Conan Gray

Conan Lee Gray (born December 5, 1998) is an American singer-songwriter and former YouTuber.

Born in Lemon Grove, California, and raised in Georgetown, Texas, he began uploading vlogs, covers, and original songs to YouTube as a teenager.

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, he moved with his family to Hiroshima, Japan, because his grandfather needed medical care after being diagnosed with cancer.

After his grandfather passed away, the family moved back to California.

Gray's parents divorced when he was three years old and he was thereafter raised by a single mother.

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 9 times during his childhood, including two times during sixth grade.

He was frequently bullied in grade school for being quiet.

Gray eventually settled as a preteen in Georgetown, Texas, where he remained for the rest of his teenage years.

His life in central Texas inspired much of his art and music.

Gray created his official YouTube channel in 2013, and began making videos at age 15.

His early videos were about topics such as baking and mainly focused on his everyday life.

His 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.

He was accepted to UCLA, and moved to Los Angeles, California, in September 2017.

However, he dropped out after only two months to begin touring after he was signed to Republic Records.

In July 2021, Gray moved to New York.

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.

He self-released his second single, "Grow", on September 1, 2017.

In 2018, Gray signed a record deal with Republic Records, which released his debut EP, Sunset Season (2018).

In October 2018, he released the single "Generation Why" on Republic Records, which was called "a rallying call to millennials".

In November 2018, he 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 the Sunset Shows tour in support of the EP.

Gray made his late-night television debut on Late Night with Seth Meyers on the eve of February 2019, before performing several shows as an opening act on Panic! at the Disco's 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 of high school.

Between March and October 2019, he released three singles from his debut album, Kid Krow, "Checkmate", "Comfort Crowd", and "Maniac", and an independent single, "The King".

In October 2019, Gray embarked on the Comfort Crowd Tour, 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.

He received the 2019 Shorty Award for Best YouTube Musician, and was nominated for Breakthrough Artist at the 2019 Streamy Awards.

Bolstered by the commercially successful songs "Maniac" and "Heather", his studio album Kid Krow (2020) debuted at number five on the U.S. Billboard 200, making it the biggest U.S. artist debut of the year.

His second studio album, Superache (2022), received critical acclaim and debuted in the top 10 in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and the Netherlands.

Throughout the second week of 2020, Gray shared daily hints about the title of his debut album on Twitter.

On January 9, 2020, he revealed the title, Kid Krow, and wrote, "I say more on this album than I've ever said in my life, and I can't wait to tell you all of my secrets. Love y'all."

Gray released "The Story" on the same day of the album's announcement, as well as "Wish You Were Sober" as a surprise release two days before the album's release.

During early 2020, Gray's single "Maniac" became successful on international mainstream pop radio, specifically in Australia, where it was certified platinum.