Tay Zonday

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Tay Zonday

Zonday in 2009
Background information
Birth name Adam Nyerere Bahner[1]
Born July 6, 1982 (1982-07-06) (age 29)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Genres Outsider music
R&B
Experimental music
Spoken word
Occupations Actor, singer, musician, announcer, voice artist, comedian, YouTube personality
Instruments Vocals
Keyboard
Years active 2007–present
Website www.tayzonday.com

Adam Nyerere Bahner (born July 6, 1982[2]), better known by the pseudonym Tay Zonday,[3] is an American actor, singer, musician, announcer, voice artist, comedian, and YouTube personality.[4] He is well known by listeners for his baritone singing voice. He garnered mainstream exposure when his song "Chocolate Rain" became a popular Internet meme in July 2007. As of January 2012, "Chocolate Rain" has more than 77 million views.[5]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Zonday was born Adam Nyerere Bahner in Minneapolis, Minnesota on July 6, 1982. He was a grad student in school.

[edit] Media response

In July 2007, Zonday went from being a grad student in Minneapolis, Minnesota[6] to having his video featured YouTube's front page[citation needed] and making appearances on national television. He came out on the Opie & Anthony Show,[7] G4TV's Attack of the Show!, VH1's Best Week Ever,[8] Lily Allen and Friends, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Tosh.0, and Maury[9][10] 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[11] and People[10] and has appeared on CNN[12] for a televised interview. He's also come out on Fox News. On February 12, 2008, he came out on the television show Lily Allen and Friends on BBC Three, and performed a cover of Lily Allen's debut "Smile." In March 2008, the video won a YouTube-award in the category "Music."

The Australian Daily Telegraph newspaper wrote: "Tay Zonday is the biggest sellout in the world right now."[13] People 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."[10] The article also noted that celebrity musicians paid tribute to the song as its popularity rapidly peaked in August 2007. John Mayer reportedly copied Zonday's keyboard riff with his guitar in concert,[14][15] along with appearing on Best Week Ever improvising a parody to the tune of Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right".[16] Green Day drummer Tre Cool recorded a cover of "Chocolate Rain" which he posted on Youtube.[17] Zonday also became the subject of thousands of other parodies and remixes on YouTube. A clip of his video was also shown on CW11's Online Nation, a new series.[18][19][20] Zonday has been interviewed twice on Good Morning America, in March and November 2008.[21]

[edit] Career

Zonday, as he appeared in his "Chocolate Rain" music video on April 22, 2007

Zonday starred in a commercial for Comedy Central's "Last Laugh 07", hosted by Lewis Black.[22] He released a video called "Cherry Chocolate Rain,"[23] in a promotion with Dr Pepper. He starred alongside Leslie Hall in a commercial for Firefox singing a song called "Users Against Boredom" in a parody of "We Are the World." Zonday has said that his voice is often compared to Ru Paul, Paul Robeson, Barry White, James Earl Jones, and Brad Roberts of the Crash Test Dummies.[24] He appeared in-person at Intel's Consumer Electronics Show booth, rendering the source files of the "Chocolate Rain" YouTube video in Sony Vegas.[25]

The Grammy Award-winning music video for rock band Weezer's single "Pork and Beans" featured Zonday, along with other YouTube celebrities. As well, in May 2008, Zonday performed an acoustic version of the song with Brian Bell of Weezer, spoofing his own performance in "Chocolate Rain."[26]

As a voice actor, he voiced part of a multimedia presentation built to celebrate 50 years of NASA history.[27] He also voiced a role in Adult Swim's Robot Chicken, spoofing his own song "Chocolate Rain."[28]

Zonday was featured on the Jace Hall Show, where he was comically interviewed at a famous Hollywood restaurant in a play on the dissonance between Internet-fame and the traditional entertainment industry.[29]

In February 2010, he cameoed in a Vizio Super Bowl commercial opened by Beyoncé.[4] In October 2010, he came out on Comedy Central's Night of Too Many Stars autism charity event during a musical number with Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert.[30]

In August 2011, Zonday appeared on America's Got Talent and performed 15 seconds of his song "Chocolate Rain." Zonday was also featured in Dave Days' YouTube video spoof of Justin Bieber's song "Baby," which has over 14 million views. He had a cameo in The Guild Season 5 episode 3 Megagame-o-ramacon!, which aired on August 9, 2011. Zonday was featured in a 2011 Mike Diva comedy YouTube video as a dubstep dancing mastermind.[31]

[edit] Personal life

he has none

 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2012)


[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Profile on official site
  2. ^ IMDb
  3. ^ Ryan, Joal (August 9, 2007). "The "Chocolate" Reign of Tay Zonday". E! Online. http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b55872_The__amp_quot_Chocolate_amp_quot__Reign_of_Tay_Zonday_.html. Retrieved 2008-11-24. 
  4. ^ a b " "Chocolate Rain Singer Tay Zonday Still A Star; Chocolate Rain Has Gotten Almost 48M YouTube Views". MYfox Phoenix. February 17, 2010. http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/chocolate-rain-singer-tay-zonday1266590492270". Retrieved 2010-11-24. 
  5. ^ YouTube
  6. ^ Minneapolis City Pages: Rain Man
  7. ^ YouTube: Tay Zonday on the Opie & Anthony Show
  8. ^ YouTube: Chocolate Rain on Best Week Ever
  9. ^ YouTube: Tay Zonday On Jimmy Kimmel
  10. ^ a b c Orloff, Brian (August 9, 2007). "'Chocolate Rain' YouTube Sensation Makes TV Debut". People (Time Inc.). http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20050678,00.html. Retrieved 2007-08-09. 
  11. ^ Music: 'Chocolate Rain' falls on YouTube star's hometown
  12. ^ "CNN.com - Transcripts". CNN. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0708/18/cnr.01.html. 
  13. ^ Montgomery, Garth (August 1, 2007). "Chocolate Rain goes huge". Daily Telegraph (News Limited.). http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22170787-5012327,00.html. Retrieved 2007-08-09. [dead link]
  14. ^ Keiper, Nicole (August 4, 2007). "Concert Review: John Mayer brings soul to Nashville". The Tennessean. http://www.ashlandcitytimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070804/ENTERTAINMENT0106/70804002 
  15. ^ 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. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1566402/20070806/lopez_jennifer.jhtml 
  16. ^ John Mayer on Best Week Ever[dead link]
  17. ^ Cashmere, Tim (August 3, 2007). "Green Day Drummer Tre Cool Covers Tay Zonday". Undercover. http://undercover.com.au/News-Story.aspx?id=2560. Retrieved 2007-08-09. 
  18. ^ YouTube - Chocolate Rain Sung By McGruff The Crime Dog
  19. ^ YouTube - Broadcast Yourself
  20. ^ YouTube - Chocolate Rain McDonald's Spot / Tay Zonday
  21. ^ "Tay Zonday". IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2747938/. Retrieved 2009-01-12. 
  22. ^ funnyguy1375 (2007-11-15). "Last Laugh 07 Chocolate Rain - Tay Zonday". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STbQFlYaewM. Retrieved 2009-01-12. 
  23. ^ YouTube - "Cherry Chocolate Rain" Original Song by Tay Zonday
  24. ^ Riley, Duncan (2008-01-07). "Exclusive: Mozilla Secretly Launches A Viral Campaign For Firefox". Techcrunch.com. http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/07/exclusive-mozilla-secretly-launches-a-viral-campaign-for-firefox/. Retrieved 2009-01-12. 
  25. ^ channelintel (2008-01-07). "Chocolate Rain at CES". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFbI7POX8Wg. Retrieved 2009-01-12. 
  26. ^ YouTube - Pork & Beans Acoustic - Tay Zonday and Brian Bell
  27. ^ "50th Anniversary of NASA". Nasa.gov. http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/50th/index.html. Retrieved 2009-01-12. 
  28. ^ "Tay Zonday IMDB". IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2747938/. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 
  29. ^ Video: The Jace Hall Show with Tay Zonday, Gearbox (2008-06-27). "Video: The Jace Hall Show with Tay Zonday, Gearbox". GameArgus.com. http://www.gameargus.com/2008/06/27/video-the-jace-hall-show-with-tay-zonday-gearbox/. Retrieved 2009-01-12. 
  30. ^ Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert - "Everybody's Talking 'Bout Sully" (2010-10-22). "Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert - "Everybody's Talking 'Bout Sully"". Comedy Central. http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/night_of_too_many_stars/index.jhtml. Retrieved 2010-10-30. 
  31. ^ "How To Dance Dubstep feat. Tay Zonday". YouTube Mike Diva. 

[edit] External links

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