Ray Gillen
| Ray Gillen | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Raymond Arthur Gillen |
| Born |
May 12, 1959 New York City, United States |
| Origin | Cliffside Park, New Jersey, United States |
| Died | December 1, 1993 (aged 34) New York City, New York, United States |
| Genres | Hard rock, blues-rock, heavy metal |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, harmonica, Blues Harp |
| Years active | 1978–1993 |
| Associated acts | Black Sabbath, Phenomena, Blue Murder, Badlands, Sun Red Sun |
Raymond Arthur "Ray" Gillen (May 12, 1959 – December 1, 1993) was an American rock singer-songwriter. He is a best known for his work with Badlands, in addition to his stint with Black Sabbath in the mid-1980s and recording most of the vocals on Phenomena's Dream Runner album.
Gillen was born on May 12, 1959 in New York, but was raised in Cliffside Park, New Jersey. He was an only child and started singing while in high school. He played the New Jersey club circuit with various bands, including club bands Quest (1978–'80), the punk rock influenced F-66 (1980–'81), Savage, and, most notably, Vendetta and Harlette. In 1985, he joined Bobby Rondinelli's band, Rondinelli.
In 1986, Black Sabbath started touring for the Seventh Star album when after only a few shows, singer Glenn Hughes got into a fist-fight and lost his voice due to the related sinus and throat injuries. Gillen was offered the job to replace Hughes, which meant leaving Rondinelli to accept the offer. After finishing the Seventh Star tour, Black Sabbath recorded their next album The Eternal Idol with Gillen. However, due to mix of financial burden, writing difficulty (Bob Daisley was recruited for writing as Gillen turned out to be not much of a composer), mismanagement and miscommunication that plagued the band, Gillen and Black Sabbath drummer Eric Singer quit before the album was ever released. Gillen was eventually replaced by Tony Martin, and the vocal track of The Eternal Idol was hurriedly rerecorded note-for-note with Martin before the album was finally released in 1987. However, demo versions of The Eternal Idol featuring Gillen do exist on the bootleg circuit. Also, in an interview Martin revealed that the sinister laugh heard on the track Nightmare is in fact Gillen's voice. The album was re-released on November 1, 2010 in Europe in a 2-disc expanded set including a bonus disc with Gillen's recording.
During the time of the Seventh Star tour, Gillen was asked by project director and co-producer Wilfried F. Rimensberger to join Mel Galley's Phenomena for the recording of the album Dream Runner, which features vocals from Glenn Hughes, John Wetton and Max Bacon. He recorded 4 tracks. Gillen is also featured in Phenomena's 'Did it all for Love' music video although he was not involved in the actual recording of that song.
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