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Lawrence Gray (born January 30, 1975) is a Maltese singer. Early in his career, the rock band Meer was formed and Gray was the singer and frontman. He recorded six songs with this band at Temple Studios in Malta. Gray participated in
Malta Song for Europe Malta has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 34 times since its debut in . The contest is broadcast in Malta on the PBS channel, TVM. Malta has yet to win the contest, but is the only non-winning country to have achieved four top th ...
seven times, coming twice second, with "The Right Time" in 1999 and with "Why Not" in 2003 (won the televoting). He came third with "Count on Me" in 2001 and he came twice fourth, in 2002 with "What Happened to Our Love" and in 2004 with "You’re on My Mind". In 2001, Gray won Best Male Singer at the
Malta Music Awards Malta Music Awards (MMA) is an annual music awards ceremony held since October 20, 1995 and organised by Mega Music Malta in collaboration with Public Broadcasting Services and Magic Malta. The aims of the Malta Music Awards include promotion of l ...
. He won the International Festival of Maltese Song in 1998 and in 2002 . He also won the Fidof award both times in this festival. He came second in L-Għanja tal-Poplu in 1999 and won the Malta Independence Festival in 2002. Gray was awarded Best Male Singer and Best International Voice in the international festival
Voice of Asia Voice of Asia (, ''Azııa Daýysy''; , ''Golos Azii'') is a music festival held annually in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Acts from all over Asia and other areas take part. The usual venue for the festival is the outdoor Medeo speed skating rink, situate ...
in Kazakhstan in 1999. He placed second in the same festival in 2002, and also won Best Performer, Best Voice and Best Composer. In 2001, at an international festival, Universetalent in Prague, Gray placed second. He was awarded Most Popular Foreign Artist at the 111 International Music Festival in
Zrenjanin Zrenjanin ( sr-Cyrl, Зрењанин, ; hu, Nagybecskerek; ro, Becicherecu Mare; sk, Zreňanin; german: Großbetschkerek) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Central Banat District in the autonomous pro ...
,
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
, in 2002. Gray recorded three songs at
Mayfair Studios Mayfair Recording Studios, earlier called Spot Studios or Ryemuse Studios, was a recording studio in London, England, located in Mayfair from the 1960s to 1981, then in Primrose Hill from 1981 until it closed in 2008. In the early years the studio ...
in London (composer,
Geoff Morrow Geoffrey Stanton "Geoff" Morrow (born 16 May 1942, in London, England) is a British songwriter and businessman. His compositions have been recorded by Butterscotch (band), Butterscotch (of which he was a member), Sandie Shaw, the Carpenters, E ...
). A video was made of the song "You Are My Lover" at
Townhouse Studios The Town House (also known as Townhouse Studios) was a recording studio located at 150 Goldhawk Road, Shepherd's Bush in London, built in 1978 under the direction of Richard Branson for Virgin Records. The studios changed ownership and eventuall ...
in London. Later, Gray returned to London and worked with Paul Murphy, recording another 18 tracks. Gray took part in many musicals including ''
Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...
'', ''
Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...
Celebration'', ''10th Anniversary Concert of
Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...
'', ''
The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childre ...
'', '' Scrooge'', ''
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. Th ...
'' and many others. In 2001, Gray participated in a master class for musical theatre in London. He was then chosen to sing the part of
Jean Valjean Jean Valjean () is the protagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables''. The story depicts the character's struggle to lead a normal life and redeem himself after serving a 19-year-long prison sentence for stealing bread to feed his ...
in ''Les Misérables'' at the
Palace Theatre Palace Theatre, or Palace Theater, is the name of many theatres in different countries, including: Australia *Palace Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria *Palace Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales Canada *Palace Theatre, housed in the Robillard Block, Mo ...
in London. Gray sang "Gethsemane" from ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' in the first Beyond the Barricade show in Malta in 2003. Gray was named Best World Singer of 2002, by the website www.mainhill.wallst.ru/eurovision/2003/mal.htm. In 2002, Gray was a guest singer at Premio Top Sprint – Omaggio alla Sicilianita’ in
Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...
, Sicily. This was shown on Sicilian television. In 2003, Gray was invited to go to
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
, discovering he had a fan club there. He received an award as Best Promoted Foreign Artist in Cyprus and a gold disc for "Why Not" from Radio Magic 102.2FM. In 2003, Gray was also a guest singer at the Golden Magnolia Festival in
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, USA. Gray held a concert, An Evening with Lawrence Gray – Live, at St. James Cavalier, in
Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...
, in 2004. Three presentations of the concert were held. Over the years, Gray was resident singer on various Maltese television programmes. He also sang the feast anthem of various towns and villages in Malta. In 2014, he participated in the Malta Eurovision Song Contest with the song, "The One That You Love". In 2015 Lawrence Gray was one of the main singers in Rockestra.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Lawrence 1975 births Living people 21st-century Maltese male singers 20th-century Maltese male singers