Tamyra Gray

Tamyra Monica Gray is an American actress, singer, and songwriter born on July 26, 1979, in Takoma Park, Maryland, who appeared on Broadway between 1996 and 2019. She later relocated to Norcross, Georgia, where she graduated from Stone Mountain High School in Stone Mountain in 1997. Gray subsequently attended Georgia State University, where she studied business law and entertainment management. Before breaking into the entertainment industry, she held a range of jobs including daycare worker, telemarketer, waitress, party motivator, and operator of her own cleaning service. She also filmed Coca-Cola commercials and worked alongside artists including Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and rapper DMX, appearing on DMX's 1998 song "Slippin'" as a background vocalist. In 1998, Gray was named Miss Atlanta, having competed in several beauty pageants.

Gray rose to national prominence in 2002 as one of ten finalists on the first season of the television competition American Idol, ultimately finishing in fourth place. Her rendition of the Burt Bacharach composition "A House Is Not a Home" drew particular attention from judge Simon Cowell, who called it one of the best performances he had ever seen on television. She was eliminated on August 21, 2002, after being placed in the bottom two alongside Nikki McKibbin, a result that visibly surprised the show's judges. Gray contributed to the American Idol Christmas CD with a solo recording of "Silent Night" and a duet of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" with Ruben Studdard, and she appeared on the accompanying Idol Christmas Special on Fox. During the third season of the competition, she returned to perform "Raindrops Will Fall" and "Star," two songs she had co-written for her debut album, and sang the national anthem to open the season's final results show. Gray also co-wrote the season three single "I Believe," which was performed by finalists Fantasia Barrino and Diana DeGarmo. Barrino subsequently released the song as her American Idol single, and it debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Following American Idol, Gray signed with Simon Fuller's independent label 19 Records. Her debut album, The Dreamer, which she wrote herself, was released on May 25, 2004, selling 39,000 copies in its first week and 122,000 copies in total. The lead single "Raindrops Will Fall" reached number five on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in one remix configuration and number nine in another. Gray also co-wrote "You Thought Wrong" with American Idol season one winner Kelly Clarkson, which appeared on Clarkson's debut album Thankful but was never released as a single. In 2006, Gray served as a co-writer and background vocalist on Jessica Simpson's album A Public Affair, released August 29, 2006, which debuted at number five on the Billboard 200. She holds writing credits on the album tracks "If You Were Mine" and "The Lover in Me" and sang backup on the former. Gray later parted ways with 19 Entertainment while maintaining a personal relationship with Fuller, who attended her 2006 wedding.

On September 2, 2006, Gray married Color Me Badd singer Sam Watters, with whom she had collaborated on The Dreamer, in a ceremony held in Capri, Italy, attended by approximately 45 guests. Wedding photographs were subsequently sold to the American press and the story was broken by People magazine. Gray became stepmother to Watters's son Kieran from a previous relationship. On July 17, 2010, she gave birth to the couple's daughter, Sienna Marie, having announced the pregnancy to Entertainment Weekly on March 23, 2010.

Gray's acting career included a recurring role in 2003 on the third season of the drama series Boston Public, where she played Aisha Clemens, a student in an abusive relationship, across seven episodes. She also had guest appearances on Half & Half, Las Vegas, Tru Calling, What I Like About You, Ghost Whisperer, and All of Us. In October 2005, she made her feature film debut in the independent film The Gospel, which opened at number five at the box office. Gray contributed the song "Now Behold the Lamb" to the film's soundtrack, which reached number one on Billboard's Soundtrack Chart. Her second film role came in the 2008 production Rachel Getting Married. In 2011, Gray starred in Twist, a theatrical adaptation of Oliver Twist set in New Orleans during the Depression, produced by Debbie Allen at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California. The production, originally scheduled to run from June 14 to July 17, was extended through July 24 due to strong ticket sales and sold-out performances.

Gray's Broadway career encompassed four productions. In November 2004, she was cast in the role of Priya in Bombay Dreams for a limited engagement of twelve weeks, though the production closed early on January 1, 2005, due to poor grosses. She joined the cast of Rent as Mimi Marquez on May 29, 2007, with an initial contract running through November 25, 2007; that contract was extended, and she remained with the production until June 15, 2008, when she was replaced by Renée Elise Goldsberry. In January 2016, Gray took over the role of Kate on the national tour of If/Then. On January 8, 2018, she assumed the role of Papa Ge in the 2018 Broadway revival of Once on This Island.