Macy Gray hit the headlines this weekend after she stormed off stage on The Masked Singer moments due to being voted out – and it’s not the first time she’s sparked controversy
Macy Gray became a “massive a***hole” after achieving overnight fame led her to drugs, she once revealed.
The iconic I Try singer went viral after storming off The Masked Singer at the weekend. And the “shellshocked” Toad in the Hole performer has since revealed why she was so upset.
Her reaction caused a huge stir but it is not the first time she has caused controversy on camera.
Gray, 57, became a global sensation when her breakout song I Try resulted in five Grammy nominations before she won best female pop vocal performance.
It charted number one in the year 2000 but the musician, who was a college student from Canton, Ohio, struggled to cope with life changing in an instant.
She once spoke to Oprah Winfrey about how fame led to drugs after suddenly having a “lot of money” – something she was not accustomed to.
Gray also said everyone around her constantly told her she was “great”, but admitted: “I was a massive a***hole. I probably made a lot of people upset.”
And she claimed it was her English colleagues who contributed to her health battles.
Speaking to Oprah, she added: “My drug use started as a result of being on tour. My crew was from England. All they did was smoke hash all day, and they knew where to get the good ecstasy. So, you start playing with stuff, and then, suddenly, it’s like a crutch.”
Her partying and drug-taking led to awkward media interviews – but reporters had no idea there was a hidden reason behind it.
She revealed: “I actually will admit this: I used to do press with my glasses on because I’d be sitting there falling asleep. Literally.
“They’d be talking to me and I’d be asleep. They would be like, ‘She’s an enigma! She doesn’t answer anyone’s questions. When you ask her a question, she just stares. She’s very intense.’ But I would be asleep.”
Thankfully, Gray managed to quit drugs after noticing things that “really scared her”. They included having bags under her eyes and her skin doing “weird stuff”.
But she now believes her journey was meant to be. But the entertainer caused bafflement last year when she spoke to The Surreal Life viewers about what helps her wellbeing – while insisting it was not “breathing classes in the mountains”.
Asked how she unwinds instead, she said: “Like cocaine and a couple of shots. Get those edibles down my throat and I’m good, girl! You order me a pizza and I’m straight. I don’t need all that sh**, I’m good.”
And despite struggling to maintain the success of her multi–platinum debut album, she has enjoyed a stellar career – even appearing in films like Spider-Man and Training Day.