2015–2019: Career beginnings and acting McCrary began his acting career in 2015 at age 8 on
K.C. Undercover, where he appeared on two episodes. 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. In 2017, he later appeared on ''
I'm Dying Up Here and Teachers'' as minor roles. On January 14, 2018, he released his first official single called "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." He stars in
The Paynes on the
Oprah Winfrey Network. 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. McCrary said that "
Donald Glover [who voices adult Simba] is so talented that [I] 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." Also that year, McCrary 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.
2024–present: Musical career In 2024, McCrary rebranded his musical stage name to his birth-name, JayDon. On November 8, 2024, he released his first single under his new stage name, "Ah! Ah!" featuring 310babii. In 2025, it was announced that he officially signed with
Usher and
L.A. Reid's record label Mega in partnership with
Larry Jackson's
gamma. In 2025, he released his two singles, "
Lullaby" and "I'll Be Good". The latter of which received a music video on April 24, 2025. ==Artistry==