JD McCrary

Jaydon "JD" McCrary (born July 18, 2007) is an American singer, dancer and actor from Los Angeles, California. He is currently starring in The Paynes as Kenny Payne on the Oprah Winfrey Network. He will also be the voice of young Simba in 2019's The Lion King. He is signed to Hollywood Records and released his first extended play Shine, in April 2019. Career Acting career McCrary began his acting career in 2015 at age 8 on K.C. Undercover, where he appeared on two episodes. In 2017, he later appeared on I'm Dying Up Here and Teachers as minor roles. McCrary stars in The Paynes on the Oprah Winfrey Network. He co-starred in the Universal comedy film Little, and will provide the voice of young Simba in a remake of the Disney film The Lion King in 2019. McCrary said that "Donald Glover is so talented that [he] actually did have to take it into consideration, because if Simba is going to grow up to be some sort of figure and you know of it, you have to keep that motive". McCrary was cast to portray a young Michael Jackson in the BET series American Soul, which premiered in February 2019. Musical career In December 2016, he made a guest appearance on Childish Gambino's song "Terrified". He then had live performances on Little Big Shots singing The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back", The Ellen Show singing "Who's Lovin' You", and the 60th Annual Grammy Awards to support Childish Gambino's "Terrified". In December 2017, he sang the national anthem before a Los Angeles Clippers game after a viral singing display a few weeks prior. On January 14, he released his first official called single "Inviting All of You". On August 13, 2018, it was announced that JD McCrary became the youngest artist to sign with Disney Music Group's Hollywood Records, as he released the music video to his second single "My Name" on August 28. On January 24, 2019, he released the first single after signing to the label called "Keep in Touch". On April 19, 2019, McCrary released his debut EP, Shine, which includes production from Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox. Artisty In an interview with Vibe, McCrary cited Michael Jackson as his biggest influence, as well as Stevie Wonder, Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber, and Chris Brown.