Gray was born in Los Angeles, California, shortly before his family relocated to Des Moines, Iowa. In his youth, Gray performed in bands such as Anal Blast, Vexx, Body Pit and Inveigh Catharsi.

As well as lending his bass talents to the band, Gray has also sung backing vocals on select songs Slipknot has performed live, among them "Spit It Out", "Get This", "People = Shit", "Disasterpiece", "Three Nil", "Pulse of the Maggots", "Before I Forget", and "Psychosocial" – usually when vocalist Corey Taylor's voice has become too dry, tired, or hoarse. Outside Slipknot, Gray has filled in as bassist for Unida during their 2003 tour, appeared on Drop Dead, Gorgeous' Worse Than a Fairy Tale, done a brief tour with Reggie and the Full Effect and appeared on the Roadrunner United project, performing bass on "The Enemy" and "Baptized in the Redemption" from the project's album The All-Star Sessions.

In June 2003, Gray was arrested for driving under the influence of drugs.^[1] Turmoil was caused within Slipknot's fanbase when Gray's mugshot from the incident surfaced, as at this time, with the exception of Corey Taylor and guitarist James Root, unobstructed photographs of most members of the band's faces were exceptionally rare.

He is one of the 3 of Slipknot's founding line-up remaining in the band, and the only one who has maintained his original role in the band due to Clown's switch from main drums to custom percussion during the early days.