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| Birth Name(s) : Mark Sayers McGrath |
Date of Birth: May 15, 1968 |
| Status:
N/A
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Partner:
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| Profession:
Musician |
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Full Mark McGrath Biography
Sugar Ray is best known for their pop reggae hit Fly and hot lead singer Mark McGrath. Before they changed their name, band mates Mark McGrath, Rodney Sheppard on guitar, Murphy Karges on bass, Stan Frazier on drums and Craig "DJ Homicide" Bullock on turntables, were known as Shrinky Dinx. (Shrinky Dinks were those plastic toys you bake in the oven to make stained glass.) They had to change their quirky name cuz the toy company, Milton Bradley, threatened them with a lawsuit. They chose Sugar Ray because they all admired boxer Sugar Ray Leonard.
The guys from California had dreams of becoming rock 'n roll stars but like most people in the biz, things didn't happen over night. Mark worked as a truck driver, Murphy was a pizza chef, Stan a paralegal and Rodney was a telemarketer/actor.
They made a video for their song Caboose with the help of a friend. Eventually it ended up with Atlantic Records prez Doug Morris. Atlantic wasn't really taken with Shrinky Dinx's music (they hadn't changed their name yet) but they were impressed with the band's appearance and offered them a contract.
In 1995 Sugar Ray released their first CD entitled Lemonade and Brownies. Like the combination of lemonade and brownies - the album didn't go over very well. But the good thing was they got to tour with the Sex Pistols, Korn and Cypress Hill. Mark began listening to Sublime and convinced Atlantic Records to let them work with Sublime's producer David Kahne. He claimed that if they were able to work with Sublime's producer the album could lead to big record sales.
Atlantic Records agreed and the result was 1997's Floored. Floored became a huge success, selling more than two million copies and pushed the guys into the rock star status they'd always dreamed of. A big reason it became so popular was because of the reggae-ish tune Fly. People also liked the sound of DJ Homicide's turntable scratchin'. The song was less heavy than their other songs and exposed the band to mainstream audiences. Mark said, "If it wasn't for Fly, there would be no Sugar Ray."
US magazine named Mark as one (out of seven) of the entertainment industry's "new breed of sex symbols." In 1999 they released their third CD called 14:59 and had another hit with Every Morning. This album was more "poppy" than their previous ones. That same year, they played at the Woodstock '99 summer festival in New York.
The band has been busy in the studio and is set to release their fourth album on June 12, 2001 simply titled Sugar Ray. The first song from the album called When It's Over is out now and the video made it to number five on MTV's TRL. The band is set to tour in the US in July. Look to see if they'll be flyin' into your town. |
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Additional Mark McGrath Biography
He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, but grew up in California. He graduated from Corona del Mar High School and then majored in Business Communication at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business in Los Angeles. He worked as a truck driver before making his success in music.
He contributed the track "Reaching Out" on Strait Up, a tribute album to late vocalist Lynn Strait. He appeared in the video of "Angel's Son," another song written for the album (by Sevendust) and performed with the band during their appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
In 2004, he was the headliner, along-side Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind at The Justice Ball, an annual fundraiser for the Los Angeles-based charity Bet Tzedek Legal Services - The House of Justice. This performance took place at Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, California.
During the 2004 season, he worked as a guest judge for American Idol auditions that were aired in early 2005.. |
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Mark McGrath Quote(s)
| Before, we hid our feelings inside juvenile lyrics and distorted vocals. This is more vulnerable. We're [no longer] afraid to say 'I love you' in a song. |
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