Macy Gray to headline LI's Pridestock celebration

Macy Gray is ready to party.

The “I Try” singer says she will mark the 20th anniversary of her Grammy-winning, triple-platinum debut album “On How Life Is” on July 1 with a big celebration. She’s excited about working on new music for the follow-up to last year’s “Ruby” album. And she promises that her headlining set at “Pridestock 2019” on June 23 in Long Beach, part of this year’s Pride on the Beach festival, will be a good time.

“We’re gonna have a ball,” says Gray, calling from her home in Los Angeles. “I've done a few Pride events and I love 'em. It’s the best crowd. Everybody's ready to party. There's a lot of reasons to celebrate and it's lovely. It’s a perfect show every single time.”

David Kilmnick, president and chief executive of LGBT Network, which produces the three-day Pride on the Beach festival in Long Beach, said Gray embodies what the festival is about, adding that her set will pull together an eclectic day of performances from freestyle legends Sweet Sensation, “It Takes Two” rapper Rob Base, “American Idol” Top 10 finalist Ada Vox and “America’s Got Talent” Top 4 finalist Brian Justin Crum.

“She’s always had such a cool vibe and she has always been someone out there and visible for progressive social justice,” Kilmnick said. “And, she’s just incredibly talented.”

Gray says she finds Pride events with the LGBTQ community inspiring.

“For me, it's just about the courage that it takes to let people know who you really are, especially when it's frowned upon by a lot of people,” she says. “To be who you are anyway and just kind of say, ‘I'm going to be me, no matter what,’ I think that’s beautiful. I think a lot of people who aren't gay or homosexual don't have the courage to do that yet. A lot of people hide behind all kinds of things. So that's why I really admire that and I think that's an amazing thing to have in your heart and in your soul and in your mind. So I'm always down to be a part of that.”

Gray, a mother of three who recently shared her issues with dating men with People magazine, has long been beloved in the gay community because of her willingness to challenge societal norms and handle her fame in her own way. And she takes that support seriously.

“It's painful to pretend all day or to hide things,” she says. “It’s stressful. I just think when you get to that point in your life when you say, ‘You can be upset, but I gotta do me,’ I think that's just a great turning point in anyone's life, especially when you have things about you that people don't agree with.”

With her concerts, Gray likes to focus on dancing away that pain, though she switches up her set lists depending on the crowd. “When you do festivals, a lot of songs don't work because if it gets quiet, like if you have a ballad or something, people start talking unless the song is massive,” she says. “I could do ‘I Try’ with a flute and people would still go crazy.”

Gray says that for Pride festivals she likes to go back to her songs like “Sexual Revolution” from her underrated 2001 album “The Id.” “You want people to dance and sweat,” she says. “They've been standing a long time so you want to get them moving.”

Gray, of course, is always moving. She’s a respected actress from movies like “For Colored Girls,” “The Paperboy” and last year’s “Change in the Air” with Rachel Brosnahan and Aidan Quinn. She was even on “Dancing with the Stars.” But music is always on her mind.

In addition to the follow-up to “Ruby,” Gray is also working on another album that she may do under a different name. “It’s going to be really producer-driven,” she says. “So I'm thinking about making it like a whole new group.”

Whatever her surroundings, though, Gray says she will still be herself. “I’m just from Ohio,” she says. “I had to be no other way. I always failed miserably trying to be someone else. I have kids. Trying to be anything else, that’s just so much work. That's exhausting. I would rather have fun. Everything’s going well, so why not enjoy it?”