Macy Gray

Macy Gray
Image:MacyGray Big.jpg
Background information
Birth name	Natalie Renee McIntyre
Born	September 6 1967 (age 40)
Origin	Canton, Ohio, United States
Genre(s)	R&B, soul, neo soul
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, record producer, actress
Years active	1999–present
Label(s)	Epic (1999–2004) Geffen (2005–present)
Website	MacyGray.com

Macy Gray (born Natalie Renee McIntyre on September 6 1967^[1]) is a Grammy Award-winning American R&B, soul, and neo soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress, famed for her raspy voice and a singing style heavily influenced by Miles Davis' ex-wife Betty Davis.

To date, Macy has released three studio albums, one compilation album and a live album — with a fourth studio album, Big, set to be released in March 2007. "Coming Back to You", her latest song, is featured on the soundtrack to the 2006 film Déjà Vu. She has appeared in a number of films including Training Day, Spider-Man, and Idlewild. Gray is best known for her international hit single "I Try", taken from her multi-Platinum debut album On How Life Is.

Biography

Career Beginnings

After her birth in Canton, Ohio and attendance at Western Reserve Academy, Natalie McIntyre decided to pursue a career in music, under the name of Macy Gray. However, Gray's initial success came as a surprise. Gray agreed to write songs for a friend of hers and a demo session was scheduled for the songs to be recorded, by another singer. When the vocalist failed to turn up to record the songs, Gray found herself recording them herself. The demo tape created alot of attention and consequently landed Gray the oppurtunity to sing in Jazz Café's in Los Angeles. Despite Gray's distaste with her own voice, her vocals garnered lots of attention around the Jazz scene and Atlantic Records signed her to their label. Months later, Gray gave her demo album to Atlantic much to her dismay, due to the record label being dissatisfied with Gray's efforts. Also going through the breakup of her marriage and expecting her third child, Gray retreated back to Canton. During this time, Gray's demo tape was still doing the rounds and 1998, she landed a record deal with Epic Records.

Gray was married to Tracy Hinds from 1996 to 1998; they had three children together. She opened up a music academy called "The Macy Gray Music Academy" in 2005 and it was the scene of MTV's Punk'd because of black mold in the building.

On How Life Is

During the whole of 1998, Gray continued to work on her debut album. Released in the summer of 1999, On How Life Is became a worldwide smash. Despite first single "Do Something" stalling on the charts (63 US R&B;51 UK), it was by word of mouth and the release of second single I Try that the album really became a success for Gray. "I Try" was one of the biggest singles of 1999, and subsequent singles "Still" and "Why Didn't You Call Me" ensured the album becoming 3x Platinum in the USA, 4x Platinum in the UK and 3x Platinum 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 Training Day. In 2001, Gray was booed off stage after forgetting the words to the American national anthem.

Subsequent Albums

In the midst of the controversy, Gray's The Id became a commercial failure, largely stalling on the U.S. charts, in spite of appearances by John Frusciante and Erykah Badu, though the single "Sweet Baby" hit number eleven there. However, the album hit the number one spot in the UK Album Charts and was certified Gold. The under performance in the United States, compared to her debut album, may have been attributed to the fact that The Id was released a mere week after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In 2002, she appeared in Spider-Man as herself and worked on Santana's album Shaman, before releasing The Trouble with Being Myself in 2003. A cartoon based on Gray's childhood was being developed at one point, but it never came to fruition.

In 2003, Gray released The Trouble With Being Myself to rave reviews. First single "When I See You" became a radio hit in the US and a top 40 single in the UK, however the album wasn't as well recieved by fans. It nevertheless became Gray's third top 20 album in the UK. A Greatest Hits and Live album were subsequently released.

Gray also performed voiceovers for the character Seeiah in the Electronic Arts video game SSX Tricky, Gray hasn't been featured in any of the game's sequels.

Big (2007), Return To Prominence

Gray began 2007 badly after being kicked offstage at a concert in Barbados for a profanity (which was part of the show), but she wasn't aware that it was against the law in that country. She gave a public apology that night to keep from getting locked up. However March saw the release of Macy Gray's fourth studio album (sixth in total), entitled Big. Two singles, Finally Made Me Happy and Shoo Be Doo, have been released and are slowly climbing the R&B charts throughout the world. The album is largely considered as Gray's comeback album, after a 4 year hiatus since her last Studio Album. The album has been critically acclaimed and seen as her best work yet. It features collaborations with Natalie Cole, Fergie, Justin Timberlake and will.i.am, who co-excecutively the album with Gray. Big is the second release from will.i.am's record label.

Personal Life

Gray was married to Tracy Hinds from 1996 to 1998; they had three children together. She opened up a music academy called "The Macy Gray Music Academy" in 2005 and it was the scene of MTV's Punk'd because of black mold in the building. Gray has been highly praised for her work with the academy and has given underpriveleged children and teenagers the chance to perform. Gray's three children are aged 12, 11, and 9^{[citation needed]}.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Single appearances

Filmography

Films

Television

Trivia

• Appeared on the eighth season of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown, playing for Habitat for Humanity. She finished in third place, behind Robin Tunney and Christopher Meloni, and ahead of Joy Behar and Andy Dick.
• Was a Neopet for a short period of time on the popular virtual pets site of the same name. She was changed into the Kau during July 2000.
• Performed the theme song for the Nickelodeon cartoon As Told by Ginger.
• The song "I Try" was featured in the 1997 film Love Jones, two years before her album was released.
• She Appeared On That's So Raven

Awards and nominations

1999

Nominations

• Grammy Awards: "Best New Artist" and "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" ("Do Something")
• Soul Train Music Awards: "Best R&B/Soul Album - Female" (On How Life Is)

2000

Wins

• Grammy Awards: "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance" ("I Try")
• BRIT Awards: "International Breakthrough Act" and "International Female"
• MTV Video Music Awards: "Best New Artist" ("I Try") and "Best Cinematography" ("Do Something")

Nominations

• MTV Video Music Awards: "Best Female Video" and "Best Art Direction" (both for "I Try)"
• Grammy Awards: "Record of the Year" and "Song of the Year" (both for "I Try")
• American Music Awards: "Favorite New Artist - Pop/Rock"

2001

Nominations

• MTV Video Music Awards: "Breakthrough Video" ("Geto Heaven Remix T.S.O.I. (The Sound of Illadelph)" — shared with Common) and "Best Hip-Hop Video" ("Request + Line" — shared with The Black Eyed Peas)
• Billboard Music Video Awards: "Best Rap/Hip-Hop Clip of the Year" ("Request + Line" — shared with The Black Eyed Peas); the video also received a nomination for Joseph Kahn for "Director of the Year"^[3]

See also

• List of African Americans
• List of famous tall women

References

Wikipedia information about Macy Gray This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Macy Gray". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.