Jason Gray

A Christian singer/songwriter, Jason Gray bridges the gap between inward-thinking contemporary folk and hook-minded pop, adding his own spiritual perspective to the mix. Gray emerged in the 2000s and gained wider recognition after signing to Centricity Music. He is a two-time ASCAP Performance Award winner and has scored two Top Ten Christian chart hits with "Good to Be Alive" off 2011's A Way to See in the Dark and "With Every Act of Love" off 2014's Love Will Have the Final Word. His fifth album, 2016's Where the Light Gets In, peaked at number five on Billboard's Christian Albums Chart. Born Jason Jeffery Gay in 1972 in Minneapolis, Gray (his chosen stage name since 2005) grew up in a musical family and often traveled with his mother, who played in a band. In the early '80s, his parents divorced and his mother became a Christian, moving from rock clubs to the revival circuit. Along with the influence of Christian pop/rock, Gray began writing his own songs, influenced by artists like Paul Simon, U2, and Daniel Lanois. He joined his church youth ministry and had entered the music ministry full-time by 1998, independently releasing a string of contemporary Christian records between 1997 and 2005. Moved by the straightforward honesty and devotional nature of his songs, Centricity Music signed Gray in 2006; the label released the heartfelt All the Lovely Losers the following year. The live recording Acoustic Storytime and Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue followed in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Gray’s singable soul-searching reached its largest audience with the release of 2011's A Way to See in the Dark, which landed on the Billboard Top Christian Albums and Heatseekers Albums charts. In addition to his work as a musician, Gray is a devoted advocate for youths facing hardships, especially African orphans of AIDS, through World Vision International’s Hope Initiative. The following year saw him release his first collection of holiday music, the Cason Cooley-produced Christmas Stories: Repeat the Sounding Joy, and in 2014 he issued a new studio album, the chart-topping Love Will Have the Final Word. 2016's Where the Light Gets In, his fifth long-player, debuted at number five on the Billboard Christian Albums chart, and at 165 on the Billboard Top 200. Following an album recorded with his son Kipper Gray, he returned in 2019 with Order, the first of a trilogy of five-song EPs. ~ Chrysta Cherrie