Maureen S. Gray (May 10, 1948 – January 7, 2014) was an American singer-songwriter, self taught guitarist, keyboardist, and producer. Gray, a child prodigy, at age five made her first public appearance in

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, singing "

Steam Heat "Steam Heat" is a show tune from the 1954 Broadway musical ''The Pajama Game'', written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. "Steam Heat" was one of four songs which Adler and Ross wrote ("within two days, I think" - Adler) and submitted to George A ...

" from the musical ''

The Pajama Game ''The Pajama Game'' is a musical based on the 1953 novel '' 7½ Cents'' by Richard Bissell. The book is by George Abbott and Richard Bissell; the music and lyrics are by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Dances were staged by Bob Fosse in his chor ...

'', and received a positive critical acclaim. She performed at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Glassboro,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

in a concert along with her mother not long after. At 12 years old, Gray was discovered by record producer and singer-songwriter John Medera. Regionally she released singles written by the team of

John Madara John L. Medora (born May 28, 1936), also known as John or Johnny Madara, is an American singer, songwriter, composer and record producer best known to have teamed up with David White and Arthur Singer to write the 1957 hit song "At the Hop". ...

and David White. Among them were recorded with

Chancellor Records Chancellor Records was an indie record label based in Philadelphia. It was distributed as an imprint of ABC-Paramount Records, and was an integral part of the teen idol and rock and roll craze of the 1950s and 1960s. Its first hit was "With All ...

"Today’s The Day", "Crazy Over You", "I Don’t Want To Cry" and the ''

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

'' chart hit "Dancing The Strand". She recorded a few singles for

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

, among them "Goodbye Baby". Uninterested in the politics of the music business, even as a child, she decided not to renew her contract by the time she was 14. She continued writing songs on her own, and began playing guitar and piano. She left Philadelphia to explore other options, and ended up spending most of her life in Europe. She resided for many years in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, where she recorded and performed with

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...

Dave Mason David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who came to prominence in 1967 as a founding member of the rock band Traffic. While with Traffic, he wrote and sang lead vocals on two of the b ...

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (August 14, 1941 – January 18, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He first found fame as a member of the Byrds, with whom he helped pioneer the genres of folk rock and psychedelic music, psych ...

, and Stephen Sills. Gray died in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

on January 7, 2014, from a rare form of

bile duct cancer Cholangiocarcinoma, also known as bile duct cancer, is a type of cancer that forms in the bile ducts. Symptoms of cholangiocarcinoma may include abdominal pain, yellowish skin, weight loss, generalized itching, and fever. Light colored stoo ...

at age 65.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Maureen 1948 births 2014 deaths Doo-wop musicians