Travie McCoy

Travie McCoy Bio

Travis Lazarus McCoy, known professionally as Travie McCoy, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born on August 5, 1981, in Geneva, New York, he is best known as the co-founder and lead vocalist of the rap-rock band Gym Class Heroes, which he established in 1997 with high school classmate Matt McGinley. With the band, he earned mainstream recognition in the mid-2000s before launching a successful solo career highlighted by the global hit single “Billionaire” featuring Bruno Mars.

Early Life and Background

Travie McCoy was born and raised in Geneva, New York. His father is of Haitian descent, and his mother is of Native American and Irish heritage. As a child, he used a wheelchair for four months following a skateboarding accident, an experience that gave him time to focus on visual art. By the age of 15, he was apprenticing at a local tattoo parlor and soon began tattooing his friends, laying the groundwork for a lifelong creative practice that blended visual art and music.

During his teenage years, McCoy developed a wide-ranging taste in music, drawn to hardcore punk bands such as Snapcase and Earth Crisis, as well as underground hip-hop acts like Company Flow and the Arsonists. He frequently traveled by bus to Manhattan to participate in battle rap sessions at the indie hip-hop club Fat Beats. He also played drums in high school and formed a rap group with his father and brother called “True Life Playas,” an early project he has since described as humorously rough.

Path to Music

After graduating from Geneva High School, McCoy enrolled at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, New York, where he majored in fine arts and illustration. He dropped out at age 20 to devote himself to tattooing, painting, and his growing music career. At one point, he was balancing work at a tattoo shop, teaching art at a Boys and Girls Club, and working at a gas station before eventually committing to his craft full-time and staging his own art show to support himself.

McCoy and McGinley officially formed Gym Class Heroes in 1997 after bonding over a shared love of punk rock, indie rock, and hip-hop in their high school gym class. The duo soon recruited bassist Ryan Geise and began performing together, with McCoy serving as the group’s lead vocalist. The band recorded independently and steadily built a following through relentless local performances, eventually catching the attention of Fueled by Ramen, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group, which signed the group in 2003.

Travie McCoy Career

Early Career (1997-2002)

During Gym Class Heroes’ earliest years, McCoy balanced music with a variety of day jobs, including tattooing, teaching, and gas station work. He supported himself by selling paintings before the band broke through commercially. In the summer of 2002, McCoy made his MTV debut after winning a nationwide MC battle on the show Direct Effect, an early sign of his skill as a performer and his growing visibility beyond his hometown scene.

Fueled by Ramen signed Gym Class Heroes in 2003, and the group expanded its lineup with guitarist Disashi Lumumba-Kasongo and bassist Eric Roberts. They also entered a joint venture with Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz’s independent label, Decaydance Records, which would become a defining partnership for both McCoy and the band.

Breakthrough (2003-2010)

Gym Class Heroes achieved mainstream success with the 2006 release of As Cruel as School Children, their major label debut on Fueled by Ramen and Decaydance Records. The album featured collaborations with Fall Out Boy vocalist Patrick Stump and produced the hit singles “Cupid’s Chokehold” and “Clothes Off!!,” both of which charted internationally. The band followed up with The Quilt in 2008, which debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard 200 and produced the UK Top Ten single “Cookie Jar.” In 2007, Gym Class Heroes won the fan-voted Best New Artist award at the MTV Video Music Awards.

During this period, McCoy also discovered a 17-year-old rapper named Tyga and founded the imprint BatSquad to sign him, releasing Tyga’s debut album No Introduction in 2008. After The Quilt, Gym Class Heroes went on hiatus, and McCoy turned his attention to a solo career. He signed with Decaydance in a joint venture with T-Pain’s Nappy Boy Entertainment and released his debut solo album, Lazarus, on June 8, 2010. The album’s lead single, “Billionaire” featuring Bruno Mars, peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received quadruple platinum certification from the RIAA.

Continued Success and Later Career (2011-2022)

McCoy continued recording and collaborating throughout the 2010s, releasing the single “Rough Water” with Jason Mraz in 2013 and teaming up with Olly Murs for the 2014 hit “Wrapped Up.” In 2015, he released “Golden” featuring Sia, which earned platinum certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association. In 2021, McCoy signed with Hopeless Records and released his second solo album, Never Slept Better, on July 15, 2022. The album was supported by the singles “A Spoonful of Cinnamon” and “Loved Me Back to Life.”

Notable Works and Milestones

McCoy’s signature achievements include the global success of “Billionaire” featuring Bruno Mars, the platinum-certified “Golden” featuring Sia, and the 2007 MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist with Gym Class Heroes. In 2025, Gym Class Heroes were inducted into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame, recognizing the band’s lasting influence on the rap-rock genre.

Travie McCoy Award Nominations

Throughout his career with Gym Class Heroes and as a solo artist, Travie McCoy has earned recognition from major music industry institutions. His work with the band brought chart-topping singles and high-profile nominations across both pop and rock categories. Verified nomination details from award databases are limited, and only confirmed wins are highlighted in the following section.

Travie McCoy Awards Won

Travie McCoy has received notable industry recognition over the course of his career. In 2007, Gym Class Heroes won the fan-voted Best New Artist award at the MTV Video Music Awards, marking a defining moment in the band’s rise to mainstream prominence. In 2025, Gym Class Heroes were inducted into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame, honoring their contributions to the music scene and their roots in upstate New York.

Travie McCoy Family

Travie McCoy is a close friend of Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz, who signed Gym Class Heroes to his independent label, Decaydance Records. McCoy is the godfather of Wentz’s son, Bronx Mowgli Wentz, who was born to singer Ashlee Simpson. McCoy has credited his family with shaping both his artistic sensibilities and his career path, including his early collaborations with his father and brother in the rap group True Life Playas.

Personal Life

McCoy was in a long-term, on-and-off relationship with singer Katy Perry from 2006 to 2009. The two were engaged in spirit after McCoy gave Perry a diamond promise ring in 2008, though they split several times before Perry ended the relationship by email later in 2009. McCoy later had a brief romantic link to actress Juliette Lewis in 2012. On November 14, 2022, McCoy married Jessica Phillips McCoy. He has also been candid about his struggles with opioid addiction and has been sober from opioids since 2013. McCoy has additionally been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and has spoken publicly about his mental health journey.