Fly

Background:

“The greatest thing about Hollywood is the most talented people don't necessarily make it. I made it as a singer and I can barely sing. I can hit a couple notes and I can get by.” Mark McGrath

Musician, occasional actor and TV host Mark McGrath is best known as the lead singer of well-liked American rock band Sugar Ray. Along with the group, which was formed in 1992 in Orange County, CA, the Hartford, Connecticut native rose to fame with the second and double-platinum album “Floored” (1997), which spawned the group's first No. hit single, “Fly.” They continued to gain success with the triple-platinum album “14:59” (1999), which produced such hit singles as “Every Morning,” “Someday” and “Falls Apart,” and the gold album “Sugar Ray” (2001). “In the Pursuit of Leisure,” their fifth and last album with Atlantic Records, was relesaed in 2003, two years before the launch of the greatest hits album “The Best of Sugar Ray.”

Frequently mocked by critics for being an alternative rock pinup boy, McGrath attained pop-star status and became a sex symbol following the success of “Fly.” Since then, he has decorated such magazine covers as Rolling Stone and made a number appearences on VHI, MTV, and various talk and award shows. He has also hosted several TV programs, most notbaly the entertaiment magazine show “Extra” (2004-2008). As an actor, McGrath appeared as Assholf Golfer in “Pauly Shore Is Dead” (2003) and a rock star in the Brittany Murphy starring vehicle “Uptown Girls” (2003). He guested as J.J. Price in an episode of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” called “Design” (2005).

Blue-eyed, 6'1” tall McGrath has a Cadillac Coupe DeVille from 1968. Commenting about his car, he said, “I'm psychotically in love with that car, The elegance, class, and unnecessary hugeness of it all. It also holds a special memory for me cause when I was little my Grandma used to take me for rides in it to get ice cream.”

In 2004, McGrath was involved in The Justice Ball, an annual fundraiser for the Los Angeles-based charity Bet Tzedek Legal Services - The House of Justice. The show was held at Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, California, in which he became the headliner along with Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind.

As for his romantic life, the Irish Catholic whose favorite TV shows are “Jerry Springer” and “Rikki Lake” had a long term relationship with aesthetician Carin Kingsland. The pair experienced a short-lived split during Fall 2003 to Spring 2004. In the meantime, McGrath reportedly dated actress Jordana Brewster, whom he met at a 2004 New Year's Eve party in New York City. As a freshmen at USC, one of People magazine's “Sexiest Rocker” of 1998 was deeply in love with a fellow student and lost his virginity to her. Later, she broke his heart and convinced him that he was a “terrible boyfriend.” More recently, in October 2007, McGrath declared that he separated from his girlfriend of four years during a concert at SingFest in Singapore.

McGrath has three dogs: Lola, Chopper and Ruby.

Boxing Lover

Childhood and Family:

Mark Sayers McGrath was born on March 15, 1968, in Hartford, Connecticut. He was raised in Newport Beach, California. His parents, Edward T. McGrath, who is of Irish descent, and AM McGrath, a software trainer, divorced when Mark was only 12 years old. He has an older sister named Tracey. His older brother, Edward T. McGrath Jr., died of SIDS before Mark was born.

Mark attended Corona Del Mar High School and joined the school's track and basketball teams. After graduating in 1986, he studied Business Communication at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business in Los Angeles.

The fan of LA Kings & LA Lakers mentions boxing and hockey as his favorite sports and was inspired to be a hockey player when he was a kid. He stated, “I'm a huge boxing fan. I love the strategy and the combat. I'm not a fighter, but I would love to be a boxer because I love the courage and toughness. I mean, there can be nothing more terrifying than walking into an arena and looking at Mike Tyson in the ring. That's pretty terrifying!”

Extra

Career:

A truck driver prior to his flourishing career in music, Mark McGrath had his early exposure of performing in front of public at age 14, when he made his Broadway debut in a 1982 production of “Little Man.” Two years later, he appeared in “The Three Musketeers.” The Californian bred went on to develop a passion for music and played with some different bands before joining The Shrinky Dinx in 1992. Along with bassist Murphy Karges, guitarist Rodney Sheppard and drummer Stan Frazier, he collected a fan base through their performances around the Los Angeles/San Diego area and eventually landed a recorded deal with Atlantic Record. In 1994, after a terror of legal action by Shrinky Dinks manufacturer Milton Bradley, the group changed its name to Sugar Ray, which they adapted from boxer Sugar Ray Leonard.

McGrath and Sugar Ray launched a debut album called “Lemonade & Brownies” on April 4, 1995, but it was a failure. Their huge breakthrough arrived two years later with the release of their sophomore effort, “Floored.” The album reached No. 12 on the U.S. Billboard and was certified double-platinum thanks largely to the highly popular “Fly,” a collaboration with reggae artist Super Cat. The song peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay and stayed there for six consecutive weeks. It also became a No. 1 hit at the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks.

The success of Sugar Ray subsequently established McGrath as a pop-star. He appeared on the covers of such national magazines as Rolling Stone and Spin and made appearances on the television shows like “Oddville, MTV,” “Late Night with Conan O'Brien,” “Hollywood Squares,” “VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards,” “The Howard Stern Radio Show,” “ESPY Awards” and “My VH1 Music Awards.” He also hosted the 1998 “MTV Sports & Music Festival 2” and “The 2000 Radio Music Awards,” and along with Sugar Ray, he appeared in the 1997 motion picture “Fathers' Day,” starring Robin Williams and Billy Crystal.

After “Floored,” McGrath and his group resurfaced with the third studio album “14:59,” which was released on January 12, 1999. The album Spawning one of the group's most successful singles, “Every Morning” (#1 on the Modern Rock Tracks, #2 on the Hot 100 Airplay and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100), as well as the hits “Someday” and “Falls Apart,” the album reached No. 17 on the Billboard 200 and earned triple-platinum certification from RIAA. The follow-up, “Sugar Ray” (2001), a top ten hit on the Billboard 200, has been certified gold since its release. It consisted 11 tracks, including a radio-airplay favorite, “When It's Over,” and the song “Under the Sun,” about the new rise days of Los Angeles radio station KROQ which McGrath sang lovingly.

The fifth studio album “In the Pursuit of Leisure” hit the music stores in 2003. It was followed by the greatest hits album “The Best of Sugar Ray” in 2005. Released by Warner Bros, the album comprised a dozen of previous hits and three new songs, including the Howard Stern-penned “Psychedelic Bee.”

Magnetic and personable McGrath has continued to work on his own. He contributed vocals to the track “Reaching Out” on “Strait Up,” a tribute album to decease vocalist Lynn Strait, and appeared on the video of “Angel's Son,” a song written by the band Sevendust that was also included on“Strait Up.” In 2004, McGrath teamed up with country music super star Shania Twain in the song “Party for Two,” which was included in her greatest hits album. It debuted at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and went on to reach No. 7.

McGrath has also made self-appearances in such TV shows as “Las Vegas” and “North Shore” (both 2004) and acted in the comedy movies “Pauly Shore Is Dead” (2003), playing Assholf Golfer, and “Uptown Girls”(2003), directed by Boaz Yakin and starring Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning, as well as a 2005 episode of the TV series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” as J.J. Price. McGrath has hosted TV programs like “The Teen Choice Awards 2002” (2002), “2005 Radio Music Awards” (NBC, 2005), “Extra” (2004-2008), “The Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll” (2007) and “Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious” (2008). He once served as guest judge for “American Idol” auditions.

Having left Atlantic Records in 2006, Sugar Ray currently finds a new home with Pulse Recordings. Their new album is expected to be released in late 2008.

Awards:
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