James Ray (born 3 October 1970), known professionally by his stage name Jimmy Ray, is an English singer, songwriter and musician.

Career

In press interviews and promotional materials, Ray cited his influence by the music of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

and other

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

stars such as Buddy Holly,

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and

Tommy Steele Sir Thomas Hicks (born 17 December 1936), known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star. After being discovered at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, London, Steele reco ...

. His manager was

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, who also managed the Spice Girls and produced the hit show ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

''. Ray's recording career began as one-half of techno-pop outfit AV (Alternative Vision). The duo was founded in 1994 by Graham Drinnan (a.k.a. 'Gypsy' or 'Gipsy') who previously as a solo artist had scored several critically acclaimed techno/house hits in the early 1990s, most notably "I Trance You", "Funk De Fino" and "Skinnybumblebee". AV signed to Sony S2 Records in 1994 but no recordings were ever released. After splitting from Drinnan in 1996, Ray went on to score a hit single in both the United Kingdom and the United States with his debut single " Are You Jimmy Ray?" the following year. "Are You Jimmy Ray?" reached No. 13 on the U.S. '' Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and sold over 500,000 copies in the U.S. alone. Ray released his self-titled album in the U.S. in March 1998, but the album was never issued in the UK. The song "Are You Jimmy Ray?" was successful in his native country reaching No. 13 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in November 1997. Ray followed up in 1998 (primarily in the UK) with "Goin' to Vegas", including a

televised Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

performance on '' Live and Kicking Friday''. It failed to enter the UK top 40, only peaking at No. 47. A

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...

for the single was made, but it (and the single) never aired in the U.S. In mid-1998, Ray went on the U.S.

tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

with the

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. In the late 1998, a third promotional single and video clip, "I Got Rolled" was given minimal

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

. In a November 2015 announcement on his official fan page, Ray stated that he was working on material for a comeback record. This was later confirmed in September 2016 on his record label's website: "La Rocka Records was created in 2016 as a launchpad for UK singer Jimmy Ray's 'comeback' album tentatively titled ''Live to Fight Another Day''". A later promotional video posted on the La Rocka Records website and YouTube channel confirmed the release date as 13 October 2017.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

La Rocka Records

MTV Artist page

"Goin' to Vegas" fansite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Jimmy 1970 births 21st-century English singers 21st-century British male singers British rockabilly musicians English hip hop musicians English male singers English pop rock singers Epic Records artists Living people S2 Records artists Singers from London