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Tay Zonday

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Tay Zonday

Adam Nyerere Bahner (born July 6, 1982), better known by the stage name Tay Zonday,[1] is a singer, songwriter and keyboardist.

His composition "Chocolate Rain" and accompanying video on YouTube became a popular Internet meme in July 2007. Within the course of a month, Zonday went from grad student in Minneapolis[2] to appearances on national television. He has appeared on the Opie & Anthony Show,[3] G4TV's Attack of the Show, VH1’s Best Week Ever,[4] and Jimmy Kimmel Live,[5][6] where he performed Chocolate Rain on national television a little over three months after he posted his composition on YouTube. He made the front page of Sunday's Los Angeles Times on August 12, 2007 with additional features in The Toronto Star, The Chicago Tribune's RedEye, The Star Tribune[7] and People Magazine[6] and has appeared on CNN[8] for a televised interview.

Reactions

The Australian Daily Telegraph newspaper wrote: "Tay Zonday has written perhaps the most listened to song in the world right now."[9] People Magazine said: “He's scored a YouTube hit with his repetitive, keyboard-driven "Chocolate Rain", and after a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Tay Zonday's star is shining even brighter.”[6] The article also noted that celebrity musicians paid tribute to the song as its popularity rapidly peaked in August 2007. Singer John Mayer reportedly mimicked Zonday's keyboard riff with his guitar in concert,[10][11] along with appearing on Best Week Ever improvising a parody to the tune of Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right".[12] Green Day drummer Tré Cool recorded a cover of "Chocolate Rain" which he posted on Youtube.[13] On tour, the Dave Matthews Band's horn section of LeRoi Moore (official member of the band; woodwinds) and Rashawn Ross (touring trumpeter) have been interpolating Chocolate Rain during the outro of The Dreaming Tree. Tay Zonday also became the subject of thousands of other parodies on YouTube. A clip of his video was also shown on CW11's Online Nation, a new series.[14] [15] [16]

Headline text

Biography

Tay Zonday, who is of partial African American descent, is a Ph.D candidate in American Studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy between 1997 and 1998, leaving after his sophomore year. He then went on to earn his undergraduate degree at The Evergreen State College. He has said that growing up, his parents did not allow him to listen to popular music. When music downloading services such as Napster came around, he began to secretly build a small collection of MP3s. Tay makes many references in interviews as to how much he loves his parents; despite the fact that many of his songs are dedicated to them, he describes himself as a "musical orphan", having no influences and not feeling particularly connected to any musicians or bands. [17] Tay says his voice is often compared to Ru Paul, Paul Robeson, Barry White, James Earl Jones, and Brad Roberts of the Crash Test Dummies. [2]

Tay's deep voice is comparable to Blowfly, also an independent comic artist, and the late Frank Zappa.[original research?]

Singles

Tay's most notable single is titled "Chocolate Rain". Other releases via YouTube, his website, and his MySpace include "Internet Dream", "The Only Way", "Demons On the Dance Floor", "Do The Can't Dance", and "Say No To Nightmares". He has also performed covers of "Rainbow Connection", "Never Gonna Give You Up", and "Edelweiss" which were removed from YouTube when the artist chose to focus on original material. Tay on many occasions tried to create a "Tay Roll" [3].

Tay's singles, in chronological order, are:

Collaboration With Dr Pepper

On Wednesday, November 28th, 2007, Tay released a brand new video titled "Cherry Chocolate Rain" [4], which is, in his words, "a music video to celebrate Dr Pepper's new Cherry Chocolate beverage". Since its release the video has maintained a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.[5] Many inferred that Tay Zonday had been paid to take part in the video.

Zonday's apparent endorsement led some to accuse him of having "sold out". In a November 2007 interview with the Star Tribune, Zonday responded to the accusation, stating, "I don't know what people mean by that....I still make my own videos. I still make my own music."[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ Ryan, Joal (9 August, 2007). "The "Chocolate" Reign of Tay Zonday". E! Online. Retrieved 2007-08-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Minneapolis City Pages: Rain Man
  3. ^ YouTube: Tay Zonday on the Opie & Anthony Show
  4. ^ YouTube: Chocolate Rain on Best Week Ever
  5. ^ YouTube: Tay Zonday On Jimmy Kimmel
  6. ^ a b c Orloff, Brian (9 August 2007). "'Chocolate Rain' YouTube Sensation Makes TV Debut". People. Time Inc. Retrieved 2007-08-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ http://www.startribune.com/457/story/1468848.html
  8. ^ http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0708/18/cnr.01.html
  9. ^ Montgomery, Garth (August 1, 2007). "Chocolate Rain goes huge". Daily Telegraph. News Limited. Retrieved 2007-08-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Keiper, Nicole (August 4, 2007), "Concert Review: John Mayer brings soul to Nashville", The Tennessean{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  11. ^ MTV News Staff (August 6, 2007), "Jennifer Lopez And Marc Anthony Roll Out Tour Dates; Plus Lindsay Lohan, Gwen Stefani, Nas, Amy Winehouse & More, In For The Record", MTV News{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  12. ^ John Mayer on Best Week Ever
  13. ^ Cashmere, Tim (August 3 2007). "Green Day Drummer Tre Cool Covers Tay Zonday". Undercover. Retrieved 2007-08-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ http://youtube.com/watch?v=fsdM2oMSUbM
  15. ^ http://youtube.com/watch?v=IM4pM2wV8og
  16. ^ http://youtube.com/watch?v=1oFS-q8BIps
  17. ^ [1]
  18. ^ Salas, Randy A. (November 29, 2007). "Tay Zonday goes for the fizz". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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