In the 90s, Sugar Ray was one of the most popular rock-pop bands. Young teen girls had Mark McGrath posters hanging on their walls, and ‘Fly’ playing on repeat. As time went on, Sugar Ray and Mark became less and less popular, until they essentially faded into the background. They continued to tour up until about 2013.
Besides creating some of your favorite 90s songs, there is a lot more to this former frontman. Here are a few of the things that you may not have known about Celebrity Big Brother’s Mark McGrath.
1. Don’t Call Him a One Hit Wonder
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Mark said that he was okay with being called just about anything, except a one hit wonder. He then went on to list some of the bands major hits like “Fly,” “Someday,” “Every Morning,” and “When It’s Over.”
2. He Became an Extra Host
In 2004, Mark became a host for Extra. It was a hosting gig that lasted until 2008. He later expanded his hosting abilities to gameshows. Mark mentioned that celebrities were initially shocked and confused to see him interviewing them. They didn’t know what a rockstar was doing working for Extra. Overall, he said most people were friendly to him, except Mark had an awkward encounter with William Shatner, who he said was rude to him while he was trying to interview him about his Emmy win.
From 2010 to 2011, Mark hosted the hit international game show Don’t Forget the Lyrics, he hosted the syndicated spinoff version of the show. The original Don’t Forget the Lyrics series aired from 2007 to 2009, with Wayne Brady as host.
3. A Victim of the Twitter Death Hoax
For those unfamiliar with social media, Twitter often randomly declares celebrities dead. Then whoever originates the lie, proceeds to fabricate proof of the false death. In 2015, what seemed like an official statement, was posted declaring McGrath dead.
The post mentioned McGrath being murdered by a mask gunman, and it encouraged his fans to post selfies holding a pack of sugar to their heart. It also asked them to watch the premiere of Hot Package, which McGrath had a guest appearance on. Later that day, McGrath apologized for the hoax, and claimed he had no part in it.
Final word on the death hoax thing, I knew nothing about it and found out the same time you did…sorry about any confusion
— Mark McGrath (@mark_mcgrath) February 26, 2015
The Adult Swim show Hot Package also claimed that they weren’t involved in the hoax. Either way, the incident definitely got Hot Package some publicity. Mark later mentioned that seeing people’s reaction to the death hoax kind of was an eye-opener. He mentioned people believing him to be such a loser that he would actually orchestrate the hoax.
4. His Short Album List
Despite Sugar Ray’s long career, the band only produced six studio albums. And in 2013, due to legal issues, he mentioned that he believed the band would never release an album again. In 2015, Mark released his own album, which he mentioned that he produced and paid for himself, only to sell a hundred copies.
5. Friends with Scooby Doo
Mark, like Chuck Liddell, has a pretty extensive acting list for someone not considered an actor. Most of his movie and television appearances feature him playing himself. One of his most colorful movie appearances involves a CGI dog named Scooby. He and his band had a cameo in the live action adaptation of Scooby-Doo.
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