Artist:Conan Gray
Song:Maniac
Album:Kid Krow
Singer songwriter Conan Gray started out on YouTube and got a record contract in 2018. His debut album Kid Krow did well. But he hasn't had a hit single. There's no question that he has a YouTube following. But I don't think radio station programmers like him. He was born Dec. 5, 1998 in Lemon Grove, CA which is near San Diego. His father is Irish and his mother is Japanese. The family moved to Hiroshima to take care of her father who was diagnosed with cancer. After his death, they returned to California. He lived with his mother after his parents divorce. His father was in the military so they moved a lot. He attended high school in Georgetown, TX. He created his YouTube channel in 2013. He didn't start out posing music. The 2017 song Idle Town got 12 million views on YouTube and 14 million streams on Spotify. Gray was going to attend UCLA. But Republic Records signed him to a record deal and released the EP Sunset Seasons which included his YouTube songs. Gray toured to support the EP and appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Gray opened for Panic! at the Disco. Maniac was one of three singles released before the album Kid Krow was released in Feb. 2020. Gray won the 2019 Shorty Award for Best YouTube Musician and he was nominated for Breakthrough Artist at the 2019 Streamy Awards. So the question is can Gray's YouTube success convert to mainstream success? The answer is maybe not. The album was certified Platinum but no singles hit the Billboard Hot 100. As I said it makes me think that radio station programmers don't like Gray. The album was produced by Dan Nigro and he wrote a lot of the songs with Gray. Nigro was lead singer of As Tall as Lions. After they split up, he produced Sky Ferreira among others. Since then Gray has released two albums with diminishing returns. The 2022 album Superache was also produced by Nigro. But Republic brought in superstar producers Max Martin and Greg Kirsten for the 2024 album Found Heaven. Maybe all those YouTube followers aren't enough to build a career. Here's the video for Maniac by Conan Gray. The girl in the video is British actress Jessica Barden. She has done mostly British TV.
No comments:
Post a Comment