Sugar Ray plots new album with BMG deal

The group will release seventh studio album in summer 2019

Sugar Ray has signed a new recordings agreement with BMG to release their forthcoming seventh studio album this summer. The upcoming album will be the group’s first set of original material in a decade, following their last studio release, Music for Cougars, in 2009. Celebrating 25 years since the formation of Sugar Ray, the group, led by co-founding members Mark McGrath and Rodney Sheppard, have sold more than eight million albums around the world.

“We are honored and so grateful to be signing with our second major label 25 years after we signed with our first!” McGrath states. “We look forward to working with BMG – a company designed for the future. This is truly a modern-day musical partnership!”

Officially coming together in 1994, Sugar Ray first hit on the map following the release of their debut album Lemonade and Brownies in 1995, but it was the group’s sophomore effort Floored that thrust them into the mainstream spotlight. Following their collaboration with reggae artist Super Cat on the chart-topping single “Fly,” the song would go on to dominate radio, with its accompanying video in high rotation, catapulting the album to double-platinum status.

The group quickly followed up with their third full-length in 1999 titled 14:59, a tongue-in-cheek reference to a fading “15 minutes of fame.” Ironically, the album would go on to outsell its predecessor, going triple-platinum with hit singles including the gold-certified “Every Morning,” “Someday” and “Falls Apart.” Their success continued with the release of the gold-certified, self-titled album, Sugar Ray, which garnered the band its first ever Top 10 album on the heels of the single “When It’s Over.”

The following years brought the new studio album In The Pursuit of Leisure, followed by a Best Of Sugar Ray featuring remastered and previously unreleased material, and a Greatest Hits (remastered) set. Following a whirlwind of incredible success, and multiple tours around the world, the band decided to take a break from the grind of the record and tour cycle in 2004 before regrouping once again in 2009 for their last album release, Music for Cougars.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com