|
David Gray Biography
David Gray was born in
Manchester in 1970. By The time
he was nine years old he had
moved to Wales with his family
whew he was raised until he
left to study at the University
of Liverpool. He began playing
in punk bands where he lived
and also played in a few bands
while at college where he began
to experiment with a more
poetic form of writing. After
Liverpool he moved to London
where he could be closer to the
action and the heart of the
music business. Here. he signed
to Hut records in the UK and
Caroline In the U.S. His first
release followed shortly
afterwards ' the single 'Birds
without Wings ' in 1992.
His debut album, A Century Ends
was released to great acclaim
in the first half of 1993- ten
tracks of anger, love, passion
and just about every other
emotion you can think of. It
has become a classic In its own
right and succeeded in winning
over a core of loyal followers
who have stayed with him ever
since. Following a full tour of
Europe. David returned to
record his second album Flesh
which was released in 1994.
Continuing to work with Hut in
Europe under the Virgin
umbrella, however, a lack of
support from the label
eventually lead to him being
dropped from the label. He was
quickly snapped up by EMI
records. Meanwhile his profile
and popularity In Ireland began
to rise rapidly. "No Disco"
(Network 2's groundbreaking)
alternative music programme
hosted by the now legendary
Donal Dineen) played his videos
constantly as well as
showcasing his live potential
in televised sessions.
Gray's third album Sell, Sell,
Sell, was released by EMI in
1996. For some reason the
release was restricted to the
UK and Ireland despite mainland
Europe crying out for more of
his material. Live performances
continued to be David Gray's
forte.
Enabling him to build up a
gigging reputation that is
second to none, and causing him
to sell out venues whenever he
tours. Additionally, his
reputation won him a series of
prestigious support slots with
the likes of Radiohead to Dave
Matthews.
Gray's fourth and most recent
album, White Ladder. was self
financed, recorded in a London
Flat with the windows open and
the trucks rumbling past, and
is released in his own label
IHT. It owes as much to the
sampler as to the guitar but
retains David's distinctive
touches, the wishful vocals and
sublime melodies.
White Ladder went straight into
the Irish Top 30 And shot up
the charts as his sold out
December Tour of Ireland wended
its way around the country.
Meanwhile, 5 tracks from the
album provided the backbone for
the soundtrack of Kathy Burke's
new film, " This Year's
Love."
As the world eased itself into
1999, "This Year's Love" was
released as the first single
from "White Ladder". The album
refused to leave the Irish
charts. "Babylon" was the
second single taken from the
album and was followed by sold
out 4,500 capacity headline gig
at the Big Beat Festival in
Galway in July which only
served to emphasize David's
rneteoric rise and brought the
album into the Irish top 5(11
months after release)
David's Slane warm up gig at HQ
sold out in 48 hours, the
performance at Slane Castle
with Robble Williams and
Stereophonics went down a
treat:David won a Heineken Hot
Press award in 'Guest of the
Nation' category and finished
off the year with a new single
'Please Forgive Me'. The video
was A listed on MTV UK &
Ireland. The single, which
received the remix treatment
from Paul Hartnol of Orbital
fame, went down a storm at
clubs in Ireland and the
UK.
David returned for a full Irish
tour in December 1999,
culminating in an astonishing
gig at the Point Depot on
December 22nd...all gigs again
Sold Out. White Ladder had
already reached 90,000 sales (6
times platinum) and reached no
1 In the Irish album charts on
14th January 2000. more than a
year after its release. It
remained in the top slot for
five weeks.
*Current sales of White Ladder
are 14 times platimum in
Ireland, having sold over
1,000,000 in the UK it is now
three times platimum in UK, and
has now achieved Gold status.
www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/David-Gray-Biography/
|