NEW DATE ‘Rob Strong is unique. He is incredibly talented. In my opinion, he is the best Blues or Soul singer to ever come out of Ireland. His innate gift is his voice, and his timing is incredible’ – Colm Wilkinson ‘Seeing Rob Strong with the Plattermen in the late ‘60s was a big influence on me. To hear a fellow Northerner, sing the soul music I loved so well, gave me a lot of confidence that one day I could find my own voice. Rob is one of the true originals!’ – Paul Brady 'To play with someone of the calibre of Rob Strong was a huge honour for me as Rob was one of the best singers I had ever seen in Ireland." – Johnny Logan “For me Rob is world class. I’d say he is one of the best Blues/Soul/Rock singers in the world.' – Don Baker The legendary Irish Blues/Soul singer Rob Strong brings his fabulous band to Enniscorthy after celebrating his 75th birthday in February after an incredible 60 years on the road . As the title of his recently published biography suggests, the Derry born singer is 'STILL GOING STRONG' and continues to perform all over Ireland in 2022. In the early 1970s nobody in Ireland personified the raw energy of rock blues and soul music like Rob Strong. Rob is known as ‘The Godfather of Soul’ but is versatile in singing all other genres , especially Rock, Blues, Jazz, and Pop. Although born in Derry, Rob Strong moved to Omagh at the age of 16, where he was to join two of Ireland’s biggest Showbands, The Polka Dots (with Frankie McBride) from 1965 to 1967 and the iconic Plattermen from 1967 to 1974. Both moves were organised by Rob’s lifelong friend and legendary singer, the late Brian Coll. After playing bass guitar with The Polka Dots, Rob progressed to become lead singer with The Plattermen, one of Ireland’s finest ever bands. He even once turned down the opportunity to join the world-famous rock band Deep Purple! In 1975 he spent a year with Eurovision Winner Johnny Logan in a fantastic band called The Giants . Rob Strong and The Rockets were hugely popular all over Ireland in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. For almost 40 years he has fronted The Rob Strong Band, which currently feature top class musicians, Sean Behan on lead guitar, Cormac Crowley on drums, Salvatore Urbano on keyboards and Rob himself on lead vocals and bass guitar. Rob’s amazing story is described by Brush Shiels as a “phenomenal biography“ and is highly recommended by Joe Duffy on Liveline . The biography was written by his manager Paul Holland, with the foreword penned by Barry Devlin of Horslips fame. Ireland’s biggest names give fascinating interviews on Rob and the Irish music scene in the ‘60s to the ‘90s with household names such as Phil Coulter, Johnny Logan, Colm Wilkinson, Brian Coll, Paul Brady, Don Baker, Brush Shiels, Mary Coughlan, Pat Shortt, Fr. Brian D’ Arcy, Barry Devlin, his son Andrew Strong (who achieved worldwide stardom when he starred as ‘Deco Cuffe’ in The Commitments movie) and Thin Lizzy original guitarist Eric Bell. They recall many memorable moments of Rob’s career with the overwhelming consensus being that his amazing voice and bass playing have always been world class.
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