Music / Theatre & dance
Stephen Bray
born 1956 · songwriter, drummer, record producer
Detroit-born songwriter and producer, Madonna's early bandmate and co-writer of "Into the Groove" and "Express Yourself," who later won a Grammy for The Color Purple.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 69- Birth name
- Stephen Pate Bray
- Detroit years
- 1956–1970s
- Field
- Music, Theatre & dance
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Bray was born in Detroit and studied music privately in the city before attending Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor. In 1976, while Madonna was a dance student at the University of Michigan, the two dated and played music together in Ann Arbor, the start of a long creative partnership. After both moved to New York he drummed in her early band, the Breakfast Club, and he went on to co-write and produce some of her best-known 1980s songs, among them "Into the Groove," "Angel," "True Blue" and "Express Yourself." He also wrote "Cross My Broken Heart" for The Jets, featured on the Beverly Hills Cop II soundtrack. With Brenda Russell and Allee Willis, another Detroiter, he wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical The Color Purple, and he shared the 2017 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album for its revival. He owns the Saturn Sound recording studios and the Soultone Records label.
Highlights
- Co-wrote Madonna's "Into the Groove" and "Express Yourself"
- Drummer in Madonna's early band the Breakfast Club
- Co-wrote the Broadway musical The Color Purple
- Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album (2017)