Jaydon McCrary, an American singer, dancer, and actor, was born on July 18, 2007. He currently stars as Kenny Payne on the Oprah Winfrey Network's The Paynes.
McCrary began his acting career at the age of 8 in 2015 with a two-episode appearance on K.C. Undercover. He then made a guest appearance on Childish Gambino's song "Terrified" in December 2016. He also performed on Little Big Shots, The Ellen Show, and the 60th Annual Grammy Awards to support Childish Gambino's "Terrified".
In 2017, he appeared in minor roles on I'm Dying Up Here and Teachers. He also sang the national anthem before a Los Angeles Clippers game in December 2017 after a viral singing display a few weeks prior.
On January 14, 2018, he released his first official single called "Inviting All of You". In August 2018, it was announced that he became the youngest artist to sign with Disney Music Group's Hollywood Records. 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".
In 2019, McCrary co-starred in the Universal comedy film Little and provided the voice of young Simba in the live-action remake of the Disney film The Lion King. He said that Donald Glover, who voices adult Simba, is so talented that he had to take his performance into consideration. He also portrayed a young Michael Jackson in the BET series American Soul, which premiered in February. On April 19, McCrary released his debut EP, Shine, which includes production from Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox.
