Grammy-winner and R&B star Macy Gray is coming to the Golden State Theatre with old favorites and new works.

Even though the Macy Gray craze was at its peak in the early 2000s, it's a couple of her last albums—The Reset (2023) recorded with The California Jet Club that she's touring with, and Ruby (2018)—that might be her finest: emotional, funny, lyrically brave, political and deeply personal. It’s clear that the veteran performer will draw from her familiar hits, such as “I Try” as well as from The Reset on Dec. 2 when she takes the stage in Monterey, but will she play from Ruby?

“Probably,” says Natalie Renée McIntyre, who took her stage name, Macy Gray, from a mailbox of “some old dude in Ohio.”

Her favorite track on that album is “White Man,” the most humorous song on the record and, at the same time, a true Black feminist manifesto. It has a haunting yet giggly chorus: “You come for me, let me make it clear; I’ll whoop your woo.” It's equivalent on The Reset is the opening track -- dark and exquisite "Cop Killer." But there are other true gems on the album, which is Gray’s 11th studio production, tragic "America" and sweet "Mercy." 

Gray started journaling as a teenager and that evolved into writing songs. She had no intention of singing. That perhaps explains why her lyrics are so strong. They contain everyday philosophy and acute psychological self-analysis.

Yet Macy Gray was never meant to happen. Both of her parents admired great singers, but her voice was never considered beautiful by them. It was hoarse and “funny,” she says. And if the performer who was supposed to sing Gray’s compositions would have shown up at a recording studio as scheduled, Gray – then a college student – would not have been forced to sing the songs herself.

People responded to her funny voice and genuine, clever lyrics. In 1999, Gray released her debut album, On How Life Is. The collection included her most recognizable and enduring single, “I Try.” In 2001, Gray won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the song.

And the name?

Feeling that “everybody had a nickname” back then, she picked one for herself, borrowing it from the man who lived across the street – Macy Gray. They never spoke, but in a way, she made him famous.

These days, Gray says she spends a lot of time writing scripts rather than lyrics. “But I love touring,” she adds.

MACY GRAY 8pm Saturday, Dec. 2 Golden State Theatre, 417 Alvarado St, Monterey. $39.50-$89.50. 649-1070. goldenstatetheatre.com