Jason Kay was born in Stretford, England, on December 30, 1969. After moving to East London with his mother Karen Kay, a jazz singer, in his teens, Jay found himself homeless after a fight with his mum. Jay became involved in the street culture and took on many jobs in order to get by.After an unsuccessful audition to become the new lead singer for The Brand New Heavies, Jay formed his own band with Stuart Zender, Toby Smith, Nick Van Gelder and Wallis Buchanan (although the line up has now changed significantly). Their first album as Jamiroquai, 1993's Emergency on Planet Earth, was a hit, and the band's latest - and fifth- album, A Funk Odyssey (2001) was a huge success.