R&B singer Macy Gray initially wanted to write music for others rather than perform herself. After agreeing to sing on a demo of songs that she had written when the vocalist failed to turn up, she met music producer Joe Solo and worked on a whole host of songs with him. They recorded them at his studio and the demo tapes garnered attention via word of mouth and led to Gray performing at various jazz cafes in Los Angeles. She was quickly signed by Epic Records who, in 1999, released her first single from her debut album 'On How Life Is'. The track, 'Do Something', did not make the UK's top 50 but it caused critics to take note of her hoarse vocals intermixed with melodic pop. The album's second single, 'I Try' however became one of the biggest sellers of 1999 and is still her best known hit to date. The success of 'I Try' led to her debut album's sales going triple and quadruple platinum in the US and the UK and since then her career has been up and down and has also met with controversy, most notably when she forgot the lyrics to the US national anthem whilst singing at the Pro Football Hall of Fame exhibition game. Her following albums appeased her fans and gained praise from critics, but failed to follow in the footsteps of her debut. In 2011 she signed a new deal with 429 Records in light of her sixth studio album 'Covered' which featured cover versions of some of her favourite contemporary music includin 'Creep' by Radiohead, 'Teenagers' by My Chemical Romance and 'Here Comes the Rain Again' by Eurythmics. She followed up with 'Talking Book', 'The Way' and 'Stripped' and was featured on 'Leave Me Lonely' by Ariana Grande in 2016. Her tenth album, 'Ruby', was released in 2018.