Natalie Renée McIntyre (born September 6, 1967),[2] known by her stage name Macy Gray, is an American R&B and soul singer and actress. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday.[3]
Natalie McIntyre was born in Canton, Ohio,[5][6] the daughter of Laura McIntyre, a math schoolteacher,[7] and Otis Jones.[8] Her stepfather was a steelworker, and her sister is a biology teacher.[8] She has a younger brother, Nate, who owns a gym in West Philadelphia and was featured on the season five finale of Queer Eye.[9] She began piano lessons at age seven.[10] A childhood bicycle mishap 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 stage name. She was late developing and did not learn to hold conversation until just before her tenth birthday.[8]
Gray attended elementary school with Brian Warner (later known as musician Marilyn Manson) although they did not know each other.[11][10] She attended more than one high school, including a boarding school which asked her to leave due to her behavior.[10]
While attending the University of Southern California, she agreed to write songs for a friend.[12] A demo session was scheduled for the songs to be recorded by another singer, but the vocalist failed to appear, so Gray recorded them herself.
I started forming bands and writing songs just for fun and then I really got into it and got attached to it. Then a friend of mine asked me to be a singer in his jazz band. He gave me all these jazz CDs and I studied all these different singers and I kind of taught myself how to sing for a gig, but I didn't take it seriously until later.[10]
She then met writer-producer Joe Solo while working as a cashier in Beverly Hills.[13] Together, they wrote a collection of songs and recorded them in Solo's studio. The demo tape gave Gray the opportunity to sing at jazz cafés in Los Angeles.[12] Although Gray did not consider her unusual voice desirable for singing,[10]Atlantic Records signed her. She began recording her debut record but was dropped from the label upon the departure of A&R man Tom Carolan, who had signed her to the label.[14] Macy returned to Ohio but in 1997 Los Angeles based Zomba Label Group Senior VP A&R man Jeff Blue, convinced her to return to music and signed her to a development deal, recording new songs based on her life experiences, with a new sound, and began shopping her to record labels.[15][16] In 1998, she landed a record deal with Epic Records.[17] She performed on "Love Won't Wait", a song on the Black Eyed Peas' debut album Behind the Front.[18]
1999–2001: On How Life Is
Gray worked on her debut album in 1999 with producer Darryl Swann.[19] Released in the summer of 1999, On How Life Is became a worldwide smash.[20] The first single, "Do Something", stalled on the charts, but the second single, "I Try", made the album a success.[21] "I Try" (which was originally featured in Love Jones and the Jennifer Aniston-starring romantic-comedy Picture Perfect in 1997)[22] was one of the biggest singles of 1999,[23][24] and subsequent singles ("Still" and "Why Didn't You Call Me") ensured the album became triple platinum in the US[25] and quadruple platinum in the UK.[26]
2001–2005: The Id and The Trouble with Being Myself
Gray's The Id featured appearances by John Frusciante and Erykah Badu on the single "Sweet Baby" (which was co-written with longtime collaborator Joe Solo).[30] The album peaked at number eleven on the Billboard 200.[31] It fared even better in the UK, where it reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and was certified gold by the BPI.[32]
In 2002, she appeared in Spider-Man and contributed a remix of her song "My Nutmeg Phantasy" to its accompanying soundtrack. Gray also worked with Santana on the track "Amoré (Sexo)", for his album Shaman.[33][34]
She 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 duet collection.[35][36] Her song "Time of My Life" was included in the soundtrack to 8 Mile.[37] A cartoon based on Gray's childhood was being developed, but it never came to fruition.[19][34]
Gray began 2007 by being kicked off-stage at a concert in Barbados for profanity (which was part of the show), but she was not aware that it was against the law in that country.[42] She gave a public apology that night to avoid arrest.[43]
In March, Gray released her fourth studio album (sixth overall), Big.[44] Two singles, "Finally Made Me Happy" and "Shoo Be Doo", were released from the album.[43] "What I Gotta Do", another track from the album, is featured on the Shrek the Third soundtrack. It has been considered Gray's comeback album, after a four-year hiatus since her last studio album.[45] The album was critically acclaimed and seen by some as her best work to date.[46] It features collaborations with Natalie Cole, Fergie, Justin Timberlake, and will.i.am, who co-executive produced the album with Gray. It was moderately successful in the US, where it debuted and peaked at number 39 on the Billboard 200, becoming Gray's highest-charting album since The Id.[47]Big reached number 62 on the albums chart in the UK,[48] her lowest-charting UK album, but it achieved some success in several other countries, including Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Finland, reaching the Top 40 on their album charts.[49]
PBS's Soundstage live concert series premiered a Gray concert on July 5.[50]
On July 7, 2007, Gray performed at the Brazilian leg of Live Earth at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[51] Gray and her band members wore clothes bearing political messages. Gray's dress carried the message "Darfur Red Alert".
In 2008, Gray launched a new campaign under the name "Nemesis Jaxson", with the single "Slap a Bitch".[52]
Upon its release, The Sellout received generally mixed reviews from most music critics. Metacritic gave it an average score of 57, based on 15 reviews;[54] Andy Gill of The Independent gave it three out of five stars; while AllMusic writer John Bush shared a similar sentiment and panned Gray's songwriting.[55]
However, The Boston Globe's James Reed commended its production,[56] and Jeremy Allen of NME gave the album a 7/10 rating.[57]
For the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Stevie Wonder album Talking Book, Gray covered the entire record and released her Talking Book as a tribute.[60]
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey's Where Are They Now, Gray opened up about her problems with drug abuse, stating that she was ill-prepared for the level of fame she received. The interview coincided with the release of her album The Way, released in October 2014 on Kobalt Records. A world tour was announced shortly after its release.[61]
2016–present: Stripped and Ruby
In 2016, Gray's career continued with an album produced by Chesky Records, the record label founded by Grammy-nominated composer and musician David Chesky. Stripped was released September 9, 2016, and garnered almost unanimous praise from critics. The album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Jazz Chart.[1] Earlier that year, she was featured on Ariana Grande's song "Leave Me Lonely" from her third studio album, Dangerous Woman.
Gray release her tenth studio album entitled Ruby in September 2018.
In 2015, Gray was featured on the song "Into the Deep" by Galactic.[71] In 2016, Gray was featured on the song "Leave Me Lonely" by Ariana Grande. In 2018, Gray was featured alongside Dolly Parton on a re-recording of "Two Doors Down" for the Dumplin' soundtrack. In 2020, Gray was featured on the single "Out Of Love" by Canadian band Busty and the Bass. The band also released a notable cover of Gray's "I Try" in 2016.
In 2023, Gray competed in season ten of The Masked Singer as the wild card contestant "Sea Queen". She finished in 4th place.[72]
Personal life
Gray was married to Tracy Hinds, a mortgage broker, for about two years, but they divorced prior to her rise to prominence.[8] They have three children.[26]
She opened the Macy Gray Music Academy in 2005.[73]
In a July 2022 interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Gray was asked how she would define a woman, to which she answered "boobs and a vagina". She went on to state that she did not support the inclusion of transgender women in women's sports.[74][75] In the days following the interview, she said that her words had been misunderstood,[76][77] along with rejecting criticism she had received online for her views.[78] In a subsequent appearance on the Today television show, she said, "Being a woman is a vibe and it's something I'm very proud of and something that it is very precious to me. I think that if you in your heart feel that's what you are, then that's what you are regardless of what anybody says or thinks".[79]
In an opinion piece published in MarketWatch in June 2021, Gray called for a redesign of the United States flag stating that it "no longer represents democracy and freedom".[80] Her suggestions included two additional stars for Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, the white stripes to be recolored off-white and the stars to be given a variety of colors.
^"Macy Gray". Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians Since 1990. The Gale Group, Inc.; republished online at Encyclopedia.com. 2004. Retrieved October 27, 2015.