Robert Sidney Halligan Jr. (born January 3, 1953) is an American singer, musician, music producer and songwriter who has collaborated with many artists, particularly in the

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

/ heavy metal genre, throughout his career. He is currently the lead vocalist and guitarist for the band

Ceili Rain Ceili Rain is a Christian band based in Syracuse, New York that is influenced by Celtic music. It is led by Bob Halligan, Jr. and was founded in May 1995. As the group's founder, Bob Halligan, Jr. explains, in Gaelic, the word "Ceilidh, Céili" ( ...

, a group he founded that combines

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

, rock, and contemporary

Christian music Christian music is a genre of music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christianity, Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence and lament, and its f ...

.Bob Halligan Jr. and Ceili Rain
Syracuse Post-Standard, March 12, 2007 As a songwriter, Halligan has contributed songs to three albums by the heavy metal band

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

, namely "(Take These) Chains" from 1982's ''

Screaming for Vengeance ''Screaming for Vengeance'' is the eighth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 1 July 1982 by Columbia Records. Considered the band's commercial breakthrough in North America, it has been certified double platinum ...

'' and the single "

Some Heads Are Gonna Roll "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll" is a song by the English heavy metal band Judas Priest. It was originally released on their 1984 studio album, ''Defenders of the Faith'', and issued as a single later that year. Background "Some Heads Are Gonna Ro ...

" from 1984's ''

Defenders of the Faith ''Defenders of the Faith'' is the ninth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 13 January 1984 in the US and on 20 January 1984 in the UK. The album was certified platinum by the RIAA, and spawned the singles " Fre ...

''. Judas Priest lead singer

Rob Halford Robert John Arthur Halford (born 25 August 1951) is an English heavy metal singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist of Judas Priest, which was formed in 1969 and has received accolades such as the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Metal Perform ...

included another song by Halligan, "Twist", on the album ''

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

'' by his band Halford. In 2024, he was credited with writing the song "The Lodger" from 2024's '' Invincible Shield''. Halligan also worked extensively with the hard rock/heavy metal band Kix, beginning in the mid-1980s, when he co-wrote most of the songs on the band's third album, ''

Midnite Dynamite ''Midnite Dynamite'' is the third studio album by American hard rock band Kix, released in 1985 by Atlantic Records. It features 7 out of 10 songs co-written by bassist Donnie Purnell with hit songwriter Bob Halligan Jr. (Kiss, Judas Priest, ...

.'' Incidentally, one of the most successful songs he has ever written is Kix's near-top ten hit, " Don't Close Your Eyes" (co-written with one-time

Crack the Sky Crack the Sky is an American progressive rock band formed in Weirton, West Virginia, in the early 1970s. In 1975, ''Rolling Stone'' declared their first album the "debut album of the year", and in 1978, ''Rolling Stone Record Guide'' compared t ...

frontman John Palumbo and Kix bassist Donnie Purnell), which was featured on the band's follow-up album, ''

Blow My Fuse ''Blow My Fuse'' is the fourth studio album by American hard rock band Kix. Released on September 6, 1988, on Atlantic Records, the album features Kix's only hit, the power ballad " Don't Close Your Eyes". The song peaked at No. 11 on the Billbo ...

''. The song remains Kix's highest-charting single. He also wrote the songs "Beat 'Em Up" and "Make Rock Not War" on

Blue Öyster Cult Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American rock band formed on Long Island, New York, in the hamlet of Stony Brook, in 1967. They have sold 25 million records worldwide, including 7 million in the United States. ...

's ''

Club Ninja ''Club Ninja'' is the tenth studio album by American rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released on December 10, 1985, in the United Kingdom and on February 11, 1986, in the United States. The album was intended as a comeback for the band, whose previo ...

'' record, "Rise to It" and "Read My Body" on

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

' album ''

Hot in the Shade ''Hot in the Shade'' is the fifteenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1989. It is the first Kiss studio album since 1981's '' Music From "The Elder"'' to feature lead vocals from someone other than Paul Stanley or Gene Simmon ...

'', " Could've Been You" on

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

's album ''

Love Hurts "Love Hurts" is a song written and composed by the American songwriter Boudleaux Bryant. First recorded by the Everly Brothers in July 1960, the song is most well known in two hit versions by UK artists: by Scottish hard rock band Nazareth in ...

'' and the single "

Rock You "Rock You" is a hard rock song written by Bob Halligan, Jr., and the first track from Helix's 1984 album '' Walkin' the Razor's Edge''. It is best known for its call and response refrain of "Gimme an R, O, C, K." It peaked at number 27 on the RP ...

" for

Helix A helix (; ) is a shape like a cylindrical coil spring or the thread of a machine screw. It is a type of smooth space curve with tangent lines at a constant angle to a fixed axis. Helices are important in biology, as the DNA molecule is for ...

's ''

Walkin' the Razor's Edge ''Walkin'' (PRLP 7076) is a Miles Davis compilation album released in March 1957 by Prestige Records. The album compiles material previously released on two 10 inch LPs in 1954, including all of '' Miles Davis All-Star Sextet'' and most of '' M ...

'' album. In addition, Halligan wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on ''

Night of the Crime ''Night of the Crime'' is the second album by American rock band Icon. It was far more polished than their self-titled debut and forayed into areas of glam only previously alluded to on their debut. It was produced and engineered by Eddie Kram ...

'' by the 80s heavy metal band

Icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

. He also co-wrote the song "Bang Down the Door" on Bonfire's 1989's ''

Point Blank Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm or gun can hit a target without the need to elevate the barrel to compensate for bullet drop, i.e. the gun can be pointed horizontally at the target. For targets beyond-blank range ...

'' record. In the Christian rock domain, he has worked with

Rick Cua Rick Cua (born December 3, 1948) is an American Christian rock singer, songwriter, bassist, author and ordained minister. He is a former member of the Southern rock band, Outlaws, whom he joined in 1980, but left in 1983 to pursue a full-time c ...

, focusing on Cua's solo career (including his 1985 album ''You're My Road'').

Solo discography

*''Window in the Wall'' (1991) *''Sprung'' (1994)

References

External links

Ceili Rain
Musicians from New York (state) Living people 1953 births Place of birth missing (living people) {{US-singer-stub