Ray Gillen

All Music Guide:

Although vocalist Ray Gillen first hit the music scene via heavy metal legends Black Sabbath, he was more of a blues-rock singer (à la Robert Plant, Paul Rodgers, Steve Marriott), as evidenced by his work with Badlands. Born May 12, 1961, in Cliffside Park, NJ, Gillen began singing in bands as a teenager, inspired by the likes of Bad Company, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin. By the early '80s, Gillen was fronting several regional cover bands, one of which was called Harlett, and in 1985 he joined the outfit Rondinelli, which was founded by former Rainbow drummer Bobby Rondinelli. But before the outfit could issue any recordings, Gillen accepted an offer to join Black Sabbath in late 1986 (strangely, he was also offered the lead role in the popular Broadway musical Cats at the same time). Although guitarist Tony Iommi was the only remaining original member of Sabbath at the time, they toured arenas around the world, as Gillen lent his vocal talents to Sabbath's 1987 release, The Eternal Idol.

But Gillen's stint with the Sabs didn't last long, as he split to join up with ex-Whitesnake guitarist John Sykes in Blue Murder. But once more, before the new group issued an album, Gillen was gone. He appeared on the all-star project Phenomena II: Dream Runner, which included appearances by such classic rockers as King Crimson/Asia's John Wetton, Deep Purple's Glenn Hughes (it was actually Hughes who Gillen replaced in Sabbath), and Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham. But it wasn't long before Gillen longed to be part of a proper, full-time rock group.

Gillen hooked up with former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee (along with his former Sab bandmate, drummer Eric Singer, and bassist Greg Chaisson) in Badlands. Instead of following in the footsteps of their heavy metal past, Badlands were more classic rock/blues-rock-based, returning back to the sound that served as their original inspiration. 1989 saw the release of the quartet's self-titled debut on the Atlantic Records subsidiary Titanium Records, with MTV giving airtime to the videos for the rocking "Dreams in the Dark" and the Zep-esque ballad "Winter's Call," as the album sold modestly (although the group enjoyed major success in Japan). But despite a promising career ahead of them, the group would only issue one more release, 1991's Voodoo Highway, before splitting up (an unreleased third album, Dusk, would eventually see the light of day in 2000).

In the wake of Badlands' breakup, Gillen appeared on albums by Atsushi Yokozeki (Raid) and ex-Dokken guitar shredder George Lynch (Sacred Groove), before forming the short-lived Los Angeles-based band Tariff. Shortly after returning to the East Coast in 1993, Gillen formed Sun Red Sun with former Alice In Chains bassist Mike Starr, guitarist Al Romano, and former Rondinelli bandmate, drummer Bobby Rondinelli. But just as the new group was off and running, Gillen was diagnosed with HIV and on December 3, 1993, he died at his New Jersey home due to AIDS-related complications. He was 32.

A Ray Gillen memorial tribute was organized in February of 1994 by Glenn Hughes, featuring performances by singer Sebastian Bach of Skid Row, former Mariah Carey guitarist Paul Pescoe, and Hughes' own band -- the re-formed Trapeze. 1995 saw the release of the self-titled album by Sun Red Sun (followed in 2000 by a second album, Lost Tracks), and a year later, an album of demos that Gillen had cut with Rondinelli back in 1985, War Dance, was issued.

Wikipedia:

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 classic Dreamrunner album.

Early life [edit]

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 thrash metal F-66 in 1980-81, Savage, and most notably Vendetta and Harlette. In 1985, he joined Bobby Rondinelli's band, Rondinelli.

Career [edit]

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 Ray do exist on the bootleg circuit. Also, in an interview Tony Martin revealed that the sinister laugh heard on the track Nightmare is in fact Ray'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. Ray 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.

After the Phenomena recordings, Ray Gillen joined John Sykes' (previously with Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy and a different band called Badlands) with the intention to form a new band Blue Murder. Gillen sang demos but parted company when Sykes decided to handle vocals himself.

Gillen then contacted Jake E. Lee (former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist) to form a band. In 1988 Gillen started to form Badlands with Jake E. Lee and recruited his friend Eric Singer with whom he had played in Black Sabbath. Ray recorded three albums (Badlands, Voodoo Highway, and Dusk) with Badlands and toured from 1989 until 1992.

Following his split from Badlands, Gillen joined L.A. band Terriff, led by guitarist Joe Holmes, fresh off his stint with David Lee Roth on the A Little Ain't Enough tour. Gillen rehearsed with the group for several months before pulling up stakes and moving back to his native New York.

In 1993, Wilfried F. Rimensberger was planning a remake of his first Metal Hammer Loreley Festival but this time specifically to stage Phenomena's first ever life performance, with Ray Gillen on vocals. It was going to be the launch event for a series of concerts across Europe in 1994. Ray called from New York and told Rimensberger in Munich that he can't as he was too ill to perform.

Death [edit]

Gillen went to New York City to form the band Sun Red Sun with old friends, but he died from an AIDS related disease in a New York Hospital on December 3, 1993. He was survived by a daughter, Ashley (born July, 1984).