Michael Ray is back, and better than ever. The talented singer-songwriter shared a heartfelt post on social media, after staying largely silent in recent months.
“I’ve taken the last couple months, pretty much off of social media,” Ray begins. “Did a lot of hunting and fishing and just re-centering myself and my life spiritually and mentally. Sometimes in life, you go and go and somewhere in that process, you start feeling like you lost touch with yourself. you lose who you are or why you even started the journey in the first place. You’re told if you take time off you’ll be forgotten. But the truth is if you don’t take care of yourself and love yourself you’re no good for anyone else anyway.”
Ray goes on to thank his fans for giving him space while he worked on himself, and planned a massive return to country radio.
“I want to thank y’all for allowing me to have this time, and I want y’all to know I’m back,” Ray continues. “And I have NEVER been better!! I’ve never been more close to God and clear-minded. I cannot wait to catch y’all up on things and to fill y’all in on what’s to come. I feel more creative and ready than ever to get new music out to y’all and see y’all out on the road. To my family and friends you know who you are you inspire me and I’m so grateful for each of you.”
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Ray concludes by thanking his girlfriend, Audrina Partridge, for her support, along with his loyal and dedicated fans.
“You’re my rock, and you push me daily to be at my best, and you helped me find my worth again,” he tells Partridge. “I love you. To my fans, I’ve missed you and I love y’all. Thank you for letting my music be a part of your life and for coming to shows singing every word and making a boy from Eustis, Florida’s dreams come true. We have shared some incredible moments together and NOW it’s about to be even more wild than ever before.”
Ray’s last album, Dive Bars & Broken Hearts, was released in 2023. At the time, Ray hinted that he was already working on new music.
“We’re talking about going in soon to start the next side,” Ray told Everything Nash in 2023. “I’m writing, and listening to a lot of songs, getting set up to get in the studio as soon as we can, and not let much time slip by. We want to try to keep things close together. I’m excited.”
When Ray released Dive Bars & Broken Hearts, he admitted that he spent most of his career avoiding showing who he truly was, but was becoming more and more ready to show his fans more of who he is, as an artist and a person.
“I have never been good at showing vulnerability,” Ray said. “I was that way as a kid, and I brought that into my adult life. It was very easy to build walls around me and keep things at a distance. I think growing up in a broken home, which was a lot of chaos at some moments in my life, I built that without knowing it, which is why ‘Workin’ On It’ is the last song on the EP, ’cause working on it for me is when I went through all of that.
“I stood there, and I said this as a joke,” he added, “but it’s kind of true: when you’re standing there, it’s like Rocky …You realize like, ‘Oh, we survived it. That wasn’t too bad. Don’t do it again. What can I do better?’”
Keep track of updates at MichaelRayMusic.com.