Robert Joseph Brolly was born on 4th October in Derry, Northern Ireland where he
spent the first fifteen years of his life. The family then uprooted and moved
to Coventry, England where he continues to live.
As a very young boy growing up in Ireland,
Bob spent many years singing in the
choir at the Waterside Chapel so singing was something that Bob had done from a
very early age. Bob’s voice was trained by the Priests and he then became a soloist for many years.
Bob studied engineering and served his apprenticeship in the car industry. After
six years of study, a series of different jobs then followed ranging from shoe
shop manager to beer taster for Bass Breweries – not bad for someone who has never touched a drop!
In the last few years, Bob has had a complete change of musical direction in
that because of his love of country music and his native Ireland, he now
combines his favourite Irish tunes with songs from country artists, old and new
– his favourite singers being Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill. Bob is very much in
demand, having performed in some of the top venues such as London's famous
Wembley Arena, Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena and the world famous Symphony Hall also in Birmingham.
By this time, Bob’s family had moved into the pub trade and this is where Bob’s musical career was launched.
Bob formed a band in which he was the drummer and
the lead singer and, after many different band ‘line-ups’ Bob found his forté fronting the band and singing. The band, known as Calvary, toured the world as
far away as Australia and America and played gigs all over Europe.
Bob’s younger brother, Paul, who travelled the world with Bob as his sound
engineer/driver, tragically broke his neck in a horrific car crash and was
paralysed from the neck down. Paul lives with Bob at his home in Coventry and
it is here you will find Paul – unless he is away on holiday with his beautiful fiancée, Anne-Marie. As Bob very often says of Paul, “Have wheelchair, will travel!”
Bob has won many major awards including 'Irish World Radio Presenter of the Year
and 'Irish Post Media Person of the Year'.
In 2003, for services to Broadcasting with the BBC, the wonderful work he does
for charities and having raised over £2m in the process Bob was invited to Buckingham Palace to receive his MBE
(Member of the Order of the British Empire) from Prince Charles.
As a very successful broadcaster, Bob presents his own award-winning Irish show
every Sunday (4-7pm) on BBC Radio WM and his popular afternoon music and chat
show every weekday (12noon-2pm) on BBC Radio Coventry & Warwickshire.
Bob was also granted an Apostolic Blessing from Pope John in the Vatican for his
fundraising efforts for many charities. Again, in recognition of his charity
work Bob was awarded 'Mayo Person of the Year' in 2006.
Although Bob loves being a radio broadcaster with the BBC, he has often said
that the thrill of walking on stage, singing a few old songs and making people
happy still gives him the greatest satisfaction to which many, many people
would certainly not disagree.
