Birth name Natalie Renee McIntyre
Also known as Natalie Hinds, Nemesis Jaxson
Born September 6, 1967 (1967-09-06) (age 42)
Canton, Ohio, U.S.
Genres R&B, soul, neo soul, hip hop
Occupations Singer-songwriter, record producer, actress
Years active 1998–present
Labels Epic, Geffen, will.i.am music group
Associated acts Sunshine Anderson
Website www.macygray.com
To date, Gray has released five studio albums, one compilation album, and one live album, with her fifth studio album, The Sellout, released on June 22, 2010; and has received five Grammy Award nominations, winning one. She has appeared in a number of films including Training Day, Spider-Man, "Lackawanna Blues", and Idlewild. Gray is best known for her international hit single "I Try", taken from her multi-platinum debut album On How Life Is.
It was announced on August 17, 2009 that she will compete on the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars. She was the second contestant eliminated with a total score of 15 from the judges.
Macy Gray was born to Laura McIntyre, a math teacher, and Otis Jones, but Laura later remarried 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 lateness. 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 attracted lots of attention around the jazz scene, and Atlantic Records signed her. 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".
The Sellout (2010)
The first single from her fifth 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. The single Kissed It was also the official theme for the Network Channel Bravo new commercial campaign in 2010. The First title for Gray's new album was to be "The Gray Life" from 2008-2009.
