Gregg Alexander is best known for fronting and being the mastermind behind the now defunct band, the New Radicals. Since the New Radicals broke up in 1999, he has focused more on writing and producing music, working with artists such as Ronan Keating, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Santana, Enrique Iglesias, and fellow ex-New Radical Danielle Brisebois.
Gregg Alexander was born on 4 May1970 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. His father, Tony, was a plumber and his mother, Sharon, a Jehovah's Witness. He also had a brother, Stephen, and a sister, Caroline. Gregg quickly developed into a multi-talented musician after receiving his first guitar at the age of 12. By the age of 16 he signed his first recording contract with A&M. He worked on his debut album with producer Rick Nowels for over 2 years. However, the 1989 release, originally entitled Save Me From Myself, was renamed Michigan Rain at the last minute. This, teamed with bad marketing and the popularity of Grunge at the time led to the album being almost completely forgotten. Three years later, at the age of 22, Gregg tried again signing to Epic in 1992 and releasing his second album Intoxifornication . Unfortunately, the album came about amidst a corporate reshuffling and therefore, like the first, didn't receive the attention it deserved. After two failed attempts, Gregg all but gave up on his dream of becoming a singer and settled into writing songs for other artists such as Belinda Carlisle, Melanie Williams and The Bangles, spending his royalty checks travelling around Europe and America. During this time Alexander would often busk in Thomson Square and Central Park and slowly noticed his songs taking on a life-force of their own...
In 1997, spurred on by the new-found attention for his music, Gregg signed a deal with MCA records and released what would be his third album in 1998 under the guise of the New Radicals. Unlike his other albums, Maybe You've Been Brainwashed, Too, became one of the biggest albums of the nineties mainly due to the celebrity-slamming, smash hit single, "You Get What You Give". However, it wasn't long before Gregg became tired of the constant media attention and exhaustive touring schedule and on 12 July1999, just as the second single, "Someday We'll Know", was about to be released, Gregg broke up the New Radicals. After a big fight with MCA Gregg finally agreed to shoot a video for "Someday We'll Know" but with the band now defunct, the song got little attention and the New Radicals were forever confined to the one-hit wonder hall of fame.
The popularity of the New Radicals, however, hadn't done Gregg Alexander any harm - it led to him being seen as an extremely talented songwriter/producer and it wasn't long before a stream of artists were lining up to work with him. He's since written and produced for the likes of Geri Halliwell, Ronan Keating, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and many others.
When Gregg broke up the New Radicals he left behind a large fan-base who still to this day wait to see if Gregg releases another album. In 2003 a new Alexander track, "A Love Like That", was released uncredited on the Internet which only served to increase the fans' desperation for a new album.
He is also believed to be, along with Rick Nowels, The Party People, who produced Justin Guarini's song "Inner Child", which is a rewritten version of "Inner Smile", the song Alexander and Nowels co-wrote for Texas.
Song List
songs written or co-written and (unless noted otherwise) also produced by Gregg Alexander; in alphabetic order:
