David Gray (British musician)

David Peter Gray (born 13 June 1968) is a British singer-songwriter.

Gray was born in 1968 in Sale, Cheshire, England, and 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.

He released his first album in 1993 and received worldwide attention after the release of White Ladder five years later.

Gray's first two albums, A Century Ends and Flesh, were issued in 1993 and 1994 respectively and led to Gray becoming popular in folk-rock circles, but both failed in terms of commercial sales.

In 1996 Gray released his third album, Sell, Sell, Sell.

The album was recorded at Pyramid Sound Studios in Ithaca, New York.

Despite his dislike of the album, Gray continued to maintain residence in Ithaca on and off over the years.

Despite critical acclaim, the album did not chart, but the song "Late Night Radio" received some airplay on alternative UK radio stations.

On the 1997 Mary Black album Shine, Gray contributed five songs.

Originally released on Gray's own label IHT Records in November 1998, White Ladder was re-released in 2000 on ATO Records.

The re-release brought him commercial success and critical attention.

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", "Please Forgive Me" and "Sail Away".

White Ladder was the first of three UK chart-toppers in six years for Gray; it became the fifth best-selling album of the 2000s in the UK and ranked as the tenth best-selling album of the 21st century in the United Kingdom in October 2019.

Gray is also known for the hit single "Babylon" from the White Ladder album.

He has received four Brit Award nominations, including two nominations for Best British Male.

In June 2000, "Babylon" hit No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart; it remains his biggest UK hit to date.

In the United States, the album received a boost from jam-band leader Dave Matthews, who made it the first release by ATO Records, the record company he co-founded.

"Babylon" was also the first of three US chart entries for Gray to date.

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: the re-released "Please Forgive Me" charted at number 18, and "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" and "Sail Away" peaked at number 26.

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, 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" and "Be Mine" and a minor US hit with "Dead in the Water".

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, 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" was a Top 10 hit in the UK in October 2005 and spent three months in the UK chart.

Following the relative commercial failure of follow-up singles "Hospital Food" and "Alibi", Gray again went into hiatus during 2006.

In March 2007, Gray released the compilation album Shine: The Best of the Early Years.

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 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 would be released on 14 September in the UK and on 22 September in the United States.

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.