| “ | I haven't even heard one of my songs in over 15 years! And for good reason. | „ |
| ~ Clay talking about his retirement from the music business to Ash |
| “ | There's always a choice. Never had the courage to make right one. | „ |
| ~ Clay's most famous quote. |
Clay Calloway is the overarching protagonist of Illumination's 11th feature film Sing 2. He is an elderly lion who is a retired (later reinstated) rock star legend and became the best friend of Ash.
He is voiced by Bono, the lead singer of U2.
Appearance[]
Clay is an elderly lion with tan fur and a white mane. He wears a red jacket with a blue button shirt, blue jeans with a brown belt, and brown boots. When performing, he wears a black leather jacket and black boots.
Personality[]
Clay Calloway is an elderly, cranky, grumpy, and a disconfident lion. He was never heard for over 15 years and was just cranky ever since his wife Ruby had passed away prior to his sudden retirement. It took a lot of work from the cast to convince Clay to return to being a rockstar and he was later seen happy to have been in the show.
Biography[]
When Miss Crawly arrives at Calloway's property hidden deep in the forest, the lion comes out of his garage on his motorbike and begins shooting the old reptile with a paintball gun until she completely flees the scene.
Later, Buster Moon and Ash go in turn to the house and see on the other side of the gate Clay in the process of patching up his motorcycle. Clay tells them to get off and proceeds to ignore them when they continue to be pushy. Ash and Buster then attempt to climb the fence but Clay yells at them not to touch it, only for Ash to not take him seriously and the pair to be electrocuted after putting their hands on the electrified bars.
Following the incident, Clay takes the two unconscious animals home and tapes the burns on their hands. Ash wakes up first then tells Clay that they came to find him to ask him to participate in their show "Out Of This World" (after Jimmy finds out that Buster lied to him about knowing Calloway) but the grumpy lion literally refuses and states it again when Buster wakes up, adding that it wouldn't even be a million years from now. Buster tries to reason with him, just to get the lion to growl at him to stop talking, gives him back Crawly's glass eye that she lost while running away, and orders the pair to leave in the morning.
The next day, Clay plants an electric fence warning sign while the koala continues to try to convince him until Calloway sprays him with his garden hose, knocking Buster into the pond. Ash then gives a reluctant Clay a cup of tea to lighten the mood but he coldly continues to reject the duo's attempts to recruit him, even stating that his vocals are rusty. Ash assumes his refusal is in connection with the death of his wife, irritating Clay who does not want them to talk about his Ruby, Ash suddenly emphasizes the inspiration that Ruby had for most of the songs of Clay but Clay sternly clarifies that she inspired all of his songs, further prompting the porcupine to claim that Ruby wouldn't have wanted Clay to end up alone and isolated from the world. The lion then begins to get more and more tense when Ash encourages him to rekindle the flame by re-listening to his songs until Clay ends up roaring that he can't and he didn't hear his songs for fifteen years. He adds that Ruby was absolutely everything and then ends up not warmly by pouring his tea in the grass under the pretext that he doesn't like honey in tea before returning to his house.
After Buster returns to the Studio, Clay is brooding when he hears Ash singing Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of and it makes him sad. He joins the young porcupine, stopping briefly when he arrives, but the old lion invites her to continue singing. Finally, Calloway changed his mind and agreed to be part of Out Of This World. While on their way to Redshore City on a motorcycle, Ash calls Buster to tell him she made it, Clay adding that she's even more stubborn and annoying than the koala.
Arriving in the apartment, Clay and Ash find Buster stuck in a suitcase, much to Clay's disbelief. Buster recounts that Jimmy Crystal tried to kill him after an unfortunate misunderstanding that someone rang the doorbell, pushing Clay quite annoyed at this first outing from his home in fifteen years to go open and find himself face to face with face with the rest of the band blown away to meet him in person. Among them, he remembers Miss Crawly fainting in fear at his amusement. With the situation so desperate that the gang preferred to run away, Clay encourages them not to run and hide like he did because he didn't have the courage to make the right choice. Ultimately, Buster is convinced to continue Out Of This World, also urges his friends not to give up before telling them to jump out the window to escape Crystal's agents, a plan which causes Calloway to start liking Buster for advantage. The gang land in the River Ride at the bottom of the building and escape security only to then sneak to the studio to complete the show as they had planned. At the final prep, Clay looks wistfully at his old guitar.
Out Of This World is in full swing with the audience and soon there is only the final show with Calloway and Ash left but when Clay sees the photo of Ruby in his guitar again, he immediately loses his confidence and almost breaks down in tears with the scene is straight ahead, pushing the porcupine to start solo. It wasn't until he heard Ash sing I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For that Clay once again felt the passion for music, while feeling the spirit of his late beloved by his side, and his self-confidence fully revived, Clay begins to play his guitar and finally shows up on stage to everyone's delight. Between them, Clay and Ash give a masterful and sensational performance, concluding beautifully Out Of This World.
Clay and the rest of the gang then introduced themselves to the crowd during the encore but left the studio when Crystal tried to take all the credit and was subsequently arrested by the police for his attempted murder of Moon. The next morning on the bus back to Calatonia, the band are peacefully enjoying their big win when the vehicle is suddenly stopped by Suki Lane who tells them that the Majestic Theater wants to show Out Of This World. Buster asks Calloway if so and to the delight of his new friends, he nods yes.
At the Majestic Theater premiere, Clay is seen heading upstage with the others, waving at Buster and Nana Noodleman as they pass.
Gallery[]
Promotional Material[]
.jpg "Sing 2 Poster (Clay).jpg (291 KB)")
Renders[]
.png "Clay Calloway (Sing 2).png (796 KB)")
Screenshots[]
Sing 2[]
Merchandise[]
Songs Performed[]
- "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
Trivia[]
- Bono and Scarlett Johansson's vocal performance singing I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For was acclaimed. The song was also written by U2 and first performed in 1987.
- When Clay speaks his voice is deep but when he sings his voice is slightly lighter.
- He may be a tribute to the american singer, Cab Calloway.
[]
 Heroes
| ||
|
Movies | ||