{{Short description|Canadian musician (born 1995)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | background = person | name = Saya Gray | landscape = yes | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1995}} | birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada | origin = | genre = Alternative pop | occupation = | instrument = | discography = | years_active = | label = Dirty Hit | current_member_of = | past_member_of = Quincy Bullen Band | spouse = | partner = | website = {{URL|sayagray.ca}} }}
'''Saya Gray''' (born 1995) is a Canadian musician. She has four albums or EPs, starting with her debut in 2022.
== Early life == Gray was born in 1995<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-18 |title=Album Of The Week: Saya Gray 'SAYA' |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2297345/album-of-the-week-saya-gray-saya/reviews/album-of-the-week/ |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=Stereogum |language=en}}</ref> and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Lapierre |first=Megan |date=19 February 2025 |title=Saya Gray Is Remaking Pop in Her Own Image |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/saya-gray-interview |access-date=24 February 2025 |website=Exclaim! |language=en |archive-date=25 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250225023709/https://exclaim.ca/music/article/saya-gray-interview |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Wickes |first=Jade |date=18 March 2022 |title=Saya Gray on finally releasing her own music |url=https://theface.com/music/saya-gray-interview-new-single-if-theres-no-seat-in-the-sky-19-masters-daniel-caesar-bassist |access-date=24 February 2025 |website=The Face |language=en-gb |archive-date=25 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250225023727/https://theface.com/music/saya-gray-interview-new-single-if-theres-no-seat-in-the-sky-19-masters-daniel-caesar-bassist |url-status=live }}</ref> growing up in the Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Monroe |first=Jazz |date=21 March 2024 |title=Venture Into Saya Gray’s Alt-Pop Wonderland |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/rising/venture-into-saya-grays-alt-pop-wonderland/ |access-date=24 February 2025 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref> Her mother is the founder of the Discovery Through the Arts music school in Toronto.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Haver Currin |first=Grayson |date=19 April 2022 |title=Saya Gray Pulls Music From Her Bones |url=https://uproxx.com/indie/saya-gray-interview-19-masters-debut-album/ |access-date=24 February 2025 |website=Uproxx |language=en-US}}</ref> She is of Japanese-Canadian descent.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> Her mother's family moved from Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan to Canada when her mother was ten years old.<ref name=":2" /> Her father is a Scottish-Canadian<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Kasambala |first=Natty |date=17 March 2022 |title=Saya Gray's music is for people asking ‘what the fuck is going on?’ |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/55712/1/saya-gray-music-single-album-interview |access-date=24 February 2025 |website=Dazed |language=en |archive-date=25 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250225023727/https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/55712/1/saya-gray-music-single-album-interview |url-status=live }}</ref> jazz trumpet player who studied at the Berklee College of Music.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> Her brother, Lucian Gray, who plays the guitar, appears on her album ''19 Masters''.<ref name=":3" /> She began playing the piano at a young age,<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> eventually deciding around the age of ten to play bass.<ref name=":3" />
== Musical career == Gray began playing music in a house band for a Jamaican Pentecostal church.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Freid |first=Ben |date=16 January 2025 |title=Meet 'hyper-intuitive' artist Saya Gray |url=https://coloradosound.org/saya-gray-shell-of-a-man-debut-album-music-discovery/ |access-date=24 February 2025 |website=The Colorado Sound |language=en-US |archive-date=25 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250225092037/https://coloradosound.org/saya-gray-shell-of-a-man-debut-album-music-discovery/ |url-status=live }}</ref> At the age of eighteen, Gray was a music teacher and a member of the Quincy Bullen Band.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Beker |first=Jeanne |date=2 August 2013 |title=Saya Gray: tomboy teen turned style sophisticate |url=https://www.thestar.com/life/beauty-and-fashion/saya-gray-tomboy-teen-turned-style-sophisticate/article_afdd7de3-487e-537b-95ae-f3f7c660053e.html |access-date=24 February 2025 |website=Toronto Star |language=en}}</ref> After dropping out of high school in order to take night classes instead, she moved to London in the United Kingdom at the age of nineteen.<ref name=":2" /> She worked as a touring bassist for over ten years prior to releasing music.<ref name=":3" /> She previously played as a bassist in Canadian singer and songwriter Daniel Caesar's touring band.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> She has also been a musical director for American singer Willow Smith<ref name=":0" /> and a bassist for English singer and songwriter Liam Payne.<ref name=":3" />
In 2019, Gray began releasing original music.<ref name=":1" /> Her debut album, ''19 Masters'', was released on 2 June 2022.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> In 2023 and 2024, she released the dual extended plays ''QWERTY'' and ''QWERTY II''.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Mitchell |first=Matt |date=24 February 2025 |title=Saya Gray Makes Heartbreak Bizarre and Bold on ''Saya'' |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/saya-gray/saya-gray-makes-heartbreak-bizarre-and-bold-on-saya |access-date=24 February 2025 |website=Paste Magazine |language=en-US |archive-date=24 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250224150624/https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/saya-gray/saya-gray-makes-heartbreak-bizarre-and-bold-on-saya |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Lapierre |first=Megan |date=15 February 2024 |title=Saya Gray Announces New 'QWERTY II' EP, Shares Single |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/saya-gray-announces-new-qwerty-ii-ep-shares-single |access-date=24 February 2025 |website=Exclaim! |language=en |archive-date=25 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250225091537/https://exclaim.ca/music/article/saya-gray-announces-new-qwerty-ii-ep-shares-single |url-status=live }}</ref>
Her second album, ''Saya'', was released on 21 February 2025.<ref name=":0" /> The album was shortlisted for the 2025 Polaris Music Prize.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gregory |first1=Allie |title=Polaris Music Prize Reveals 2025 Short List |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/polaris-music-prize-reveals-2025-short-list |website=Exclaim! |date=July 10, 2025|access-date=July 10, 2025}}</ref> She received a Juno Award nomination for Breakthrough Artist or Group of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2026, and ''Saya'' was nominated for Alternative Album of the Year.<ref>Holly Gordon, [https://www.cbc.ca/music/juno-award-nominees-2026-complete-list-9.7060862 "Here are all the 2026 Juno nominees"]. CBC Music, January 27, 2026.</ref>
== Personal life == Gray has lived in Toronto, Japan and the United Kingdom.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> She was living in Tokyo as of March 2024.<ref name=":2" />
== Discography ==
=== Albums ===
* ''19 Masters'' (2022)<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /> * ''Saya'' (2025)<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5" />
=== EPs === * ''QWERTY'' (2023)<ref name=":0" /> * ''QWERTY II'' (2024)<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" /> '''Mixtapes'''
* ''SAYA DEMO MIXTAPE'' (2025)<ref>{{Cite web |title=SAYA DEMO MIXTAPE, by Saya Gray |url=https://sayagray.bandcamp.com/album/saya-demo-mixtape |access-date=2026-04-24 |website=Saya Gray |language=en}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|nm5767203}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:1995 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century Canadian women musicians Category:21st-century Canadian bass guitarists Category:Alternative pop musicians Category:Canadian musicians of Japanese descent Category:Canadian women bass guitarists Category:Musicians from Toronto Category:Dirty Hit artists