Kenneth William Casey Jr. (born April 15, 1969) is an American musician who is a bass guitarist, primary songwriter, and one of the lead singers of the Boston Celtic punk group the Dropkick Murphys. Casey was one of the original members, starting the band in 1996 with guitarist Rick Barton and singer Mike McColgan. He is the only original member of the Dropkick Murphys left in the band, though drummer Matt Kelly joined shortly after formation in 1997. He is known for his melodic vocal parts and solid punk rock bass playing. Dropkick Murphys released their tenth album Turn Up That Dial on April 30, 2021. Casey also founded the charity group The Claddagh Fund, owns two Boston restaurants, McGreevy's (which closed in August 2020) and Yellow Door Taqueria, and runs his own boxing promotion called Murphys Boxing. Casey has a small role in the 2016 film Patriots Day, about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the subsequent terrorist manhunt. Early life Casey was born and raised in Milton, Massachusetts. The son of Eileen Kelly and Ken Casey Sr., he is of Irish descent. His father died when he was very young and he was brought up under the wing of his grandfather, John Kelly, a teamster and union worker. The Dropkick Murphys song "Boys on the Docks" is dedicated to Kelly. He worked in various jobs and studied at University of Massachusetts Boston before forming the band. Personal life Casey lives in Hingham, Massachusetts with his wife and children. Casey is a die-hard fan of the Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics and New England Patriots, and participated in the Boston Bruins AT&T Legends Classic hockey game on January 2, 2010. Other participants included Tim Robbins, Bobby Farrelly, Terry O'Reilly, and Lenny Clarke. Casey scored the winning goal for his team in the second period. Casey was the owner of a sports bar in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston on Boylston Street near Fenway Park, called McGreevy's, which closed in 2020. It was dedicated to the memory of the founder of the Royal Rooters, "'Nuf Ced" Michael T. McGreevy. He was also part-owner (with Shawn Thornton and Tim Wakefield) of a Pembroke, Massachusetts restaurant called Turner's Yard, which closed in 2014. Casey announced in December 2019 that he will be opening another restaurant, Yellow Door Taqueria, in South End which will open in February 2020. On August