1. Raymond Arthur Gillen was an American rock singer.
20 Facts About Ray Gillen
1. 2.
Ray Gillen is 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.
3.
Ray Gillen was an only child and started singing while in high school.
4.
Ray Gillen played the New Jersey club circuit with various bands, including club bands Quest, the punk rock influenced F-66, Savage, and, most notably, Vendetta and Harlette.
5.
Ray 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.
6.
However, demo versions of The Eternal Idol featuring Ray Gillen do exist on the bootleg circuit and on the 2010 deluxe Eternal Idol re-release.
7.
Ray Gillen is featured in Phenomena's 'Did it all for Love' music video although he was not involved in the actual recording of that song.
8.
Ray Gillen sang demos but parted company when Sykes decided to handle vocals himself.
9.
In 1988, Ray Gillen formed Badlands with Lee and recruited his friend Eric Singer with whom he had played in Black Sabbath.
10.
Ray Gillen recorded two albums with Badlands and the band toured from 1989 until 1992.
11.
Ray Gillen was briefly replaced by John West and Badlands dissolved soon afterwards.
12.
Ray Gillen joined forces with drummer Randy Castillo and Iggy Pop band members Whitey Kirst and Craig Pike under the name Cockfight.
13.
Ray Gillen joined the band Terriff, led by guitarist Joe Holmes, fresh off his stint with David Lee Roth on the A Little Ain't Enough tour.
14.
Ray Gillen rehearsed with the group for several months before moving back to his native New York.
15.
Ray Gillen went to form the band Sun Red Sun with old friends.
16.
Ray Gillen called from New York and told Rimensberger in Munich that he had to bow out because he was too ill to perform.
17.
Ray Gillen died from an AIDS-related disease in a New York hospital on December 1,1993.
18.
Ray Gillen first showed symptoms of the disease around 1990, and according to his Badlands bandmate Jake E Lee, "in between the first and the second record, he started getting really thin and didn't look quite as healthy".
19.
Ray Gillen is buried at Fairview Cemetery in Fairview, New Jersey.
20.
Ray Gillen was ranked at 100 on Hit Parader's Top 100 Metal Vocalists.