Macy Gray once confessed that she turned into a “massive a***hole” after her sudden rise to fame led her to drugs.
The 57-year-old singer recently made headlines after storming off the stage of The Masked Singer.
However, it isn’t the first time she’s sparked controversy on camera. Macy shot to global stardom when her breakout song I Try earned her five Grammy nominations and eventually won her the award for best female pop vocal performance in 2000.
Despite her success, the former college student from Canton, Ohio, found it difficult to adjust to her new life. In a past conversation with Oprah Winfrey, Gray revealed how her newfound wealth and fame led her to drugs.
She admitted that being constantly told she was “great” turned her into a “massive a***hole”, along with her drug use. She also attributed her drug use to her English crew members during her tours, who would “smoke hash all day and knew where to find good ecstasy”.
Macy Gray doing her thing at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas in 2018
(Image: Getty Images for Le Vian Corp)
This lifestyle resulted in awkward media interviews, but reporters were unaware of the underlying reason behind it, reports the Mirror.
She confessed: “I actually will admit this: I used to do press with my glasses on because I’d be sitting there falling asleep. Literally.
“They’d be talking to me and I’d be asleep. They would be like, ‘She’s an enigma! She doesn’t answer anyone’s questions. When you ask her a question, she just stares. She’s very intense.’ But I would be asleep.”
Macy was able to quit drugs after noticing things that “really scared her”, such as bags under her eyes and her skin doing “weird stuff”. However, she now believes her journey was meant to be.
Gray performing at the Rotterdam Ahoy in July 2019
(Image: Redferns)
But the entertainer caused confusion last year when she spoke to The Surreal Life viewers about what helps her wellbeing – while insisting it was not “breathing classes in the mountains”.
When asked how she unwinds instead, she said: “Like cocaine and a couple of shots. Get those edibles down my throat and I’m good, girl! You order me a pizza and I’m straight. I don’t need all that sh**, I’m good.”
Despite struggling to maintain the success of her multi–platinum debut album, she has enjoyed a successful career – even appearing in films like Spider-Man and Training Day.