# Saya Gray

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{{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](/source/Toronto), Ontario, Canada
| origin            = 
| genre             = [Alternative pop](/source/Alternative_pop)
| occupation        = 
| instrument        = 
| discography       = 
| years_active      = 
| label             = [Dirty Hit](/source/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](/source/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!](/source/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](/source/The_Face_(magazine)) |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](/source/The_Beaches%2C_Toronto) 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](/source/Pitchfork_(website)) |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](/source/Uproxx) |language=en-US}}</ref> She is of [Japanese-Canadian](/source/Japanese_Canadians) descent.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> Her mother's family moved from [Shizuoka Prefecture](/source/Shizuoka_Prefecture) in Japan to Canada when her mother was ten years old.<ref name=":2" /> Her father is a [Scottish-Canadian](/source/Scottish_Canadians)<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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Toronto_Star) |language=en}}</ref> After [dropping out](/source/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](/source/Daniel_Caesar)'s touring band.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> She has also been a musical director for American singer [Willow Smith](/source/Willow_Smith)<ref name=":0" /> and a bassist for English singer and songwriter [Liam Payne](/source/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](/source/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!](/source/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](/source/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!](/source/Exclaim!) |date=July 10, 2025|access-date=July 10, 2025}}</ref> She received a [Juno Award](/source/Juno_Award) nomination for [Breakthrough Artist or Group of the Year](/source/Juno_Award_for_Breakthrough_Artist_or_Group_of_the_Year) at the [Juno Awards of 2026](/source/Juno_Awards_of_2026), and ''Saya'' was nominated for [Alternative Album of the Year](/source/Juno_Award_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](/source/CBC_Music), January 27, 2026.</ref>

== Personal life ==
Gray has lived in [Toronto](/source/Toronto), Japan and the United Kingdom.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> She was living in [Tokyo](/source/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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Saya Gray](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saya_Gray) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saya_Gray?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.