Conan Gray is an American singer and songwriter who has garnered critical acclaim with his second album “Superache”.
Let’s find out some trivia and facts about his life and career thus far.
- His full name is Conan Lee Gray
- He was born December 5, 1998
- Conan Gray is an American singer and songwriter
- Born in Lemon Grove, California
- Raised in Georgetown, Texas
- He began uploading vlogs, covers and original songs to YouTube as a teenager
- Gray signed a record deal with Republic Records in 2018
- There he released his debut EP Sunset Season (2018)
- He has the commercially successful singles “Maniac” and “Heather”
- His debut studio album Kid Krow (2020) debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200
- Making it the biggest US new artist debut of the year
- His second studio album, Superache (2022), received critical acclaim
- It debuted within the top 10 in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and the Netherlands
- Conan Lee Gray was born on December 5, 1998, in Lemon Grove, California, to a father of mostly Irish ancestry and a Japanese mother
- As an infant, his family moved to Hiroshima, Japan, due to his grandfather requiring medical care
- After living there for two years, the family moved back to California
- Gray used to speak Japanese fluently, but has since lost his proficiency
- Gray’s parents divorced when he was three years old
- In a “Draw My Life” video, he details his experiences with divorce as a young child
- As his father was in the military, Gray moved twelve times throughout his childhood, moving three times during sixth grade alone
- Gray was frequently bullied throughout grade school
- At one point, he was one of only five Asian children at his school
- Gray eventually settled in Georgetown, Texas, as a preteen where he remained for the rest of his teenage years
- Gray’s life in central Texas inspired much of his art and music
- He was accepted to UCLA, and moved to Los Angeles, California in September 2017
- He created his official channel in 2013 and began creating videos at age fifteen
- His early videos included topics such as baking and mainly focused around his everyday day life
- Gray’s vlog content centers heavily on his life in small-town Texas
- He is often hailed for his appreciation of Americana-related nostalgia
- Gray has recorded music, showed his art, and created other videos for his vlog with more than 25 million views
- Conan Gray self-released his debut single “Idle Town”, in March 2017
- The song gained over 14 million streams on Spotify and 12 million views on YouTube
- Gray self-released his second single “Grow” on September 1, 2017, with the music video following the next day
- In October 2018, Gray released the single “Generation Why” on Republic Records, which was described as “a rallying call to millennials”
- In November 2018, Gray released the five-track EP Sunset Season which includes the songs “Idle Town”, “Generation Why”, “Crush Culture”, “Greek God”, and “Lookalike”
- The EP peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart and at No. 116 on the Billboard 200
- Gray embarked on a North American tour in support of the EP with Girl in Red
- Conan Gray made his late-night television debut when he performed on Late Night with Seth Meyers on the eve of February 2019
- Before performing several shows as an opening act for Panic! at the Disco during their Pray for the Wicked Tour
- He played concert festivals such as The Great Escape in addition to touring nationally
- In February 2019, Gray re-released the single “The Other Side”, after originally publishing it on YouTube in 2016 on the eve of the first day of his senior year at high school
- Between March and October 2019, Gray released a series of singles off of his debut album, Kid Krow, namely “Checkmate”, “Comfort Crowd”, and “Maniac”
- And an independent single, “The King”
- In October 2019, Gray embarked on his second headlining tour of North America with support from acclaimed New Zealand musician Benee as well as American recording artist UMI
- As of October 2019, Gray’s catalog had gained over 250 million streams across all platforms collectively
- Conan Gray was awarded the 2019 Shorty Award for Best YouTube Musician
- He was nominated for Breakthrough Artist at the 2019 Streamy Awards
- He is a pop, indie pop, acoustic pop and bedroom pop artist
- Conan Gray has cited Taylor Swift as his biggest inspiration, stating that he “was raised by [her]” and that he is “the largest Swiftie”
- Swift praised Gray’s debut album Kid Krow and the track “Wish You Were Sober” on her personal Instagram story
- In an interview with Zane Lowe, for Apple Music, Gray stated that Swift is his “number one above all”
- Conan Gray acknowledged Lorde as one of his other primary influences
- He has explained that his EP Sunset Season was majorly inspired by the small-town nostalgia of her debut album Pure Heroine
- He has also cited The Chicks and Adele as some of his musical influences
- As well as expressing a mutual[84] admiration for V of BTS and Billie Eilish
- Conan Gray has also identified Lana Del Rey as one of his stronger pop influences
- He has covered a few of her songs
- Teen Vogue called Gray “the pop prince for sad internet teens”
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