Ciaran Gribbin
Singer-songwriter, performer and former frontman of INXS.
Profile
Ciaran Gribbin is a Grammy-nominated songwriter and performer who, in addition to working with world-class artists such as Madonna, U2, Paul McCartney, Snow Patrol and Al Pacino, has toured the world as the singer of INXS.
As a sought-after and experienced keynote speaker, Ciaran’s story is a 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 a reality.
Ciaran was born during the Northern Ireland conflict and grew up in The Troubles. As a young musician he cut his teeth doing gig after gig in the tough bars of Belfast and Derry. During this turbulent time, Ciaran witnessed the bombs and bullets of sectarian violence and the paramilitary attacks that enflamed a divided society.
Ciaran was a founding member of the popular Irish band ‘Leya’ which toured for seven years with major acts including Snow Patrol and Embrace. The band also released the critically acclaimed album ‘Watch you don’t take off’. The band was nominated for Best New Act at the Irish ‘Metor’ Music Awards.
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 the American megastar and English producer Paul Oakenfold. Ciaran soon became a regular drawcard at music festivals around the world including Brazil’s Rock in Rio. He has opened concerts for acts such as Paul McCartney, Crowded House, The Script and Gotye.
Just as his reputation as a performer kept growing, his career as a gifted composer continued to flourish. He has worked on multiple movie soundtracks, including writing all the songs for the U2-supported feature film Killing Bono.
In 2011, Ciaran became the singer of the legendary Australian band INXS. He has toured extensively with INXS throughout South America, Europe and Australasia.
Ciaran’s song ‘Hey Baby Doll’ which was sung by Al Pacino in the critically-acclaimed movie Danny Collins received an Oscar shortlist nomination.
Media
Feedback
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 inspiration for perseverance. I still have the chorus of the song you created going through my head!
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.
Ciarin Gribbin is an ultimate performer. He and the band delivered an awesome set of performances throughout our Awards Night. They kicked off with background music as the room filled up with guests taking their seats, an opening act followed which got the room energised, kicking off the night at high octane. Throughout the evening they continued to deliver performance after performance during networking breaks. They performed stings for the major awards and did not skip a beat between awards, getting winners up on stage and hyping up the room. The night concluded with a closing set as the guests danced the night away one last time. I strongly recommend Ciaran Gribbin and would book them again in a heartbeat. The vibe was electric and the energy unparalleled.
Sensational, Ciaran and his band were absolutely amazing. It made our conference a total success.
Ciaran and the band kept the momentum of the session moving, pushing the audience to engage just at the right level (ie just out of their comfort zone, but not uncomfortably!).
Best team building I've booked! Ciaran and the band were GREAT!
