Gretta Ray (born May 22nd 1998) is an Australian singer-songwriter from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

, Victoria. In 2016, she was the winner of the national

Triple J Unearthed Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broadc ...

radio competition for bands and songwriters, and the 2016

Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition The Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition is an annual competition that "acknowledges great songwriting whilst supporting and raising money for Nordoff-Robbins" and is coordinated by Albert Music and APRA AMCOS. The competition awards ...

, with her song "

Drive Drive or The Drive may refer to: Motoring * Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle * Road trip, a journey on roads Roadways Roadways called "drives" may include: * Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive" * ...

Early life and education

Gretta Ray grew up in Melbourne, Australia, attending Princes Hill Secondary College. She sang in choirs from the age of five, latterly singing and touring with Young Voices of Melbourne, and as the youngest member of ''If You See Her, Say Hello'', a group of 21 Melbourne-based singer-songwriters.

Career

2016-2020: Career beginnings, ''Elsewhere'' and ''Here and Now''

In February 2016, Ray released her debut EP, ''Elsewhere''. In August 2016, she won the national competition for emerging new artists called Triple J Unearthed High, for her song "

", which was produced by Nashville-based Australian music producer Josh Barber with Jonathan Dreyfus, recorded by Nick Edin and Fraser Montgomerey and mixed by US producer Ryan Hewit. The song received high-rotation airplay on

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

. The announcement was made by Triple J presenters Matt and

Alex Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple p ...

, who snuck into a school concert while she was performing. Unearthed music director, Dave Ruby Howe called her a "...bold and exciting new talent who seems to win over everyone that comes into orbit of her music". Ray also a nomination for a

J Award The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple J, ...

for Unearthed Artist of the Year at the 2016 J Awards. On 27 October 2016, Ray won the 2016 edition of the

, which carries the largest first prize for any songwriting competition in the world. In August 2018, Ray released her second EP titled '' Here and Now''. In September 2019, Ray released a cover of Bon Iver's "re: Stacks" with Dustin Tebbutt and in December 2019, "Heal You in Time".

2020–present: ''Begin to Look Around''

On 20 May 2021, Ray announced her debut album ''Begin to Look Around'', which was released on 27 August 2021. The album debuted at number 13 on the

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offic ...

. In April 2022, Ray announced the ''Begin To Look Around album tour'', which is scheduled to occur in June 2022.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Awards and nominations

APRA Awards

The

APRA Awards APRA Awards may refer to one of two awards ceremonies: *APRA Awards (Australia) *APRA Awards (New Zealand) The APRA Music Awards are several annual and two-yearly award ceremonies run in New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association ...

are held in Australia and New Zealand by the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwr ...

to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. Ray has been nominated for one award. ! , - ! scope="row",

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

, "Radio Silence" , Most Performed Alternate Work of the Year , ,

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual ceremony presented by

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replac ...

(ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the

music of Australia The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, , ''Begin to Look Around'' , , Breakthrough Artist , , , rowspan="8", , -

J Award

The

J Awards The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple ...

are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

's youth-focused radio station

. They commenced in 2005. ! , - ! scope="row", 2016 , Gretta Ray , Unearthed Artist of the Year , , , - ! scope="row",

, ''Begin to Look Around'' , Australian Album of the Year , ,

National Live Music Awards

The

National Live Music Awards The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse and successful live industry, celebrating the diversity and success of the Australian live scene – recognising the best vocal talents and musicians alongside ...

(NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016. ! , - ! scope="row",

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, Herself , Live Blues and Roots Act of the Year , ,

Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition

The

is an annual competition that "acknowledges great songwriting whilst supporting and raising money for Nordoff-Robbins" and is coordinated by

Albert Music Albert Music, formerly J Albert and Son, is an Australian company with an estimated worth in 2009 of more than A$209 million. The company has major interests in music publishing and production and it earns significant royalties through its s ...

and

APRA AMCOS APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwr ...

. It commenced in 2009. ! , - ! scope="row", 2016 , "Drive" , Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition , style="background:gold;", 1st ,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Gretta 1998 births Living people 21st-century Australian singers 21st-century Australian women singers Australian women pop singers Australian women singer-songwriters Australian singer-songwriters Date of birth missing (living people) Singers from Melbourne