Mark Sayers McGrath (born March 15, 1968) is an American singer who is the lead vocalist of the rock band

Sugar Ray Sugar Ray is an American rock band formed in Newport Beach, California, in 1986. Originally playing heavier funk metal and nu metal style music, the band achieved mainstream popularity in 1997 with their more pop-influenced single " Fly". Th ...

. McGrath is also known for his work as a co-host of ''

Extra Extra, Xtra, or The Extra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * The Extra (1962 film), ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * The Extra (2005 film), ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * Extra (newspaper), ...

'', and he was the host of ''

Don't Forget the Lyrics! ''Don't Forget the Lyrics!'' is an international music game show. The original American show aired on Fox from July 11, 2007, to June 19, 2009, and after a year off the air, a third overall season, and first as a syndicated show, began on June ...

'' in 2010. McGrath hosted the second season of the TV show '' Killer Karaoke'', taking the place of '' Jackass'' star Steve-O.

Early life

McGrath was born in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. His family moved from Connecticut to

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...

when he was eight years old. He attended Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach and later the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in Los Angeles, where he majored in communications, graduating in 1990. After college, McGrath entered a state of depression and apathy until his friend McG brought him to help in a job driving a delivery truck, where McGrath decided to continue his musical career.Behind the McMusic : McG, Director of Hip Videos for MTV and VH1, Started Rolling Credits as a Kid Back in Newport
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

Music career

McGrath, Rodney Sheppard, Murphy Karges, and Stan Frazier formed Sugar Ray in Orange County, California in 1992. In 1994, the band signed with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. Their first success came in 1997 with the song " Fly." McGrath's popularity soared as he appeared on the covers of national magazines such as ''Rolling Stone'' and ''Spin''. He also made numerous appearances on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

, and various talk and awards shows. ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' magazine named him the "Sexiest Rocker" of 1998. McGrath contributed the track "Reaching Out" on ''Strait Up'', a tribute album to late vocalist James Lynn Strait, whom he has a dedication tattoo to memorialize. He appeared in the video of "Angel's Son", another song written for the album by

Sevendust Sevendust is an American Rock music, rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1994 by bassist Vinnie Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist John Connolly (musician), John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon an ...

, and performed with the band during their appearance on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

''. In 2012, McGrath and Everclear's Art Alexakis organized the SummerLand Tour, consisting of Sugar Ray, Everclear, Lit, Marcy Playground, and Gin Blossoms. McGrath and Alexakis decided to split ways in 2013, and McGrath formed the "Under the Sun Tour" with Sugar Ray,

Smash Mouth Smash Mouth is an American Rock music, rock band from San Jose, California. The band was formed in 1994 and was originally composed of Steve Harwell (lead vocals), Kevin Coleman (drums), Greg Camp (guitar), and Paul De Lisle (bass). Harwell's ...

, Gin Blossoms, Vertical Horizon, and

Fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch (baseball), pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. Its distinctive feature is its high speed. "Power pitchers," such as former major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, relied on the ...

. He appeared in Smashing Pumpkins' ''Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts)'' video, released in October 2018. He is also a DJ. On weekends, he hosts a show on

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...

's 90s on 9, the 120.

Television career

McGrath is a three-time champion of ''

Rock & Roll Jeopardy! ''Rock & Roll Jeopardy!'' is an American television game show created by Scott Sternberg and adapted from the quiz show ''Jeopardy!.'' The show debuted on VH1 on August 8, 1998 and ran for four seasons, ending in December 2001. The series also a ...

'' on

. In the finals, he won against

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is best known as the co-founder, frontman, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the thrash metal band Megadeth and for his time as the lead guitarist of Met ...

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

and Gary Dell'Abate of ''

The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was radio syndication, nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WINS-FM, WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The sho ...

''. He and his band Sugar Ray performed as themselves in the 2002 ''

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American media franchise owned by Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Entertainment and created in 1969 by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears through their animated series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'', for Hanna-Barbera (which wa ...

'' movie, starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar. In 2004, he and his band performed in the series ''

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

'' (Season 1, Episode 19). In 2004, McGrath began his work as co-host of the ''

'' television show on September 13, after a producer noticed his work hosting various

and

programs and asked him to join. McGrath left the show in July 2008 to focus on his music career. He served as a guest judge for ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' auditions aired in early 2005. He was a guest star in a 2005 episode of '' Law and Order: SVU''. McGrath received the part of Dex Lawson on

The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...

show ''

Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadc ...

'' in 2005, but he ultimately turned it down due to scheduling conflicts, and Jason Lewis replaced him. McGrath was the host of '' Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll'' (2007) and '' Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious'' (2008). In 2010, McGrath began hosting the third season of '' Don't Forget the Lyrics,'' which aired on syndication. He appeared on '' The Celebrity Apprentice Season 4,'' which premiered in March 2011, where he was fired in week six and finished in tenth place. In 2013, he appeared on '' Celebrity Wife Swap'' and the penultimate episode, " A.A.R.M.", of ''

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

''. McGrath continued his TV appearances in 2014 and 2015 by guest starring on '' The Neighbors'' and '' Workaholics''. McGrath also hosted truTv's '' Killer Karaoke'' and starred in '' Sharknado 2: The Second One''. In 2016, he appeared in the pilot episode of '' Lady Dynamite,'' portraying himself. In 2018, he was announced as one of the eleven houseguests to be competing on the first American edition of ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Celebrity Big Brother'' or ''Big Brother VIP'' is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, t ...

''. He finished in third place, tied with Ariadna Gutiérrez. McGrath also appeared in the second season as a special guest. In 2021, McGrath competed on the fifth season of '' The Masked Singer'' as the wild card contestant "Orca". Also in 2021, he became the host and narrator of the

documentary television series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

'' Dark Side of the 90s''. On December 19, 2022, McGrath appeared on the first episode of the American version of “ The Wheel”. He was one of the celebrities helping the contestants win money. In 2023, he became the host and narrator of the documentary television series '' Dark Side of the 2000s''.

Personal life

He married beautician Carin Kingsland on September 24, 2012. The couple met in 1994 and were engaged on New Year's Eve 2009 after 16 years of on-and-off dating. McGrath and Kingsland are parents to twins, a boy and a girl, born on April 29, 2010.

Discography

Sugar Ray studio albums

* ''

Lemonade and Brownies ''Lemonade and Brownies'' is the debut studio album by the American rock band Sugar Ray, released on April 4, 1995, by Atlantic Records. It was far less successful than the band's later releases on Atlantic. The debut album and the band's next ...

'' (1995) * '' Floored'' (1997) * '' 14:59'' (1999) * ''

'' (2001) * '' In the Pursuit of Leisure'' (2003) * '' Music for Cougars'' (2009) * ''Little Yachty'' (2019)

Solo EP

*''Summertime's Coming'' (2015)

Singles

*" Party for Two" (Pop Version) –

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( ; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time and the best-sel ...

featuring Mark McGrath *" Do It Again" –

Mike Love Michael Edward Love (born March 15, 1941) is an American singer and songwriter who is one of the vocalists of the Beach Boys, of which he was an original member alongside his cousins Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Carl Wilson and their frien ...

featuring McGrath and John Stamos (2017)

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, Mark 1968 births Living people 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American singers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American singers American alternative rock singers American game show hosts American male pop singers American male singers American pop rock singers American punk rock singers Big Brother (American TV series) contestants Camp Freddy members Musicians from Hartford, Connecticut Musicians from Newport Beach, California Nu metal singers Participants in American reality television series Singers from California Singers from Connecticut Sugar Ray members The Wondergirls members USC Thornton School of Music alumni