Beyond buzzing 20-year-old pop singer-songwriter Conan Gray has released the official music video for his infectious single “Checkmate” today.
On the video Conan Gray said: “In the “Checkmate” music video, I finally get revenge for all the times I got played with in a relationship. If you wanna treat love like a game, I’m gonna win it. If you wanna cheat on me with my best friend, I’m gonna trick you into thinking I don’t know, then kidnap you both and send you to starve on a deserted island so you can spend the rest of you short lives alone together (just like you wanted). Cheers!”
On writing the song he also mentioned: “‘Checkmate’ is a song that spewed out of me while alone in my bedroom. It took me about four minutes, and I just ugly cried out a whole song about this person I liked who was always playing games with my heart. They’d call me super drunk in the middle of the night telling me they loved me, then they’d spend the next week cold and ignoring me. “Checkmate” was my last draw; my way of saying “I’m done with these games. If you wanna play this game, I’m gonna win.’”
This fall he returns to the road for his next North American headline, “The Comfort Crowd” Tour. The six-week run kicks off October 29 at The Pageant in St. Louis, MO, performs in major markets across the country including New York’s Terminal 5 on November 12th, and concludes with a three-night stand at The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles, CA December 11-13th(third date recently added!). Not to mention he’ll be making his festival debut this year at Lollapalooza and Life is Beautiful Festival.
www.conangray.com/tour.
“The Comfort Crowd” Tour follows his recent sold out European tour, and a momentous North American spring headline tour that saw him perform to sold out crowds in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Toronto, to name a few.
Gray continues to make major waves on his own terms. A string of hits has vaulted him to the forefront of modern pop. “Checkmate” has already reached nearly 3 Spotify streams in the first two weeks and counting. Meanwhile, his Sunset Season EP put up impressive numbers, generating a staggering 80 million streams as he averages over 2.8 million monthly listeners on Spotify. No wonder, i-D crowned him “gen z’s ascendant king of sad boy pop,”, MTV called him its new “Prince of Pop”, and Paper praised his, “unprovoked honesty.”
Every online ticket purchased comes with one (1) CD of Conan Gray’s upcoming album. Ticket buyers will receive an additional email with redemption instructions to receive their albums. US/Canadian residents only.
Armed with nothing more than Garageband and a cheap microphone taped to a lamp, Conan Gray released his song “Idle Town” on his YouTube channel as an ode to his hometown of Georgetown, TX. The song went viral, and he later joined forces with LA based producer Dan Nigro to finalize his Sunset Season EP, featuring singles “Generation Why” and “Crush Culture”. The EP debuted in November, 2018 to widespread critical acclaim from The Fader, Billboard, and Ones To Watch, amongst others. In January, 2019, Conan made his television debut on Late Night with Seth Meyers, before opening for Panic at the Disco! for several shows on their arena tour. Conan has sold out two North American headline tours as well as his most recent May, 2019 European tour. Recently called the ‘Prince of Pop’ by MTV, he will be performing at Lollapalooza in Chicago and Life is Beautiful this summer before headlining his next North American tour in the fall. Conan has been featured in Paper Magazine, I-D Magazine, and the Sunday Times.