own CD. In the same year and after much patience and perseverance, Sung from the Heart was released. Variety then organized engagements for Belinda, including the gala opening of the Marriot Hotel in Brisbane (which was to launch her CD)
There was an important fund raising event for the Variety Club of Victoria, where she was billed to perform with The Seekers, (an internationally renowned Australian band), at their Melbourne concert. Belinda performed at the Premier’s Ball in Brisbane, and was awarded the title of ‘Ambassador to the Variety Club’. Belinda has continued with other wonderful engagements and loves the opportunity to perform.

Belinda continues to moves large audiences to tears of admiration with this incredible feeling in her voice. Her performances are truly a memorable experience. Her determination continues to be a driving force in her quest to give so many people joy and hope. Belinda and her family returned to Melbourne in 2006 where she is pursuing her interest in music and drama.

Click here to download Belinda's CV in pdf format.