Early life and career

Macy Gray was born in Canton, Ohio, to Laura McIntyre, a math teacher, and Otis Jones. While studying scriptwriting at the University of Southern California, she agreed to write songs for a friend, and a demo session was scheduled for the songs to be recorded by another singer. When the vocalist failed to turn up, Gray recorded them herself. She then met writer-producer Joe Solo while working as a cashier in Beverly Hills. Together, they wrote a large collection of songs and recorded them in Solo's studio. The demo tape gave Gray the opportunity to sing at jazz cafés in Los Angeles. Despite Gray's dislike of her own voice, Atlantic Records signed her. She began recording her debut record but was dropped from the label upon the departure of A&R man Tom Carolan, who had signed her to the label. Macy returned to Ohio but in 1997 Los Angeles based Zomba Publishing Senior VP A&R man Jeff Blue, convinced her to return to music and signed her to a development deal, recording new songs based on her life experiences, with a new sound, and began shopping her to record labels. In 1998, she landed a record deal with Epic Records. She was on one of the songs from the Black Eyed Peas' debut album, "Love Won't Wait".

Music career

On How Life Is (1999-2001)

Gray worked on her debut album in 1999 with producer Darryl Swann. Released in the summer of 1999, On How Life Is became a worldwide smash. Despite the first single "Do Something" stalling on the charts, the release of the second single "I Try" made the album a success for Gray. "I Try" (which was originally featured in Love Jones and the Jennifer Aniston-starring romantic-comedy Picture Perfect in 1997) was one of the biggest singles of 1999, and subsequent singles "Still" and "Why Didn't You Call Me" ensured the album became triple platinum in the US, quadruple platinum in the UK, and in Canada.

In 2001, Gray won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "I Try", which was also nominated for "song of the year" and "record of the year". She then collaborated with Fatboy Slim, the Black Eyed Peas, and Slick Rick (on the song "The World Is Yours", from the Rush Hour 2 soundtrack), as well as acting for the first time, in the thriller Training Day. In August 2001, Gray was booed off the field at the Pro Football Hall of Fame exhibition game after forgetting the lyrics to the American national anthem.

The Id and The Trouble with Being Myself (2001-2005)

Gray's The Id featured appearances by John Frusciante and Erykah Badu on the single "Sweet Baby" (which was co-written with longtime collaborator Joe Solo). The album peaked at number eleven on the Billboard 200. Despite its failure in the US, it reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and was certified gold by the BPI. The underperformance in the United States, compared to her debut album, may have been due to The Id being released just a week after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In 2002, she appeared in Spider-Man as herself and worked with Santana on the track "Amoré (Sexo)", for his album Shaman.

Also in 2002, she appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD in tribute to Nigerian afropop pioneer Fela Kuti, Red Hot and Riot. She appeared on a remake track of Kuti's classic, "Water No Get Enemy" alongside prominent neo soul, hip hop and R&B artists, D'Angelo, the Soultronics, Nile Rodgers, Roy Hargrove, and Kuti's son, Femi Kuti.

She recorded a duet with Zucchero called "Like the Sun (From Out of Nowhere)", which featured Jeff Beck on guitar released in 2004 on Zu & Co., a duets collection. Her song "Time of My Life" was included in the soundtrack to 8 Mile. A cartoon based on Gray's childhood was being developed, but it never came to fruition.

In 2003, Gray released her third studio album, The Trouble with Being Myself, to rave reviews. The lead single, "When I See You", became a radio hit in the US and a top forty hit in the UK, although the album was not as well received by fans. Nevertheless, it became Gray's third top twenty album in the UK. A greatest hits collection and a live album were subsequently released: The Very Best of Macy Gray (2004) and Live in Las Vegas (2005). Additionally, Gray was featured on Marcus Miller's 2005 album Silver Rain, on a cover of Prince's 1986 song "Girls & Boys". She also appeared on the soundtrack to the film Chicago with Queen Latifah and Lil' Kim on "Cell Block Tango/He Had it Comin'."

Return to music and Big (2007-2010)

Gray began 2007 by being kicked off-stage at a concert in Barbados for profanity (which was part of the show), but she was not aware that it was against the law in that country. She gave a public apology that night to avoid arrest.

In March, Gray released her fourth studio album (sixth overall), titled Big. Two singles, "Finally Made Me Happy" and "Shoo Be Doo", were released from the album. "What I Gotta Do", another track from the album, is featured on the Shrek the Third soundtrack. It is considered Gray's comeback album, after a four-year hiatus since her last studio album. The album was critically acclaimed and seen by some as her best work to date. It features collaborations with Natalie Cole, Fergie, Justin Timberlake, and will.i.am, who co-executive produced the album with Gray.

The album was moderately successful in the US, where it debuted and peaked at number 39 on the Billboard 200, becoming Gray's highest-charting album since The Id. Big reached number 62 on the albums chart in the UK, her lowest-charting UK album, but it did achieve some success in several other countries, including Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Finland, reaching the top forty on their album charts.

PBS's Soundstage live concert series premiered a Gray concert on July 5.

On July 7, 2007, Gray performed at the Brazilian leg of Live Earth at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Gray and her band members wore clothes bearing political messages. Gray's dress carried the message "Darfur Red Alert".

In 2008, Gray launched a new campaign under the name " Nemesis Jaxson", with the single, "Slap a Bitch".

Early in 2009, Gray recorded the song "Don't Forget Me" for the soundtrack of Confessions of a Shopaholic.

The Sellout (2010-2011)

The first single from Gray's fifth studio album The Sellout, "Beauty in the World", is featured in the final sequence of the series finale, "Hello Goodbye", of the ABC television series, Ugly Betty. "Beauty in the World" was also used as the theme in multiple videos created by Microsoft to promote Internet Explorer 9. Both singles released from the album ("Beauty in the World" and "Lately") were top 10 hits on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs Chart.

Upon its release, The Sellout received generally mixed reviews from most music critics. Metacritic gave it an average score of 57, based on 15 reviews; Andy Gill of The Independent gave it three out of five stars; while AllMusic writer John Bush shared a similar sentiment and panned Gray's songwriting.

However, The Boston Globe's James Reed commended its production, and Jeremy Allen of NME gave the album a 7/10 rating.

Covered, Talking Book, and The Way (2011-present)

In 2011, Gray signed a deal with 429 Records and started recording a series of covers for her next studio album Covered. The album was officially released on March 26, 2012. The album's first single was "Here Comes the Rain Again" (originally performed by Eurythmics). On February 16, 2012, Gray participated in the Sanremo Festival as a guest, performing alongside Gigi D'Alessio and Loredana Berte.

For the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Stevie Wonder album Talking Book, Gray covered the entire record and released her Talking Book as a tribute.

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey's Where Are They Now, Gray opened up about her problems with drug abuse, stating that she was ill-prepared for the level of fame she received. The interview coincided with the release of her album The Way, released in October 2014 on Kobalt Records. A world tour was announced shortly after its release.

Other work

Gray appeared in the eighth season of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown, playing for Habitat for Humanity. She finished in third place.

In 2002, she was the voice for Seeiah Owens in the video game SSX Tricky.

Gray sang the theme song for the Nickelodeon animated series As Told by Ginger, composed by Jared Faber and Emily Kapnek.

In August 2008, Gray headlined at the 2008 Summer Sundae music festival in Leicester, England, performing cover versions of Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?", Deee-Lite's "Groove Is in the Heart" and Radiohead's "Creep". For the gig, her band wore pink Andy Warhol wigs.

On September 28, 2008, Gray sang the American national anthem as part of the Israeli flag-raising ceremony at the Israeli consulate of Los Angeles.

In 2008, Gray collaborated with Australian DJ and singer Kaz James on the song "Can't Hold Back". The single was released in early 2009 in Australia and is credited to Kaz James featuring Macy Gray.

In 2009, Gray competed in season 9 of Dancing with the Stars with professional partner Jonathan Roberts. They were eliminated in a double elimination in week one.

In 2012, Gray performed the Michael Jackson song "Rock with You" for a special performance of the West End musical Thriller - Live for BBC Children in Need Pop Goes the Musical.

In 2015, Gray was featured on the song "Into the Deep" by Galactic.

In 2016, Gray was featured on Ariana Grande's third studio album, Dangerous Woman on a track entitled "Leave Me Lonely".

Personal life

Gray opened the Macy Gray Music Academy in 2005.

Discography

Main article: Macy Gray discography

Studio albums

• 1999: On How Life Is
• 2001: The Id
• 2003: The Trouble with Being Myself
• 2007: Big
• 2010: The Sellout
• 2012: Covered
• 2012: Talking Book
• 2014: The Way

Filmography

List of television, videogame and films credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Ally McBeal	Herself	"Hope and Glory" (season 3, episode 20)
2000—2001	Saturday Night Live	Herself	"Freddie Prinze, Jr./Macy Gray" (season 25, episode 10) "Drew Barrymore/Macy Gray" (season 27, episode 3)
2001	SSX Tricky	Seeiah Owens (voice)	Video game
2001	Training Day	Sandman's Woman
2002	MDs	Jess	"Wing and a Prayer" (season 1, episode 7)
2002	Spider-Man	Herself	Cameo
2003	Scary Movie 3	Herself	Cameo
2003	Gang of Roses	Assassin
2003	When I Was a Girl	Herself	"Singers" (season 1, episode 11)
2004	Around the World in 80 Days	Sleepy Frenchwoman
2004	Lightning in a Bottle	Herself	Cameo
2004	American Dreams	Carla Thomas	"Real-to-Reel" (episode 12, season 2)
2004	That's So Raven	Rhonda	"Taken to the Cleaners" (season 3, episode 4)
2004	Blue's Clues	Herself	"Bluestock" (season 6, episode 9)
2005	Lackawanna Blues	Pauline	TV movie
2005	The Crow: Wicked Prayer	Carman
2005	Shadowboxer	Neisha
2005	Domino	Lashandra Davis
2005	Duck Dodgers	Diva (voice)	"Diva Delivery/Castle High" (season 2, episode 10)
2005	American Dragon: Jake Long	Trixie's Grandmother/Miss Jenkinks (voice)	"Act 4, Scene 15" (season 1, episode 5) "Professor Rotwood's Thesis" (season 1, episode 8)
2005	1-800-Missing	Cleo	"A Death in the Family" (season 3, episode 13)
2006	Idlewild	Taffy
2007	Macy Gray's Big Special	Herself
2009	Dancing with the Stars	Herself	Season 9
2009	Head Case	Herself	"The Wedding Ringer" (season 3, episode 1)
2010	For Colored Girls	Rose/Lady in Pink	Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble
2012	Percentage	Mama Cash	Post-production
2012	The Paperboy	Anita Chester
2013	Mama Black Widow	Hattie Mae	Announced
2014	The Grim Sleeper	Margette
2015	Brotherly Love	Mrs. Taylor
2016	Fuller House	Herself	"Funner House" (season 1, episode 3)
2016	Papa	Agent Sterling

Awards and nominations

Gray won five of seventeen nominations, including Grammy Awards, MTV Video Music Awards and BRIT Awards.

Billboard Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
2001	"Request Line"	Best Rap/Hip-Hop Clip of the Year	Nominated
		Billboard Award for Best Direction in Video	Nominated

Black Reel Award

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
2011	For Colored Girls	Best Ensemble	Won

BRIT Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
2000	Macy Gray	International Breakthrough Act	Won
		International Female Solo Artist	Won

Grammy Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
2000	Macy Gray	Best New Artist	Nominated
	"Do Something"	Best Female R&B Vocal Performance	Nominated
2001	"I Try"	Record of the Year	Nominated
		Song of the Year	Nominated
		Best Female Pop Vocal Performance	Won

MTV Video Music Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
2000	"I Try"	Best New Artist	Won
		Best Female Video	Nominated
	"Do Something"	Best Art Direction	Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Won
2001	"Geto Heaven Remix T.S.O.I. (The Sound of Illadelph)" (with Common)	Breakthrough Video	Nominated
	"Request + Line" (with The Black Eyed Peas)	Best Hip-Hop Video	Nominated

NAACP Image Award

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
2006	Lackawanna Blues	Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special	Nominated

Soul Train Music Award

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
2000	On How Life Is	Best R&B/Soul Album, Female	Nominated

Teen Choice Award

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
2000	Macy Gray	Choice Music - Female Artist	Nominated

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Eminem	MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist for "I Try" 2000	Succeeded by Alicia Keys
Preceded by Natalie Imbruglia	BRIT Award for Best International Female 2000	Succeeded by Madonna
Preceded by Natalie Imbruglia	BRIT Award for Best International Breakthrough Act 2000	Succeeded by Kelis
Preceded by "I Will Remember You (Live)" by Sarah McLachlan	Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "I Try" 2001	Succeeded by "I'm like a Bird" by Nelly Furtado

Charities

Macy Gray supports the following charitable cause: AIDS.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]