Ciaran Gribbin is a Grammy nominated songwriter and performer who, in addition to working with word class artists such as Madonna, U2, Paul McCartney, Snow Patrol and Al Pacino, has toured the world as the singer of INXS. Ciaran was born in war-torn Northern Ireland growing up in ‘The Troubles’.
Current work
Ciaran is the founder of Rock and Roll Team Building, a business developed to provide a creative environment for corporate companies to engage, inspire and connect people through the power of music. Rock and Roll Team Building currently operates in Australia, New Zealand and the USA. As a sought after and experienced corporate keynote speaker, Ciaran’s story is a fascinating multi layered tale about never giving up on a childhood dream.
It’s an inspirational story about talent meeting hard work and overcoming the knocks and disappointments to live a dream. A unique story of how patience, persistence and determination made that dream becoming a reality.
Previous experience
Music: As a young musician he cut his teeth doing gig after gig in the tough bars of Belfast and Derry. During this turbulent time in a divided society, Ciaran witnessed and experienced the bombs and bullets of sectarian abuse and paramilitary attacks. Ciaran’s first big break came in 2010 when he received a Grammy nomination for Madonna’s worldwide hit single ‘Celebration’, which he co-wrote with Madonna and Oakenfold.
Soundtracks: Since then, in addition to performing at many music festivals including Brazil’s ‘Rock in Rio’, Ciaran has opened shows for Paul McCartney, Crowded House, The Script and Gotye. Ciaran has worked extensively as a songwriter for acts such as Groove Armada and Dead Mau5. He has also worked on multiple movie soundtracks including writing all of the original songs for the U2 supported movie ‘Killing Bono’. This movie was released through Paramount Pictures with a Sony Music soundtrack album.
INXS: In 2011 Ciaran became the singer of the legendary Australian band INXS. He has toured extensively with INXS throughout South America, Europe and Australasia. 2015 ended with an Oscar shortlist nomination for Ciaran’s song 'Hey Baby Doll' which was sung by Al Pacino in the critically acclaimed movie 'Danny Collins'.
Talking Points
Rock and Roll Teambuilding
Rock and Roll Team Building programs are fast paced, run for a period of 90 minutes to 2 hours and are the most fun anyone can have at a corporate event. Rock and Roll Team Building is a perfect solution to kick-off or close a conference, lift up a small meeting or knock the socks off a crowd at any type of evening celebration. The programs also sit comfortably on an incentive travel reward program's turn-table to spin what could be an otherwise dull activity into a money can’t buy experience. Suitable for day or evening events.
Rock and Roll Teambuilding
In Performance
Whether solo with a recording loop station, accompanied by a fiddler in the Irish folk, bluegrass and classical traditions, or with a full band playing classic dance-floor filling party songs, Ciaran offers a musical skillset to suit any audience and environment.
In Performance
It's a Long Way to the Top if you Wanna Rock 'n' Roll
Ciaran's story includes growing up in war-torn Northern Ireland, from gigging in Belfast through the bombs and violence of The Troubles, to receiving a Grammy nomination with Madonna walking out on stage in front of tens of thousands of people, hearing Al Pacino first sing his song 'Hey Baby Doll' for the feature film Imagine, and recording and performing throughout the world as the frontman of INXS. It's a Long Way to the Top if you Wanna Rock 'n' Roll
A motivational presentation about what it takes to make it in the music industry, and the importance of teamwork, collaboration and not giving up on your dreams.
Stories from the Road with Ciaran Gribbin & Paul Beard
What's the world of Rock 'n' Roll really like?Stories from the Road with Ciaran Gribbin & Paul Beard
Join Grammy-nominated songwriter and former singer of INXS, Ciaran Gribbin, and former Robbie Williams Musical Director and keys player, Mr. Paul Beard, aka 'Beardy' for an up-close and personal conversation about their time on the road writing, recording, and touring with some of the biggest names in music!
This intimate show is an engaging 60 minutes of entertaining and humorous stories sprinkled with live music performances.
Stories include how Ciaran Gribbin met Andrew Farriss from INXS while on tour in Australia in support of Paolo Nutini. A meeting that led to Ciaran standing on stage with INXS in front of 30,000people in Brazil just 12 months later.
You'll hear how Paul Beard always dreamt of playing Wembley Stadium as a young boy; later, Beardywent on to play the stadium no less than eight times with Robbie Williams! How Ciaran Gribbin sang backing vocals for every track except one on the Snow Patrol album 'Eyes Open'. That one track was 'Chasing Cars,' which became one of Snow Patrol's biggest hits. So why didn't Ciaran sing the BV's on that song... because he had to jump on a plane back to Belfast to play a pub gig for a few hundred pounds!
Beardy has stories for days about his time staying in the home of Carrie Fisher (Princess Leya) for two solid weeks in Los Angeles while on tour with James Blunt in the USA. She became one of his biggest fans.
And the stories go on...
Ciaran and Paul perform songs relevant to their careers throughout the show from artists such as; INXS, Robbie Williams, The Beatles, Art Garfunkel, Snow Patrol, U2, Madonna, and many more.
This is a rare opportunity to get up close and personal with two artists who've played at the 'pointy end' of the music industry. A show guaranteed not to disappoint!
Video
Never Tear Us Apart - Ciaran Gribben and Band at the Variety Annual Themed Ball 2016
Ciaran Gribbin is a Grammy nominated songwriter and performer who, in addition to working with word class artists such as Madonna, U2, Paul McCartney, Snow Patrol and Al Pacino, has toured the world as the singer of INXS. Ciaran was born in war-torn Northern Ireland growing up in ‘The Troubles’. Ciaran is the founder of Rock and Roll Team Building, a business developed to provide a creative environment for corporate companies to engage, inspire and connect people through the power of music. Rock and Roll Team Building currently operates in Australia, New Zealand and the USA. As a sought after and experienced corporate keynote speaker, Ciaran’s story is a fascinating multi layered tale about never giving up on a childhood dream.Don't Change - Ciaran Gribben and his band (INXS)
Ciaran Gribbin is a Grammy nominated songwriter and performer who, in addition to working with word class artists such as Madonna, U2, Paul McCartney, Snow Patrol and Al Pacino, has toured the world as the singer of INXS. Ciaran was born in war-torn Northern Ireland growing up in ‘The Troubles’. Ciaran is the founder of Rock and Roll Team Building, a business developed to provide a creative environment for corporate companies to engage, inspire and connect people through the power of music. Rock and Roll Team Building currently operates in Australia, New Zealand and the USA. As a sought after and experienced corporate keynote speaker, Ciaran’s story is a fascinating multi layered tale about never giving up on a childhood dream.Ciaran Gribbin showreel
Ciaran Gribbin is a Grammy nominated songwriter and performer who, in addition to working with word class artists such as Madonna, U2, Paul McCartney, Snow Patrol and Al Pacino, has toured the world as the singer of INXS. Ciaran was born in war-torn Northern Ireland growing up in ‘The Troubles’. Ciaran is the founder of Rock and Roll Team Building, a business developed to provide a creative environment for corporate companies to engage, inspire and connect people through the power of music. Rock and Roll Team Building currently operates in Australia, New Zealand and the USA. As a sought after and experienced corporate keynote speaker, Ciaran’s story is a fascinating multi layered tale about never giving up on a childhood dream.Audio
I really enjoyed not just your presentation and stories of growing up in Belfast but also the incredible gig you did for us. You and your band really rocked it. You are a true talent and an ... keep reading Keystone Financial
Our team was amazed at the calibre of Ciaran and his team and felt special to have such a professional performance individualised for our event. Ciaran did a great job of enthusing and engaging our team in conjunction with meeting our corporate themes and objectives. I would happily recommend Ciaran for other corporations looking to bring an event to life.
Ciaran provided a captivating insight into his life growing up in Northern Ireland and weaved the convention theme, Life Changing Conversations, into his presentation. These conversations helped shape his future and showed us that trusting in people, never giving up and striving forward against all odds to achieve your dreams, is possible. Ciaran was an absolute delight to work with and a truly engaging speaker.
Thank you very much for your recommendation to have Ciaran Gribbin come and speak at Sydfest on Wednesday evening. He was incredibly well received and his address was genuine, meaningful and more importantly, it struck a chord with our college community. Furthermore, Ciaran's performances with our students were fantastic and inspiring. What I found most impressive, however, (and testament to his great character) was the time he took to work with our student musicians to fine tune the songs that they were all performing together. Without a doubt the students, have benefitted positively from the experience and will remember this experience for years to come.
Thank you Ciaran for being part of our Grand Finale Luncheon at ASFA 2014. Your professionalism and commitment to meet our brief was outstanding and you exceeded all our expectations on the day. Having a blend of you telling your story and playing music was one of the most special combinations I have witnessed in 20+ years of organising events. Testament to its success, was looking around to 1,600 guests absolutely mesmerised. Congratulations.
