Macy Gray
Encyclopedia : M : MA : MAC : Macy Gray
Macy Gray (born Natalie McIntyre September 6 1970) is an American Grammy Award winning neo soul/R&B singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. To date, Macy has released three studio albums, one compilation album and a live album - with a fourth studio album set to be released in 2006. She has acted in a number of movies including Training Day, Spider-Man and Scary Movie 3, Gray is best known for her international hit single "I Try", taken from her multi-platinum debut album On How Life Is.
Biography
Born in Canton, Ohio, Gray's career began after moving back to Los Angeles in 1998. "I've Committed Murder" and "Why Didn't You Call Me?" were minor hits there.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 (on Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars), the Black Eyed Peas and Slick Rick ("The World Is Yours" from the Rush Hour 2 soundtrack), as well as acting for the first time in Training Day. Gray was booed in 2001 after forgetting the words to the American national anthem. 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 #11 there. Perhaps in fairness to Gray, 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 Shaman, an album by Santana, before releasing 2003's The Trouble with Being Myself.
A cartoon based on Gray's childhood was being developed at one point, but it never came to fruition.
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.
Outkast and Sleepy Brown are contributing to Gray's new album Big, which is due for release sometime in 2006.
Gray also performed voiceovers for the character Seeiah in the Electronic Arts video game SSX Tricky.
Discography
Albums
| Cover | Information |
|---|---|
| On How Life Is (1999) |
| The Id (2001) |
| The Trouble with Being Myself (2003)
|
| The Very Best of Macy Gray (2004)
|
| Live In Las Vegas (2005)
|
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | US Hot 100 | US R&B | US Adult | US Dance | |||
| 1999 | "Do Something" | - | - | 63 | - | - | On How Life Is |
| 1999 | "I Try" | 7 | 5 | - | 21 | - | On How Life Is |
| 2000 | "Still" | 18 | - | - | - | - | On How Life Is |
| 2000 | "Why Didn't You Call Me" | 38 | - | - | - | - | On How Life Is |
| 2001 | "Sweet Baby" (Featuring Erykah Badu) | 23 | - | - | - | - | The Id |
| 2001 | "Sexual Revolution" | - | - | - | - | 4 | The Id |
| 2002 | "Boo" | - | - | - | - | - | The Id |
| 2003 | "When I See You" | 26 | - | - | - | - | The Trouble with Being Myself |
| 2003 | "She Ain't Right for You" | - | - | - | - | - | The Trouble with Being Myself |
Other Singles Featuring Macy Gray
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | US Hot 100 | US R&B | US Rap | |||
| 2001 | "Demons" (Fatboy Slim with Macy Gray) | 16 | - | - | - | The Very Best of Macy Gray Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars |
| 2001 | "Geto Heaven Remix" (Common Featuring Macy Gray) | - | - | 61 | - | Like Water for Chocolate |
| 2001 | "Request + Line" (The Black Eyed Peas Featuring Macy Gray) | 31 | 63 | 51 | 2 | Bridging the Gap |
Filmography
- 2001 Training Day
- 2002 Spider-Man
- 2003 Scary Movie 3
- 2003 Gang of Roses
- 2004 Lackawanna Blues
- 2004 Around The World In 80 Days
- 2005
- 2005 Shadowboxer
- 2005 Domino
- 2006 Idlewild
Shows that Macy Guest-Starred in
- That's So Raven (Taken to the Cleaners) as Rhonda
- as ?
- Blue's Clues as ?
DVD
- A Day In The Life of Macy Gray (June 15, 2004)
- Live in Las Vegas (August 30, 2005)
- [MoreThings] Macy Gray Photo Gallery
Trivia
Gray appeared on the 8th season of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown, playing for Habitat For Humanity. She finished in 3rd place, behind Robin Tunney and Christopher Meloni, and ahead of Joy Behar and Andy Dick.Awards and nominations
1999
- 1999 Grammy Award nominations for Best New Artist and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance ("Do Something").
- 1999 Soul Train Award nomination for Best R&B/Soul Album - Female ("On How Life Is").
2000
- 2000 MTV Video Music Awards win for New Artist Video of the Year ("I Try"), Best Cinematography ("Do Something").
- 2000 MTV Video Music Award nominations for Female Video of the Year ("I Try"), Best Art Direction ("I Try)".
- 2000 Grammy Award win for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance ("I Try").
- 2000 Grammy Award nominations for Record of the Year ("I Try"), and Song of the Year ("I Try") - shared nomination with Jinsoo Lim, Jeremy Ruzumna and David Wilder.
- 2000 American Music Award nomination for Favorite New Artist - Pop / Rock
2001
- 2001 MTV Video Music Award nominations for Breakthrough Video ("Geto Heaven") - shared nomination with Common, and Best Hip Hop Video ("Request Line") - shared nomination with the Black Eyed Peas.
- 2001 Billboard Music Video Awards nominations for Best Rap/Hip-Hop Clip of the Year ("Request Line") - shared nomination with the Black Eyed Peas, and Director of the Year [link]
References
External links
- [Macy Gray goes naked for Elton John AIDS Foundation benefit]
- [Macy Gray performing naked (not obscene)]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.