Conan Gray

He created his official channel in 2013,[7] and began creating videos at age nine.[8] Gray's vlog content centers heavily on his life in small-town Texas. He is often hailed for his appreciation of Americana-related nostalgia.[9] Gray has recorded music, showed his art, and created other videos for his vlog with more than 25 million views.[10][8]

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.[11][9] In October 2018, Gray released the single "Generation Why" on Republic Records,[11] which was described as "a rallying call to generation Z."[12] In November 2018, Gray 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.[13][14] Gray embarked on a North American tour in support of the EP with Girl in Red.[15]

Gray made his late-night television debut when he performed on Late Night with Seth Meyers on the eve of February 2019[16][17] before performing several shows as an opening act for Panic! at the Disco during their Pray for the Wicked Tour.[18] He played concert festivals such as The Great Escape in addition to touring nationally.[19]

In February 2019, Gray re-released the single "The Other Side",[20] after originally publishing it on YouTube in 2016 on the eve of the first day of his senior year at high school.[21][20] Between March and October 2019, Gray released a series of singles off of his debut album, Kid Krow, namely "Checkmate", "Comfort Crowd", and "Maniac",[22] and an independent single, “The King”. In October 2019, Gray embarked on his second headlining tour of North America with support from acclaimed New Zealand musician Benee as well as American recording artist UMI.[23] As of October 2019, Gray's catalog had gained over 250 million streams across all platforms collectively.[24] Gray was awarded the 2019 Shorty Award for Best YouTube Musician,[25] and was nominated for Breakthrough Artist at the 2019 Streamy Awards.[26]

Throughout the second week of 2020, Gray teased fans online by tweeting daily hints about the title of his debut album.[27] On January 9, 2020, Conan Gray revealed the title of his debut album, 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."[28] Gray released "The Story" on the same day of the album's announcement,[29] as well as "Wish You Were Sober" as a surprise release two days before the album's release.[30] During early 2020, Gray's single "Maniac" became successful on international mainstream pop radio,[31][32][33][34][35] specifically in Australia,[36][37] where it was certified platinum.[38] The song was also certified Gold in both the US and Canada, making it his first certification in all three countries.[39][40] It became his first Billboard-charting single when it reached number 25 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart,[41] as well as the top 100 charts of Australia, Ireland and South Korea.

Gray released his debut full-length studio album Kid Krow on March 20, 2020 which debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200 as well as number 1 on the US Pop Albums chart and number 2 on the Top Album Sales chart with over 37 thousand pure sales.[42][43][44] In the US, it was the biggest new artist debut of 2020 as of March and was the top pop solo debut album in over two years since Camila Cabello's 2018 self-titled album.[45] The album was praised by publications such as Paper, Billboard, NPR, Teen Vogue and Paste.

Gray was scheduled to perform on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on March 16,[46] as well as Coachella in mid April 2020,[47] before both performances were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In mid 2020, both Forbes and Billboard listed Gray as a frontrunner in their predictions for Best New Artist nominees at the 2021 Grammy Awards.[48][49] Following the commercial success of Kid Krow, Apple Music named Gray as an Up Next artist and released an exclusive mini-documentary about him in April 2020.[50] His Kid Krow World Tour with support from Bülow has been postponed until further notice.[51]

Gray has stated that Taylor Swift raised him "both as a writer and a human"

Gray has cited Taylor Swift as his biggest inspiration, stating that he "was raised by [her]" and that he is "the largest Swiftie".[52] He told People, "I love her so much. I love her music. I love what she does. I love her lyricism. I love how she's handled her career. She's just such a f*cking boss. I grew up listening to her music since I was nine years old. I feel like she shaped me so much as a person."[53] Swift praised Gray's debut album Kid Krow and the track "Wish You Were Sober" on her personal Instagram story, to which Gray responded, "Thank you for being my lifelong songwriting inspiration and icon. I honestly feel like you raised me both as a writer and a human and I cannot express in words how much the means to me. Thank you for everything. Swifty for life".[54] In an interview with Zane Lowe, for Apple Music, Gray stated that Swift is his "number one above all", and continued that "she's just my songwriting icon, and I'll never understand how she does what she does. She's just amazing". Gray also revealed that Swift messaged him and complimented Kid Krow.[55]

Gray has named Lorde as one of his other primary influences,[56][57][58] and has explained that his EP Sunset Season was majorly inspired by the small-town nostalgia of her debut album Pure Heroine.[9] He has also cited Dixie Chicks and Adele as some of his musical influences,[59] as well as expressing a mutual[60] admiration for V of BTS,[61] and Billie Eilish.[62] Talking about Eilish's rapid rise to fame in 2019, Gray told ET: "Billie and I have been friends since, like, literally forever, since she was, like, 15. I was like, 17. We were really young. Watching her have to figure out all these little things along the way has been really helpful for me."[63] Gray has cited Baby by Justin Bieber as a major song that inspired his childhood.[64]

Gray has been named as a "Gen Z vlogging sensation and venue-packing pop powerhouse" by Paper,[9] "the pop prince of sad internet teens" by Teen Vogue,[65] and "Gen Z's ascendant king of sad boy pop" by i-D.[10]

• The Sunset Shows (2018–19)
• The Comfort Crowd Tour (2019)
• The Kid Krow Tour (2020)

• Pray for the Wicked Tour (Panic! at the Disco)