Stephen Bray

Stephen Pate Bray (born December 23, 1956 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American songwriter, drummer, and record producer. He is best known for his collaborations with Madonna and for winning the 2017 Grammy Award for the Best Musical Theater Album of the Tony Award-winning revival of The Color Purple. Bray owns and operates Saturn Sound recording studios and the Soultone Records record label.

Bray began studying music through private instruction in Detroit, attended Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, and continued his education at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Bray met Madonna during her pre-stardom when she attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for dance. He moved to New York after receiving a call from Madonna two years later; at that time she was a member of the band The Breakfast Club in New York City. Madonna wanted to form a new band and invited Bray to play the drums. Together they formed the band Emmy and the Emmys.

Madonna obtained her recording contract with Gotham Management, with Camille Barbone. The music she was producing with them was more rock oriented and Madonna had her eyes set on dance music. She and Stephen Bray continued working on a parallel project, more club oriented. After being signed to Sire Records, Madonna continued collaborating with Bray.

Together, they have written and produced some of the biggest hit songs of the 1980s, including several of Madonna's biggest hits. The songs Bray and Madonna composed often followed a distinctive structure, many of which repeats the song's second verse and bridge before fading out with the chorus. Their partnership appears to have concluded with their work on Madonna's Like a Prayer album.

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