The McAuley Boys facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The McAuley Boys
The McAuley Boys in 2010. Photo by Ian "Flash" Jennings
Background information
Also known as	McAuley
Origin	London, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Pop, R&B
Years active	1995–present
Labels	80/20 Records Popular Records LLC Aquarius Records/EMI
Associated acts	Mac Graham
Members	Gary McAuley George McAuley Mark McAuley Randy McAuley

The McAuley Boys are a group of four brothers from London, Ontario, Canada. They sing R&B music together. The group includes Gary, George, Mark, and Randy McAuley.

They are well-known for a few big achievements. In 1997, they were nominated for a Juno Award. This is a very important music award in Canada. They also sang their version of the song "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" on a popular music album. Another famous moment was when they sang the Canadian National Anthem, "O Canada", at the 1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The brothers say that the famous group The Jackson 5 was their main inspiration for making music.

How the McAuley Boys Started

The McAuley brothers were born to Rita and Winston McAuley. Their parents came to Canada from Grenada. Both Rita and Winston were professional musicians in their home country. Rita McAuley even sang with her sisters in a group called The Mark Sisters.

Early Music and Mentorship

In 1992, Gary McAuley was studying at the University of Western Ontario in London. He started writing songs with a musician named Stephan Moccio. Moccio later told Billboard magazine that they wrote a song for Celine Dion. They used this song to meet Dion and her manager, René Angélil.

Moccio also shared a story about a song called "How Do I Win Your Heart." He and Gary wrote it together. They sent a demo of the song to famous music producer David Foster. Foster was very impressed. He told them, "You have the talent to go all the way." This led to Gary getting some advice from Foster in Los Angeles.

First Album Success

The McAuley Boys released their first album, Wonderful Christmas Time, in 1995. Their mother, Rita, paid for the entire album herself. It cost her $13,000. The album was very popular and quickly earned back all the money their mother had spent. This success showed the brothers that they could make music professionally.

Victor Sinclair, who was a music director at a big radio station, saw how talented the brothers were. He decided to leave his job to manage the group. He also started his own music company, 80/20 Records. The group's next album, In Another Lifetime, was released through this new company.

Hitting the Charts and Big Events

The first song from In Another Lifetime to be played on the radio was "Down, Down, Down." It became quite popular. This song was even included on a compilation album called All Stars Dance Hits 97.

The group's success grew when they were nominated for a Juno Award on January 29, 1997. After the Juno Awards show, the music video for "Down, Down, Down" became very popular. It reached number 10 on the MuchMusic Playlist in March 1997.

The McAuley Boys at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game – July 8, 1997 – Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio

The McAuley Boys were invited to sing at the 1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. However, their performance was not shown on the live TV broadcast. A spokesperson for the TV channel explained that they only had time to show the American anthem.

Despite this, their success was noticed. Billboard magazine mentioned them as an important part of the "growing force of Canadian R&B." To finish off their busy year in 1997, they performed on The Pamela Wallin Show twice. They sang with Canadian fiddle group Leahy and also with singer Dayna Manning.

In 1998, The McAuley Boys performed at the launch of a big new entertainment area at the CN Tower in Toronto. The Toronto Blue Jays baseball team also gave away their CDs as prizes in their Jr. Jays magazine contest.

Changing Their Name to McAuley

In 1999, the group signed with Aquarius Records. This meant their music would be distributed by EMI Music Canada. At this time, they also changed their group name to simply "McAuley."

They released their album My Heaven on September 1, 2000. They performed at the CNE Bandshell before the group Eiffel 65. After that, they went on tour with Canadian rapper Maestro Fresh Wes.

The music video for their song "My Heaven" was very popular. It reached number 5 on the MuchMusic Playlist in June 2000. Another video, "By The Way," reached number 7 on the MuchMusic Playlist in October 2000.

Other Music Projects

The brothers also worked on other music projects. In 2002, Gary McAuley produced and arranged an album for Jackie Ungar. Mark McAuley also sang on this album. Gary released this record on his own label, Yel Records. The album was nominated for an award in 2003.

In 2007, Mark McAuley started releasing solo music under the name Mac Graham. He released an EP called "7 Grahams" and an album called "Midnight" in 2010. Gary McAuley also contributed to an album by artist Rufus in 2007.

Group Members

• Gary McAuley - (Sings, Produces music)
• George McAuley - (Sings)
• Mark McAuley - (Sings)
• Randy McAuley - (Sings)

Studio Albums

Compilation Albums

Singles