| Tay Zonday | |
|---|---|
Zonday in 2009 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Adam Nyerere Bahner[1] |
| Born | July 6, 1982 |
| Genres | Outsider music R&B Experimental music Spoken word |
| Occupations | singer, actor, announcer, musician, rapper |
| 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 musician, YouTube personality and voice actor.[4] He is well known by listeners for his deep baritone voice whilst singing. He garnered mainstream exposure when his song "Chocolate Rain", and accompanying video on YouTube, became a popular Internet meme in July 2007. As of December 2011[update], "Chocolate Rain" has more than 74 million views.[5]
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In July 2007, Zonday went from being a grad student in Minneapolis, Minnesota[6] to having his video featured on the front page of YouTube and making appearances on national television. He appeared 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.O, 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 also has appeared on Fox News. On February 12, 2008, he appeared 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 has written perhaps the most listened to song 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. Singer John Mayer reportedly mimicked 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 Tré 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]
Zonday starred in a commercial for Comedy Central's "Last Laugh 07", hosted by Lewis Black.[22] He released a video titled "Cherry Chocolate Rain",[23] in a promotion with Dr Pepper. He starred alongside Leslie Hall in a commercial for Firefox singing a song titled "Users Against Boredom" in a parody of We Are The World. Tay has said 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. In May 2008 as well, 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, Zonday voiced part of a multimedia presentation built to celebrate 50 years of NASA history.[27] He also voiced a role in AdultSwim'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 Zonday cameoed in a Vizio Super Bowl commercial opened by Beyoncé.[4] In October 2010, he appeared 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 a grand total of 15 seconds of his song "Chocolate Rain".
Zonday was also featured in Dave Days' Youtube video spoof of Justin Bieber's song, Baby. The video has over 14 million views.
Zonday had a cameo in The Guild Season 5 episode 3, Megagame-o-ramacon!, aired on August 9, 2011.
Tay Zonday is featured in a 2011 Mike Diva comedy YouTube video as a dubstep dancing mastermind.[31]