Finds 'Babylon' Good For Success

Yahoo! Music, Nov 9, 2000 12:00 pm PST
(11/9/00, 12 p.m. ET) - Almost two years after the original release of his fourth album, White Ladder, veteran Welsh singer-songwriter David Gray is beginning to make his move from cult status into the mainstream with his single "Babylon."

The song has moved up to Number 23 on the Billboard Top 40 Adult chart and debuted at Number 15 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. White Ladder, meanwhile, continues its slow ascent on the Billboard 200 album sales chart, up 13 places to Number 79 on the current listing.

The newfound success is part of a storybook chapter for Gray. After three albums released during the '90s, he found himself without a record label. He recorded White Ladder

on his own, releasing it at the beginning of 1999. But it wasn't until Dave Matthews decided to issue it on his own brand new ATO Records this year that it was even available as a domestic release.

Gray tells LAUNCH that pairing with Matthews has felt like the right move from the beginning. "In the past, musicians having their own labels hasn't always been a very successful formula," Gray says. "But I get the feeling that him and his team, and the way they all think, it's a lot more down to earth. It's not a whimsical kind of, 'I want Mongolian rush players,' or something. It's like, he wants to put some stuff out that he thinks need attention."

American fans can get a glimpse of Gray when he appears on Saturday Night Live on November 18.

-- Neal Weiss, Los Angeles

Got news tips, comments, or questions? Send them to newstips@launch.com.

More Artist News

Al Gore's All-Star Live Earth Lineup

Apr 10, 2007 6:00 am PDT

When Al Gore throws a party, he doesn't mess around.  Organizers of the planet-spanning Live Earth concerts revealed on Tuesday the all-star lineups for the U.S. and U.K. legs of the event, set to take place July 7 at Giants Stad...

Billboard album reviews: Bob Dylan, Sam Moore

Aug 28, 2006 6:24 am PDT

You may have seen the recent photos of Bob Dylan looking uncannily like Charlie Chaplin, and his 44th album, "Modern Times," shares a title with Chaplin's 1936 classic about automation, big business and the overreaching intrusion of the st...

Charts: West Hits a Wall

Sep 21, 2005 3:05 pm PDT

The people have spoken: Paul Wall is the new chart champ. The Houston rapper helped push Kanye West's latest to number one by guesting on the Late Registration track "Drive Slow," but with the release of Wall's own album, it's every em...

Singer David Gray Simplifies His Life

Sep 12, 2005 4:34 am PDT

David Gray has two things in his life — and only two. "It's whittled itself down now to music and family," the British singer-songwriter said in Sunday's editions of the San Francisco Chronicle. "I would say those are my two prioritie...

No 'Babylon' for Gray fans in coming world tour

Aug 3, 2005 1:41 pm PDT

Fans of David Gray who want to hear his biggest hit "Babylon" performed live as he tours to promote his latest album may be disappointed because the singer-songwriter is sick of playing it. At early shows on a North American tour promoti...

Photos

Loading...
View All Photos »

Videos

1-6 of 7 videos
Prev | Next
View All Videos »

Artist on Last.fm