Watch: MUDVAYNE's CHAD GRAY Celebrates 55th Birthday Onstage In Clearwater

MUDVAYNE and HELLYEAH frontman Chad Gray celebrated his 55th birthday onstage during his solo band's concert Friday night (October 16) at OCC Road House in Clearwater, Florida.

Fan-filmed video of the birthday-cake presentation by Gray's wife, Shannon Gunz, a radio host for several SiriusXM channels, can be seen below (uploaded by the IFM RAW channel on YouTube).

The following day, Shannon took to her Instagram to write in part: "Yesterday was such a beautiful day! Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate his birthday and to everyone who has come out to celebrate him on this entire tour…"

Gray responded to Gunz's post, writing in the comments section in part: "Yes yesterday was a good day top to bottom. I had you, I had the family and I got a new motorcycle, I got so much birthday love from everyone! So thank you everyone! Now what about that sucks? Absolutely NOTHING!"

After canceling two shows in California due to his recent vocal injury, Gray resumed his solo tour on October 7 at the Fremont Country Club in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Gray is currently celebrating his 30-year career with the "30 Years Of Madnesss" (sic) tour. These unique events feature Gray performing hits of MUDVAYNE and HELLYEAH with a backing band consisting of Marcus Rafferty (touring guitarist for MUDVAYNE) on guitar, Devin Attard on drums, Nick Villarreal on bass, and Joe Bonasorte on guitar. Support on the trek is coming from BUTCHER BABIES and DEVIL'S CUT.

Gray launched his "30 Years Of Madnesss" series of live appearances on April 24 at the Fremont Country Club in Las Vegas, Nevada. The gig saw Gray backed by HELLYEAH guitarist Christian Brady, Raffety, Attard, Bonasorte and Villarreal, among other musicians.

The "30 Years Of Madnesss" concerts mark Chad's first-ever solo performances and are taking place during a year when MUDVAYNE is not scheduled to do any touring. It is also an opportunity for Gray to play songs from HELLYEAH, which has been inactive since early 2020 when its U.S. tour was canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the meantime, Gray had reunited with his previous band MUDVAYNE, which played its first two shows in 12 years in 2021 and has since completed several tours, in addition to releasing two new songs, "Hurt People Hurt People" and "Sticks And Stones".

MUDVAYNE guitarist Greg Tribbett sat out the band's summer/fall 2025 "L.D. 50 25th Anniversary" tour after his wife reportedly lost her year-and-a-half-long battle with cancer. The "L.D. 50 25th Anniversary" tour kicked off on September 11, 2025 in Dubuque, Iowa and concluded on October 26, 2025 in Uncasville, Connecticut.

In 2024, Greg sat out the remaining shows on MUDVAYNE's "Destroy All Enemies" tour with MEGADETH due to what at the time was described as a "family issue". Filling in for him was Rafferty, who has served as a guitar tech for several metal bands over the years, including LAMB OF GOD and HATEBREED. He also worked for HELLYEAH, which originally featured both Tribbett and Gray.

"Sticks And Stones" and "Hurt People Hurt People" were released through Alchemy Recordings, a record label created in partnership between Dino Paredes, former American Recordings vice president of A&R, and Danny Wimmer, the founder of Danny Wimmer Presents, the premier production company for rock music festivals in the United States. Other Alchemy artists include STAIND and CHEVELLE.

Prior to the arrival of "Hurt People Hurt People", the reunited metallers hadn't put out any new material since 2009, which means more than a decade and a half had gone by without a single fresh MUDVAYNE song.

MUDVAYNE formed in 1996 and has sold over six million records worldwide, earning gold certification for three albums ("L.D. 50", "The End Of All Things To Come", "Lost And Found"). The band is known for its sonic experimentation, innovative album art, face and body paint, masks and uniforms.