This article is about the band Sugar Ray. For the boxers, see Sugar Ray Leonard or Sugar Ray Robinson. Sugar Ray is a rock band from Orange County, California.

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History

Early years

Sugar Ray started in the late 1980s as a group of friends at Corona del Mar High School. Initially comprising Rodney Sheppard and Stan Frazier (under the name The Tories ). Later additions Murphy Karges and Mark McGrath changed the band's name to Shrinky Dinx . After signing with Atlantic Records, the name was changed to Sugar Ray upon threat of lawsuit from the Milton Bradley Company (maker of the Shrinky Dinks toy).

The band's debut album, Lemonade and Brownies , was released in 1995, though it failed to produce a major hit single. Their early work was strongly influenced by funk metal, pop, and alternative rock. ^[1] This first album leaned on experimenting with those many influences, combining genres.

After they gained fame with the 1997 album 'Floored' in 1998, the single "Mean Machine" off 'Lemonade and Brownies,' was featured as one of the soundtracks of the popular PlayStation game "Road Rash 3D", as well as the Nintendo 64 (Road Rash 64) version of the game. The song appeared randomly both in-game as well as in the menus.

Floored

Sugar Ray's first mainstream hit came in the summer of 1997 with their song "Fly," which was released on the album Floored and featured reggae artist Super Cat. "Fly" was notable for not sounding anything at all like the rest of the tracks on the album and received frequent radio play. As a result of the success of "Fly," Floored sold well and was certified double platinum. However, by the end of 1997, critics were skeptical that Sugar Ray could put out another successful song and labeled them a one-hit wonder. The same year, Sugar Ray was featured in the movie Father's Day, starring Billy Crystal and Robin Williams.

14:59

Their 1999 album 14:59 was the reply to these accusations, with the title implying that their fifteen minutes of fame were not quite up — their 'fame clock' reading 14:59. ^[2] "Every Morning," which received widespread comparisons to "Fly," rose to similar success during the spring of 1999, reaching No. 3 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their follow-up single "Someday" received extensive airplay later that year as well and reached No. 7 in the U.S. 14:59 outsold its predecessor and was certified triple platinum.

Sugar Ray and In the Pursuit of Leisure

Their 2001 self-titled album Sugar Ray produced another hit with "When It's Over" which failed to reach the same level as their previous singles. Sugar Ray's 2003 effort In the Pursuit of Leisure, and the first single from that album, "Mr. Bartender (It's So Easy)" received a lukewarm reception. In 2005, Sugar Ray released a greatest hits album, with three new songs ("Shot of Laughter", "Time After Time" and "Psychedelic Bee").

Current status

In January 2006, Sugar Ray was released from their recording contract with Atlantic Records. "Into Yesterday" on the Surf's Up movie soundtrack was released in June 2007. The band has been touring Asia, most recently in Singapore in August 2007 where they headlined SingFest, the nation's first international music festival. ^[3]

In May 2008, Sugar Ray hinted in a Myspace blog that they were going to make an announcement that would "make all fans very, very happy". The announcement came on May 19, 2008, that the band would be entering the studio to record their first album of new material since 2003. It was also announced that the band signed a new record deal with Pulse Recordings and that the new album should be released in the summer of 2009. ^[4]

Sugar Ray appeared on the May 18, 2008, on the season 3 finale of American Dad , titled "Spring Break-Up", as themselves, playing "Fly" at a Spring Break party. They also starred in the first live-action Scooby-Doo movie as themselves performing the song 'Words to Me'.

On March 6, 2009, Mark McGrath posted an update on Facebook announcing that a new album, titled Music for Cougars , will be released on July 21. The first single is "Boardwalk". ^[5]

Band members

• Mark McGrath - Vocals, guitar
• Rodney Sheppard - Guitar, vocals
• Murphy Karges - Bass guitar, vocals
• Stan Frazier - Drums, percussion, Guitar, vocals
• Craig 'DJ Homicide' Bullock - turntables, programming (joined in 1996)

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album	Peak chart positions			Certifications (sales threshold)
		US	AUS	AUT
1995	Lemonade and Brownies Released: April 4, 1995 Label: Atlantic Records	—	—	—
1997	Floored Released: June 24, 1997 Label: Atlantic Records	12	—	—	US: 2× Platinum CAN: Platinum
1999	14:59 Released: January 12, 1999 Label: Atlantic Records	17	19	24	US: 3× Platinum
2001	Sugar Ray Released: June 12, 2001 Label: Atlantic Records	6	—	54	US: Gold CAN: Gold
2003	In the Pursuit of Leisure Released: June 13, 2003 Label: Atlantic Records	29	—	—
2009	Music for Cougars Released: July 21, 2009 Label: Pulse Recordings	80
"—" denotes released that failed to chart or weren't released

Compilation albums

Year	Album	US
2005	The Best of Sugar Ray Released: June 21, 2005 Label: Atlantic Records	136

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions [6] [7]						Album
		U.S.	U.S. Top 40	U.S. Adult T40	U.S. Main	U.S. Mod	UK
1995	"Mean Machine"	—	—	—	—	—	—	Lemonade and Brownies
1996	"Iron Mic"	—	—	—	—	—	135
1997	"Fly"	—	1	1	29	1	58	Floored
	"RPM"	—	—	—	—	35	—
1999	"Every Morning"	3	1	1	38	1	10	14:59
	"Someday"	7	3	3	—	7	90
	"Falls Apart"	29	7	16	—	5	—
2000	"Aim for Me"	—	—	—	—	—	—
2001	"When It's Over"	13	9	2	—	40	32	Sugar Ray
	"Answer the Phone"	112 [8]	39	33	—	—	—
2002	"Ours"	—	—	—	—	—	—
2003	"Mr. Bartender (It's So Easy)"	—	38	20	—	—	—	In the Pursuit of Leisure
	"Is She Really Going Out with Him?"	—	39	19	—	—	—
2005	"Shot of Laughter"	—	—	—	—	—	—	The Best of Sugar Ray
2007	"Into Yesterday"	—	—	—	—	—	—	Surf's Up soundtrack
2009	"Boardwalk"							Music for Cougars
"—" denotes a release that did not chart.

References

1. Sugar Ray - Biography
2. Sugar Ray Coasts Low-Riding Groove For "Every Morning"
3. Singfest 2007
4. November/December Update
5. billboard.com
6. Sugar Ray - Charts & Awards - Billboard Singles
7. British chart
8. Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles