Five Things You Don't Know About Macy Gray

Didn't know Macy Gray, that raspy-voiced singer with the funky vibe, could waltz?

Macy Gray appears on this season's "Dancing With the Stars." Gray first burst onto the music scene...

Macy Gray appears on this season's "Dancing With the Stars." Gray first burst onto the music scene with "On How Life Is," her first album, and the hit single "I Try," both of which went to No. 1. She has gone on to sell more than 20 million albums worldwide and has won and been nominated for five Grammy Awards and six MTV Video Music Awards.

(CRAIG SJODIN/ABC News)

Nor did she, until she started rehearsing for the ninth season of "Dancing With the Stars."

Gray, who has been paired with professional dancer Jonathan Roberts, told ABCNews.com last week: "I'm working on the waltz every day and I think I have it down."

The "I Try" singer is definitely outside of her comfort zone. She has spent weeks practicing before her dancing debut when the three-night premiere of "DWTS" continues tonight.

"I'm definitely preparing myself, because it's live television and no one wants to look like an ass," she said. "There's a lot of competition -- three athletes, two trained dancers, Donny Osmond, who is the ultimate legend."

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"I'm starting to accept that I'm going to do it," she continued. "I usually know what's going to happen with me when it comes to performing. I don't like to do anything I don't have complete control over. I don't even know why I'm doing this. My mother talked me into this."

"I don't know how this is going to go," said the Grammy-winning singer.

Gray is about to find out -- and possibly learn something new about herself. There are quite a few things about Gray that most people don't know. ABCNews.com asked her to tell us about five of them:

Gray Hasn't Competed Since Her Days in Boarding School.

"I went to boarding school," she confessed. "My mom was a teacher and really big on education. She was always looking for the best schools. At a time when boarding schools were reaching out to minorities, we took advantage of that. I went to Western Reserve in Cleveland."

"I had to pick a sport every season," she continued. "I did volleyball in fall, basketball in winter and track in summer. I was good at track. I could run pretty good. I had a really good serve in volleyball, and after that I was useless."

Gray said she lasted at the boarding school for two years -- "I hated it" -- then her mom let her come back home to Canton, Ohio.