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.