Dean Pritchard, known professionally as Dean Ray, was born in Narromine, New South Wales, Australia. He started his musical journey at a young age when he began playing drums at nine and guitar at 13. In 2014, Dean Ray auditioned for the sixth season of The X Factor Australia, singing "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes. He progressed through several rounds, including performing "Yellow" by Coldplay and "Dancing Queen" by ABBA. Despite being a runner-up to Marlisa Punzalan in October 2014, Ray's journey on the show marked his breakthrough into the music industry. Following his stint on The X Factor, Dean Ray signed with Sony Music Australia and released his debut single "Coming Back", which topped the iTunes Singles Chart and reached Number one on the ARIA Singles Chart. His self-titled debut album, released in November 2014, debuted at number five on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association for shipments of 35,000 copies. Subsequent singles included an acoustic cover of "Me and You" by Jake Bugg and "I O U (A Heartache)". In 2017, Dean Ray released his second studio album The Messenger. His follow-up album, 4 Trak Sessions – Volume 1 was issued in September 2020.
