- Born Natalie McIntyre in 1967, in Canton OH.
- A bicycle accident when she was a child resulted in her noticing a mailbox of a man named Macy Gray. She used the name in stories she wrote and later decided to use it as her professional name.
- While in college, she started writing music. A friend asked her to sing in his jazz band – this gave her the opportunity to develop her unique, raspy singing style.
- In 1998, she co-wrote and performed on the song Love Won’t Wait from the debut album by the Black Eyed Peas. By 1999, she released her first album, On How Life Is, which became a huge success, selling over 7 million copies worldwide. Singles from the album included Still, Why Didn’t You Call Me, and I Try. I Try was her biggest hit, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and subsequently winning a Grammy award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 2001.
- She has been nominated for 4 other Grammy awards.
- Her second and third albums – The Id and The Trouble With Being Myself – were well received by critics and fans, though sales were modest compared to her first album.
- Her ninth studio album, Stripped, was released in 2016. It was her first jazz album, and it debuted at #3 on the Billboard Jazz album chart. The 10 songs were all recorded live at a former church in Brooklyn. The song Lucy was composed as the band was performing it. Jazz critics rave about this album.
- She has released a total of 10 studio albums. She has released 32 singles, and has been the featured artist on 7 other singles.
- Gray writes the lyrics on nearly all of her songs, and is a co-producer of her music.
- Here’s the video from her biggest hit, I Try. You’ll hear her unique vocal sound here.