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Macy Gray
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Macy Gray (born Natalie Renee McIntyre on September 6, 1967; also credited as Natalie Hinds in her music) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress, famed for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday and Betty Davis as well as Keith Harris as Orville the Duck.
To date, Gray has released four studio albums, one compilation album, and one live album—with her fourth studio album, Big, released in March 2007—and has received five Grammy Award nominations, winning one.
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Encyclopedia
Macy Gray (born Natalie Renee McIntyre on September 6, 1967; also credited as Natalie Hinds in her music) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress, famed for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday and Betty Davis as well as Keith Harris as Orville the Duck.
To date, Gray has released four studio albums, one compilation album, and one live album—with her fourth studio album, Big, released in March 2007—and has received five Grammy Award nominations, winning one. 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. In late 2008, Gray took on a new alias "Nemesis Jaxson", and has plans to release her fifth studio album in 2009.
Early life
Macy Gray was born to Laura McIntyre, a math teacher, and Otis Jones, but Laura later remarried to Richard McIntyre, who adopted Macy. Gray was born in Canton, Ohio, home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where she briefly worked at age 12, before being fired for tardiness. She decided to pursue a career in music after being expelled from Western Reserve Academy in Hudson , where she had attended since age 14. However, Gray's initial success came as a surprise. While attending the University of Southern California (graduated 1990) 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 at her job as a cashier in Beverly Hills. Together, they wrote a large collection of songs and recorded them in Solo's studio. The demo tape created a lot of attention and consequently landed Gray the opportunity to sing at jazz cafés in Los Angeles, California. Despite Gray's dislike of her own voice, her vocals garnered lots of attention around the jazz scene, and Atlantic Records signed her. Months later, Gray gave her demo album to Atlantic, but the label was dissatisfied. Going through the break-up of her marriage and expecting her third child, Gray retreated back to Canton. During this time, the demo tape was still making the rounds, and in 1998 she landed a record deal with Epic Records. During this time she was also on one of the songs from The Black Eyed Peas' debut album, Love Won't Wait.
Music career
On How Life Is (1999)
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 the first single "Do Something" stalling on the charts, it was by extremly positive word of mouth and the release of the second single "I Try" that the album really became a success for Gray. "I Try" (which was originally featured in the Jennifer Aniston-starring vehicle, the 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 becoming triple platinum in the U.S., quadruple platinum in the UK, and triple 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 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 words to the American national anthem.
Subsequent albums (2001–2005)
In the midst of the controversy, Gray's The Id became a commercial stillborn, largely stalling on the U.S. charts. The album featured appearances by John Frusciante and Erykah Badu on the single "Sweet Baby", (which was co-written with longtime collaborator Joe Solo). The album managed to peak at number eleven on the Billboard 200. Despite its failure in the U.S., 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 attributed to the fact that The Id was 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)", from his album Shaman. She also 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 soundrack to 8 Mile. A cartoon based on Gray's childhood was being developed at one point, 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 U.S. and a top forty hit in the UK, although the album wasn't as well received by fans. It nevertheless 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'."
Big (2007): return to music
Gray began 2007 badly after being kicked off-stage at a concert in Barbados for 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 avoid arrest.
In March, Gray released her fourth studio album (sixth overall), entitled Big. Two singles, "Finally Made Me Happy" and "Shoo Be Doo", have been released from the album. "What I Gotta Do", another track from the album, is featured on the Shrek the Third soundtrack. It is largely 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 yet. It featured collaborations with Natalie Cole, Fergie, Justin Timberlake, and will.i.am, who co-executive produced the album with Gray. Big was the second release from will.i.am's record label, will.i.am Music Group, after Fergie's The Dutchess.
The album was moderately successful in the U.S., where it debuted and peaked at #39 on the Billboard 200, becoming Gray's highest-charting album since The Id. Surprisingly, Big did not achieve great success in the UK, where it reached #62 on the albums chart, 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 of their albums charts.
PBS's Soundstage live concert series premiered a Gray concert on July 5. The one-hour concert included songs from Big—"Finally Made Me Happy", "Shoo Be Doo", "Ghetto Love", "What I Gotta Do", "Glad You're Here" (another collaboration with Producer/ Writer Joe Solo), "Slowly", and "Everybody". Other songs performed were "Caligula", "Why Didn't You Call Me", "Oblivion" with the set ending with "I Try". Future airdates can be found on .
On July 7, 2007, Gray performed at the Brazilian leg of Live Earth at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro. Gray and her band members wore clothes with politically-motivated messages. In her dress, it was written "Darfur Red Alert".
Big was later promoted on the Internet via the UK version of the Apple iPhone launch demo, due to Gray's past popularity in the UK.
The Gray Life (2008): Nemesis Jaxson
Macy recently launched a new campaign under the name Nemesis Jaxson, with upcoming single, "Slap a Bitch":
ladies and gentlemen.
boys and girls.
pimps and hos.
my name is macy gray. i have decided to re-enter the real world and make my fifth album. it will be the biggest comeback you've ever seen. bigger than the big lies the american government has been telling us for eight years. not for the money and not for the fame, but friendship. yes. i miss my fairweather friends and the only chance i have of being in their company again is to write more hit songs and start getting my picture taken in trendy restaurants with other people who believe themselves to be stars.
my very first contribution to my up and coming super success is a biographical ditty called: "SLAP A BITCH," written by Myself, Jared Gosselin and Phillip White - also known as Jared and Whitey. They are also the producers of this song. The great Dave Pensada, mixed and mastered. A quote from the song: "when i was 13, i slapped a bitch."
for those of you who download songs for free, i've done you one better. i've made a video for free and it is one of the most entertaining works of art that you will ever see. A Vma winner for sure. If I don't get an award for this video I'm gonna sue. Someone should sue mtv anyway for false and misleading network name.
Anyway. Obama says...yes we can. I say... Boom shaka laka baby.
Ladies and gentlemen
Men and women
Winners and losers,
SLAP A BITCH. BY MACY GRAY. COMING SOON. VERY SOON.
After this, Slap a Bitch still didn't have any dates to release, but a video with a lot of people slap on each other face was released around Internet in December 12.
Recently, Macy was available again in another Movie soundtrack (she is featured in more than 10 other soundtracks): Confessions of a Shopaholic, with the newest track "Don'Forget Me".
Other work
Gray appeared in 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.
Gray 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.
In 2002 she was the voice for Seeiah Owens in the video game SSX Tricky. On the same year, she made a brief appearance in Spiderman as a singer at a parade.
Gray sang the theme song for Nickelodeon's As Told By Ginger.
Macy Gray appeared at the 2008 Gulf Air's Bahrain Grand Prix. She stated she liked the Ferrari team and also found Jenson Button 'cute'.
In August 2008, Gray Headlined at the 2008 Summer Sundae music festival in Leicester, England. Gray's reception was warm. The crowd got on their feet and helped her belt her smash-hit I Try. She also wowed the crowd with covers of Rod Stewart's Do You Think I'm Sexy, Dee-Lite's Groove Is In The Heart and Radiohead's Creep.
For the gig, Macy's 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 Bloomekatz, Ari B. . Los Angeles Times. 29 Sep. 2008.
Personal life
Gray was married from 1996 to 1998 to Tracy Hinds, with whom she had three children: Aanisah (in January 1994), Tahmel (in December 1995), Cassius (nicknamed "Happy") (in 1997). She opened up a music academy called The Macy Gray Music Academy in 2005 and it was the scene for an episode 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 underprivileged children and teenagers the chance to perform.
Gray has two tattoos—one on her right wrist with all her children's names and the other on her leg that has a rose and says "Daddy". She was an early supporter of a Barack Obama presidential campaign, almost two years before his official announcement, she wore a shirt saying "Barack Obama for President" during the Hurricane Katrina fundraisers.
Macy is the oldest of her three younger siblings; Nathan McIntyre, Nehlia Grey, and Chanese Taylor ( the youngest ).
Filmography
Films
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|
| 2000 | Ally McBeal | Herself | "Hope and Glory" (episode 20, season 3) | | 2002 | MDs | Jess | "Wing and a Prayer" (episode 7) | | 2004 | American Dreams | Carla Thomas | "Real-to-Reel" (episode 12, season 2) | | That's So Raven | Rhonda | "Taken to the Cleaners" (episode 4, season 3) | | Blue's Clues | Herself | "Bluestock" | | 2005 | Duck Dodgers | Diva (voice) | "Diva Delivery/Castle High" (episode 10, season 2) | | American Dragon: Jake Long | Trixie's grandmother (voice) |
- "Act 4, Scene 15" (episode 5, season 1)
- "Professor Rotwood's Thesis" (episode 8, season 1)
| | Miss Jenkinks | "Act 4, Scene 15" (episode 5, season 1) | | 1-800-Missing | Cleo | "A Death in the Family" (episode 13, season 3) |
Awards and nominations
- BRIT Awards
- 2000, International Breakthrough Act (WON)
- 2000, International Female (WON)
- Billboard Awards
- 2001, Best Rap/Hip-Hop Clip of the Year: "Request Line"
- 2001, Best Direction: "Request Line"
- Grammy Award
- 1999, Best New Artist
- 1999, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance: "Do Something"
- 2000, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance: "I Try" (WON)
- 2000, Record of the Year: "I Try"
- 2000, Song of the Year: "I Try"
- MTV Video Music Awards
- 2000, Best New Artist: "I Try" (WON)
- 2000, Best Cinematography: "Do Something" (WON)
- 2000, Best Female Video: "I Try"
- 2000, Best Art Direction: "I Try"
- 2001, Breakthrough Video: "Geto Heaven Remix T.S.O.I. (The Sound of Illadelph)"
- 2001, Best Hip-Hop Video: "Request Line"
- Soul Train Awards
- 1999, Best R&B/Soul Album - Female: "On How Life Is"
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