Raymond A. Gillen was born on May 12, 1959 in New York and was raised in Cliffside Park, NJ. He is considered by many to be the best known "unknown" to show up in the Rock N' Roll world during the late 1980's. In a career that spanned nearly a decade, Ray has certainly made his mark, performing with such well-known bands as Black Sabbath and Badlands. Sadly, Ray succumbed to AIDS related complications and passed away on December 1, 1993 at the young age of 34. He has left a large void in the music world behind him, but his memory continues to live on in his fans.

Ray was more of an athlete in school, but his passion for music was always evident. He would practice singing along with his favorite bands daily in his bedroom. Influenced by such bands as Bad Company and Deep Purple, Ray eventually gained enough confidence in his voice to start performing in front of others. Ray also enlisted the guidance of renowned vocal coach Robert Fitzgerald to help him strengthen and refine his instrument. Fitzgerald saw the endless potential in Ray from the start.

In the early 1980's, Ray performed in several successful cover bands. Most notably, bands named Vendetta and Harlette who were well known for their renditions of Van Halen tunes. Both bands were a big draw at clubs in New York and New Jersey. Ray penned some original material with a band named F-66 around this time as well. Always looking for new opportunities, Ray joined up with New York-based band Rondinelli in 1985.

Rondinelli was founded by former Rainbow drummer, Bobby Rondinelli. Bobby's brother, Teddy played guitar and keyboards. Bassist James Lomenzo completed the lineup. The band became a popular draw along the East Coast, earning major label interest along the way. They recorded a demo entitled "War Dance" in late 1985. Lomenzo left the band soon after that, only to be replaced by bassist Tommy Henriksen. In March of 1986, Ray got a once in a lifetime offer to replace former Trapeze/Deep Purple vocalist Glenn Hughes on tour with Black Sabbath. Ray quickly accepted the gig and Rondinelli was kaput.

Leaving Rondinelli behind and also turning down a lead role in the popular Broadway musical "Cats", Ray joined up with Black Sabbath on tour in support of their "Seventh Star" album. In less than 1 year's time, Ray had cut his teeth on stage at all the major venues in the world, winning the crowd over with his soulful, but powerful voice. When the tour ended, he returned to England with the band to begin work on their next LP, "Eternal Idol" in early 1987. Following a series of defections in the band, Ray decided to leave Black Sabbath and join up with bassist Tony Franklin of The Firm, the legendary drummer Cozy Powell, and ex-Thin Lizzy/Whitesnake guitarist John Sykes in an early incarnation of Blue Murder. Soon after recording a few demos with the band, Ray and Cozy both departed to pursue other projects.

In Winter 1987, Ray joined up with such stellar vocalists as John Wetton of King Crimson/Asia, Max Bacon of Bronz/GTR, and good friend Glenn Hughes to work on the "Phenomena II: Dream Runner" LP - the second project from noted British producer, Tom Galley. Ray had finally made his vinyl debut.

In early 1988, Ray returned to America to put together a new band of his own. He attempted to contact former Rough Cutt/Ratt/Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E Lee several times with no luck. Growing frustrated from having one-sided conversations with Jake's answering machine, Ray had all but given up on him when his mother, Amy Gillen intervened. Mama Gillen called Jake one last time to promote her son's talents. It was only after hearing from Ray's Mother that Jake finally returned the calls. Ray immediately flew out to Los Angeles to jam. It was a perfect match and the two shared the same musical vision. Eager to complete the new lineup, Ray contacted former Black Sabbath band-mate, drummer Eric Singer, and Jake contacted ex-Steeler bassist, Greg Chaisson. With a record deal in hand from Titanium Records, and Atlantic Records subsidiary, the band hit the studio to record their self-titled debut LP, "Badlands" which was released to rave reviews in early 1989.

Badlands' first single and video, "Dreams in the Dark" was in heavy rotation on MTV while the band set out on the road for much of the next year in support of their masterpiece LP. A video for the single, "Winter's Call" soon followed.

After a long year of touring, Eric Singer parted ways with Badlands and went on to tour with Kiss. Former Racer X singer, Jeff Martin (also a talented drummer) was hired as Eric's replacement and Badlands entered the studio to begin work on their much anticipated second LP, "Voodoo Highway" in 1990. The album was released in 1991 and the band was back on tour, playing to eager fans in both the U.S. and U.K. Due to a variety of poor business decisions, internal pressures climaxed in 1992 when Ray abruptly left the band, severing the musical partnership with Jake E Lee. Badlands completed the final few shows of the tour with singer John West, but sadly broke up for good when the tour ended.

Prior to his departure from Badlands, a third album originally entitled "Tribal Moon" was recorded. Ray, along with the other members of Badlands, had also traveled to Japan a few times between 1989 and 1991 to work with Ann Lewis. Ann was a famous Japanese pop-star and close friend of Jake E Lee.

Ray appeared on a couple of tracks from the Atsushi Yokozeki project RAID, and George Lynch's first solo release, "Sacred Groove" before forming his next band Tariff with guitarist Joe Holmes. The Los Angeles-based band dissolved quickly.

In 1993, Ray returned to New York and teamed up with former Alice In Chains bassist Mike Starr, guitarist Al Romano, and former Rondinelli band mate, drummer Bobby Rondinelli to form the band Sun Red Sun. Unfortunately, only a few rough tracks were recorded with producer Leif Mases before Bobby left the band to join Black Sabbath. Ray's health was quickly deteriorating at this point, and he too was forced to leave the band. It was questioned if the album would ever be completed.

Since 1990, there had been rumors that Ray contracted the AIDS virus. By the fall of 1993, there was little doubt that he was indeed afflicted with the dreaded disease. In December of 1993, Ray passed away in a New York State hospital. He was buried at Fairview Cemetery in Bergen County, New Jersey.

A memorial tribute concert to Ray was organized by Glenn Hughes in February 1994. Several of Ray's admirers showed up to perform, such as singer Sebastian Bach of Skid Row, Mariah Carey guitarist Paul Pescoe, and Glenn's own band, the recently re-formed Trapeze. Atlantic Records wanted to package a recording of the concert, but Ray's family requested it not be released. Ray's mother, Amy "Mama" Gillen was in attendance at the concert, where she expressed her appreciation to the artists and the crowd.

In 1995, guitarist Al Romano was finally able to release the completed debut LP from Sun Red Sun. Although other musicians were brought in to finish the incomplete tracks, Ray's original vocals were left intact on 4 of them, making the release a testimony to his final efforts before his passing.

The year 1996 would finally see the release of "War Dance", the demo Ray recorded with Rondinelli 11 years prior.

In 1999, the long awaited third album from Badlands, "Dusk", was completed by Jake E Lee and Greg Chaisson and finally released on the Japanese Pony Canyon label.

Ray's legacy is certainly a short one and he simply didn't have enough time to stake his rightful claim in the music world. The few musical gems we do have from him will preserve his talent for years to come. Rest in peace Ray, we'll miss you always...

Bibliography:

Ray Gillen Biography by Marc Fevre 1998 - http://www.hotshotdigital.com/WellAlwaysRemember.3/RayGillenBio.html

Black Sabbath Online: The Ray Gillen Story (Mark Fevre/Joe Seigler) - http://www.black-sabbath.com/interviews/theraygillenstory.html

Personal accounts from those that were close to Ray...you know who you are!