David Gray

Biography

David Peter Gray (born 13 June 1968) is a British singer-songwriter. He released his debut album in 1993. Gray received worldwide attention upon the release of White Ladder and its hit single, "Babylon×Babylon12 July 1999 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Babylon3:402Lead Me Upstairs4:203New Horizons5:47". White Ladder was the first of three chart-toppers in six years for Gray in the UK, and it became the fifth best-selling album of the 2000s there. In 2019, it was ranked as the UK's tenth best-selling album of the 21st century. Gray reached the US Top 20 with five successive albums. He has received four Brit Award nominations, including two nominations for Best British Male.

Early life

David Gray was born in 1968 in Sale, Cheshire. He was born with pyloric stenosis, which is a narrowing of the opening from the stomach to the first part of the small intestine. He was initially misdiagnosed, and nearly died from starvation. He lived in Altrincham before moving with his family at the age of nine to Solva, Pembrokeshire, Wales, where his parents took over a gift shop and started a clothing business. "I had an amazing time growing up there ... My imagination could run wild ... It was that which gave me the kind of insane self-belief I have, and had even then, that I could do something as unlikely as play music for a living." He went to Ysgol Dewi Sant high school in nearby St Davids and then on to Carmarthenshire College of Art and finally Liverpool School of Art.

Early career

Gray's first two albums, A Century Ends×A Century EndsApril 1993 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Shine4:332A Century Ends5:083Debauchery3:284Let the Truth Sting5:305Gathering Dust6:436Wisdom4:167Lead Me Upstairs4:558Living Room3:459Birds Without Wings4:5110It’s All Over6:21 and Flesh×FleshSeptember 1994 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1What Are You?3:312The Light4:113Coming Down6:164Falling Free3:265Made Up My Mind3:446Mystery of Love5:337Lullaby3:408New Horizons5:579Loves Old Song3:4710Flesh5:22, were issued in 1993 and 1994, respectively. The albums made Gray popular in folk-rock circles, but failed in terms of commercial sales. Simon Price wrote of Gray's debut single, "Birds Without Wings×Birds Without WingsNovember 1992 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Birds Without Wings4:492L's Song4:143The Light3:51": "He sounded like an anguished, intense troubadour, potentially a male PJ Harvey." In 1996, Gray released his third album, Sell, Sell, Sell×Sell, Sell, Sell19 August 1996 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Faster, Sooner, Now2:242Late Night Radio3:543Sell, Sell, Sell5:114Hold on to Nothing4:155Everytime4:416Magdalena4:257Smile4:068Only the Lonely4:479What Am I Doing Wrong?5:0210Gutters Full of Rain4:2311Forever Is Tomorrow Is Today5:3212Folk Song5:16.

White Ladder and rise to fame

Originally released on Gray's own label IHT Records in November 1998, White Ladder was re-released in 2000 on the Dave Matthews–owned ATO Records; it became a worldwide hit and made Gray a superstar. While his first three albums featured acoustic folk songs and guitar-based alternative rock, White Ladder introduced his now-trademark folktronic sound. The album included his best-known songs: "This Year's Love", "Babylon×Babylon12 July 1999 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Babylon3:402Lead Me Upstairs4:203New Horizons5:47", "Please Forgive Me×Please Forgive Me15 November 1999 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Please Forgive Me (Twelve Inch version)6:312Please Forgive Me (Paul Hartnoll remix)6:28" and "Sail Away×Sail Away14 August 2001 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Sail away (BIFFCO radio edit)3:452Sail away (BIFFCO club mix)7:023Sail away (RAE and Christian remix)5:35". After its re-release, combined with the release and success of single "Babylon", it sold 100,000 copies in Ireland alone, making it number one for six weeks, and according to a 2012 report was the biggest-selling album ever in that country. The album was No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart, two years and five months after its original release, spending a total of 151 weeks on the chart. Aside from "Please Forgive Me", which charted at No. 72 on the UK Singles Chart, all other single releases charted within the Top 20. In June 2000, the single "Babylon" hit No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart.

The year 2001 also saw the release of a rarities compilation of Gray's early works, The EPs 1992–1994, as well as an album of previously unreleased songs recorded in 1999, Lost Songs 95–98×Lost Songs 95–9812 February 2001 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Flame Turns Blue4:532Twilight2:233Hold On1:554As I’m Leaving4:355If Your Love Is Real3:356Tidal Wave2:207Falling Down the Mountainside4:508January Rain2:459Red Moon3:2610A Clean Pair of Eyes4:5911Wurlitzer1:19, both of which followed White Ladder into the Top 20 in the UK Albums Chart. Gray also provided vocals on the electronic-based band Orbital's 2001 single "Illuminate".
In November 2002, Gray released the follow-up to White Ladder, entitled A New Day at Midnight. The new release did not receive the same critical acclaim as its predecessor, but still went straight in at number 1, famously beating Pop Idol runner-up Gareth Gates's debut album What My Heart Wants to Say to the summit and selling nearly 150,000 copies in its first week of release. It went on to achieve platinum status within a year, eventually being certified four times platinum overall, and was the second-biggest selling album by a UK artist in 2002, behind Pop Idol winner Will Young's debut album From Now On. A New Day at Midnight produced two further UK Top 30 hits in "The Other Side×The Other Side9 December 2002 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1The Other Side4:272Lorelei3:223Decipher2:30" and "Be Mine×Be Mine7 April 2003 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Be Mine (remix)3:512Loverboy4:313Falling Down the Mountainside (live at the BBC Dec 2002)4:40" and a minor US hit with "Dead in the Water×Dead in the Water2002 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Dead in the Water3:05".

Later career

After a three-year hiatus which saw him wind down his recording and touring schedule due to exhaustion, Gray returned with his seventh album, Life in Slow Motion×Life in Slow Motion12 September 2005 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Alibi4:342The One I Love3:303Lately4:144Nos da Cariad4:115Slow Motion5:006From Here You Can Almost See the Sea3:397Ain’t No Love3:228Hospital Food4:439Now and Always6:4510Disappearing World5:07, in September 2005. Like its predecessor, it topped the UK Albums Chart in its first week of release. After the much-criticised A New Day at Midnight, Life in Slow Motion was hailed as a return to form by many critics. Lead single "The One I Love×The One I Love29 August 2005 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1The One I Love (acoustic)3:332With Open Arms3:103Everybody's Leaving Town4:26" was a Top 10 hit in the UK in October 2005 and spent three months in the UK chart.
In March 2007, Gray released the compilation album Shine: The Best of the Early Years×Shine: The Best of the Early Years1 January 2007 · Album · CompilationSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Shine4:342Late Night Radio3:553Coming Down6:144Birds Without Wings4:495The Light4:106Everytime4:417A Century Ends5:068Lullaby3:389Faster, Sooner, Now2:2410Wisdom4:1211Falling Free3:2412Sell, Sell, Sell5:1213Debauchery3:2514Flesh5:1715Hold on to Nothing4:16. On 7 July 2007, Gray performed with Damien Rice at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium in London. Gray released a compilation CD of live covers entitled A Thousand Miles Behind×A Thousand Miles BehindAugust 2007 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Song to the Siren4:352To Ramona5:313One With the Birds5:214Long Black Veil3:505One Too Many Mornings2:386I Think It’s Going to Rain Today2:307Mansion on the Hill3:278In the Morning3:109I Tremble for You3:0110Buckets of Rain3:2111Go Down Easy4:1712Streets of Philadelphia4:29 exclusively through his official website on 8 October that year on CD and digital download. On 13 November, Gray released the album Greatest Hits, which includes many of his best known songs as well as two new songs, including the lead single "You're the World to Me".
On 28 May 2009, Gray announced that his album Draw the Line×Draw the Line14 September 2009 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Fugitive3:432Draw the Line4:233Nemesis5:254Jackdaw3:555Kathleen3:496First Chance5:597Harder3:518Transformation3:239Stella the Artist3:3710Breathe4:3811Full Steam4:12 would be released on 14 September in the UK and on 22 September in the United States. The album features guest appearances by Annie Lennox and Jolie Holland. The album's first single, "Fugitive×Fugitive7 September 2009 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Fugitive (live from the Downtown Music Studio)3:422Jitterbug3:22", was released on 7 September 2009, coinciding with the start of an expansive world tour.
In an interview for Hot Press, released on 3 December 2009, Gray revealed to Jackie Hayden that he was working on his next album, Foundling×Foundling16 August 2010 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Only the Wine2:522Foundling5:303Forgetting4:184Gossamer Thread5:115The Old Chair2:556In God's Name3:437We Could Fall in Love Again Tonight4:268Holding On5:109When I Was in Your Heart2:3710A New Day at Midnight2:4611Davey Jones' Locker5:12. Gray said that one of the tracks would be called "The Old Chair", which, according to Gray, "features just a drum kit and me on my Steinway piano. It's very quiet." Foundling was released in the UK on 16 August. and in the United States on 17 August.
Gray signed a global agreement with Kobalt Label Services for the release of his 10th studio album, Mutineers×Mutineers17 June 2014 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 26 tracks · 3 discsDisc 11Back in the World3:572As the Crow Flies4:133Mutineers5:014Beautiful Agony4:045Last Summer4:136Snow in Vegas4:217Cake and Eat It2:338Birds of the High Arctic6:249The Incredible3:2310Girls Like You5:1811Gulls4:55Disc 21Foundling8:002From Here You Can Almost See the Sea4:033Davey Jones’ Locker7:194Lately8:255The One I Love4:006Kathleen3:587Ain’t No Love5:26Disc 31My Oh My4:402Fugitive3:333Forgetting4:164Falling Free4:255Flame Turns Blue4:496Babylon6:397Nemesis11:418Sail Away6:13. His first in four years, it was recorded at The Church Studios in London and produced by Andy Barlow (Lamb). The release took place on 17 June 2014. It was announced that Gray would support the new release with a North American tour through April and May, followed by an eight-date UK tour in June and July that included a show at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
The Best of David Gray was released on CD, double CD and LP in October 2016, and included two new recordings. The album, released in conjunction with IHT Records, had already been released as a dynamic playlist on Spotify that automatically changed shape every week Gray commented: "What we have on our hands is an ever-evolving 'Best Of' that is different every week, every month, every year, every decade."
In March 2019, Gray released his 11th record, Gold in a Brass Age. It was produced by Ben de Vries, son of producer Marius de Vries, and was seen largely as a return to his signature "folktronica" sound.
In the year 2020, Gray released a 20th anniversary edition of White Ladder. A deluxe set with bonus tracks and demos was also made available on both CD and vinyl formats. He embarked on an international tour to celebrate the anniversary, starting in Europe in February, but it was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gray released his 12th studio album on 19 February 2021. Entitled Skellig (named after the Skellig Islands in County Kerry, Ireland) it featured a title track and a single called "Heart and Soul×Heart and Soul5 February 2021 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Heart and Soul4:202Skellig5:01". It was recorded at Edwyn Collins' Helmsdale studio in Sutherland and features David Kitt, Rob Malone and producer Ben de Vries as musicians on the record.

Personal life

Gray married his wife Olivia in Los Angeles, US in 1993, and together they have two daughters: He lives in London, having moved to Hampstead in 2009. Gray is also the brother-in-law of Phil Hartnoll of Orbital.
In 2011, a portrait of Gray was painted by Joe Simpson. The painting was exhibited around the UK, including at a solo exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall.
Gray is a Manchester United supporter. He said in 2005 that he is an atheist.
In 2024, Gray became an ambassador for the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust.