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Listen to Owen Gray, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!

Owen Gray

Reggae

View Artist

Top Songs By Owen Gray

Listen to Please Let Me Go by Owen Gray, see lyrics, music video & more!
Please Let Me GoOwen Gray
Listen to Release Me by Owen Gray, see lyrics, music video & more!
Release MeOwen Gray
Listen to Blessed Assurance by Owen Gray, see lyrics, music video & more!
Blessed AssuranceOwen Gray
Listen to Standing In His Way by Owen Gray, see lyrics, music video & more!
Standing In His WayOwen Gray
Listen to One Day at a Time Sweet Jesus by Owen Gray, see lyrics, music video & more!
One Day at a Time Sweet JesusOwen Gray
Listen to Don't Turn Around by Owen Gray, see lyrics, music video & more!
Don't Turn AroundOwen Gray
Listen to It's Me Oh Lord by Owen Gray & Tony Rich & The Gospel Singers, see lyrics, music video & more!
It's Me Oh LordOwen Gray & Tony Rich & The Gospel Singers
Listen to Guava Jelly by Owen Gray, see lyrics, music video & more!
Guava JellyOwen Gray
Listen to Everything to God in Prayer by Owen Gray, see lyrics, music video & more!
Everything to God in PrayerOwen Gray
Listen to Draw Me Nearer by Owen Gray, see lyrics, music video & more!
Draw Me NearerOwen Gray

More albums from Owen Gray

Listen to Loving Reggae, Vol. 2 by Owen Gray
ALBUMLoving Reggae, Vol. 2Owen Gray
Listen to I Was Born to Be Loved by Owen Gray
ALBUMI Was Born to Be LovedOwen Gray
Listen to My God Is Real by Owen Gray
ALBUMMy God Is RealOwen Gray
Listen to My Sweet Lord by Owen Gray
ALBUMMy Sweet LordOwen Gray
Listen to Little Girl + Hit After Hit After Hit (2 Original Albums) by Owen Gray
ALBUMLittle Girl + Hit After Hit After Hit (2 Original Albums)Owen Gray
Listen to Jamaica's First Home Grown Star ((New Stereo Recordings)) by Owen Gray
ALBUMJamaica's First Home Grown Star ((New Stereo Recordings))Owen Gray
Listen to How Reggae Is That Elephant Overthere by Owen Gray
ALBUMHow Reggae Is That Elephant OverthereOwen Gray
Listen to Owen Gray Essentials by Owen Gray
ALBUMOwen Gray EssentialsOwen Gray
Listen to Instant Rapport by Owen Gray
ALBUMInstant RapportOwen Gray
Listen to Call on Me by Owen Gray
ALBUMCall on MeOwen Gray
Listen to Owen Gray Mega Hits by Owen Gray
ALBUMOwen Gray Mega HitsOwen Gray
Listen to That's How Strong-Is- by Owen Gray
ALBUMThat's How Strong-Is-Owen Gray
Listen to Mumbo Jumbo by Owen Gray
ALBUMMumbo JumboOwen Gray
Listen to Baby It's You by Owen Gray
ALBUMBaby It's YouOwen Gray
Listen to The Montville Session by Owen Gray
ALBUMThe Montville SessionOwen Gray
Listen to Second Time Around by Owen Gray
ALBUMSecond Time AroundOwen Gray
Listen to Better Days by Owen Gray
ALBUMBetter DaysOwen Gray
Listen to Legend by Owen Gray
ALBUMLegendOwen Gray
Listen to Memory Lane Vol. 1 by Owen Gray
ALBUMMemory Lane Vol. 1Owen Gray
Listen to The Gospel Truth Vol.3 by Owen Gray
ALBUMThe Gospel Truth Vol.3Owen Gray
Listen to Gospel Truth Vol.2 by Owen Gray
ALBUMGospel Truth Vol.2Owen Gray
Listen to Something Good Going On by Owen Gray
ALBUMSomething Good Going OnOwen Gray
Listen to Gospel Truth Vol.1 by Owen Gray
ALBUMGospel Truth Vol.1Owen Gray
Listen to Excellence by Owen Gray
ALBUMExcellenceOwen Gray
Listen to Chickens On a Hot Tin Roof by Owen Gray
ALBUMChickens On a Hot Tin RoofOwen Gray
Listen to Miss Wire Waist by Owen Gray
ALBUMMiss Wire WaistOwen Gray
Listen to Super Ska by Owen Gray
ALBUMSuper SkaOwen Gray
Listen to Reggae With Soul by Owen Gray
ALBUMReggae With SoulOwen Gray

About Owen Gray

Listen to Owen Gray, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!
Hometown
Jamaica
Born
July 5, 1939
Genre
Reggae
Owen Gray was Jamaica's first home-grown singing star, and the first Jamaican singer to achieve recognition (and stardom) doing something other than calypso music. He seemed destined for stardom at an early age -- born in Kingston in 1939, he showed an affinity for music and a love of singing very early in life, winning his first talent contest at the age of nine and also distinguishing himself in the local church choir, where he sang first tenor (and his mother played piano). His father was a career military man, but the younger Gray set his sights on music as a career early on, and by his teens he was an experienced singer and performer -- he attended the Alpha School, whose other alumni included such future legends as Tommy McCook and Dizzy Johnny Moore, and by 19 he was ready to turn professional. In a sense, Gray and his contemporaries could not have timed their lives and careers better, as Jamaica's musical life was ready to bloom -- the world was already listening to the sounds of calypso music in the late '50s, initially by way of Trinidad (and pioneering figures such as Sir Lancelot) and more recently by such island-descended figures as Harry Belafonte and Lord Burgess, and Jamaica, which was already moving toward independence from Great Britain, was about to experience a cultural renaissance as well. Gray's breakthrough came in 1960 when he recorded "Please Don't Let Me Go" with the Caribs (including guitarist Ernest Ranglin on his first recording session) for a young would-be record producer from England named Chris Blackwell, who had begun to dabble in Jamaican music in between deciding what he wanted to do with his life. Released in Jamaica, it hit the top chart spot on the island, and the record was also issued in England through the jazz label Esquire, and sold surprisingly well -- a fact undoubtedly noted by Blackwell, who began to suspect around this time that there were enough Jamaican émigrés in England to make a viable business of recording and releasing music aimed at them. Back in Kingston, Gray found himself in high demand, and his voice was quickly captured -- working in idioms from rock & roll to American-style R&B -- on tape by producers Leslie Kong, Prince Buster, Duke Reid, and, most importantly, Coxsone Dodd, who was just starting up his legendary Studio One label at the time; Gray's "On the Beach" (which featured local trombone virtuoso Don Drummond) was among the very earliest releases on that label. It was also a group of sides that he cut for Coxsone Dodd that resulted in Gray becoming the first solo Jamaican artist to have an LP of Jamaican popular music (as opposed to calypso music and folk songs) released in England -- the Esquire imprint Starlite Records combined a bunch of them in 1961 as Owen Gray Sings, which was also released in Jamaica; the album never sold even moderately well, but it was a beginning, and soon he had competing London labels issuing different tracks. With advance work like that going on without his direct input, he could hardly resist the opportunity to take the leap to the next career step, and cultivate a London audience from London, and in the spring of 1962 he moved there. Gray recorded for Melodisc, which had previously licensed some of his Jamaican sides, and he was soon established in London, finding a large and serious club audience. He toured Europe in 1964, doing mostly soul music, and also signed with Blackwell's now established Island Records label. By 1966 he was well known in England as a soul singer as well as for his ska and reggae sides, and made the switch to rocksteady easily enough, cutting sides for producer Sir Clancy Collins, and also licensing some songs to the new Trojan Records label -- his versions of the ballads "These Foolish Things" and "Always" reflected the soft ballad style for which he was known at the time. He enjoyed some further success fronting the Maximum Band (on the Fab Records imprint of Melodisc) with the ballad "Cupid," which charted in 1968. He also found favor with the early skinheads, thanks to a jump beat-driven tune called "Apollo 12" that was released in 1970, even as he continued to keep his hand in ballads with releases such as "Three Coins in the Fountain." Gray moved to the Pama label in 1968, releasing his sides on their Camel Records imprint, which included "Woman a Grumble" and his version of King Floyd's "Groove Me." By 1972 he was back with Island Records, where his reggae versions of the Rolling Stones' "Tumblin' Dice" and John Lennon's "Jealous Guy" were released to complete (and astonishing) indifference; strangely enough, one of his bigger successes around this time took place in Jamaica, where his "Hail the Man" -- a single praising the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie -- was embraced by the burgeoning Rasta audience. Gray briefly tried basing himself in New Orleans -- not surprising since his early idols included Fats Domino -- and then returned to Jamaica, where he found fresh inspiration in the booming demand for roots reggae. During the mid-'70s, working with producer Edward "Bunny" Lee, he saw success on both sides of the Atlantic as a mainstay of the roots reggae movement. Since the 1970s Gray's career has waxed and waned, and he had returned to singing ballads by the 1990s. With the passing of his 40th anniversary as a professional musician in 1998, however, Gray had once more risen to stardom around the world, a fact confirmed by his international engagements and the release in 2004 of Shook, Shimmy & Shake: The Anthology, a double-CD set that spans a significant (though in no way nearly complete) chunk of his career. The new millennium has seen Gray continue to focus on ballads as well as gospel material, including 2004's Jesus Loves Me on the True Gospel label. ~ Bruce Eder
Owen Gray has also released music as a member of Owen & Millie.

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