Editing Sugar Ray (section)

===Inactivity and ''Music for Cougars'' (2006–2009)===
After releasing their greatest hits album – ''The Best of Sugar Ray'', in 2005, the band went into a period of relative inactivity for a number of years, with Mark McGrath starting a new job as an anchor on the television show ''[[Extra (U.S. TV program)|Extra]]''. In January 2006, Sugar Ray was released from their [[recording contract]] with [[Atlantic Records]]. In mid-2007, their previously unreleased song "Into Yesterday" was used on the ''[[Surf's Up (film)|Surf's Up]]'' movie soundtrack, and the band made brief tour in Asia in August 2007 where they headlined SingFest, Singapore's first international music festival.

Sugar Ray appeared on the May 18, 2008, season 3 finale of ''[[American Dad!]]'', titled "[[Spring Break-Up]]", as themselves, playing "Fly" at a Spring Break party.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

On May 19, 2008, the band announced they would be entering the studio to record their first album of new material since 2003. Jason Bernard, a friend of the band (who also happened to be a music producer) brought them a deal to sign with his label. It was announced that the band signed Pulse Recordings and that the new album should be released in the summer of 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sugarray.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/novemberdecember-update/|title=November/December Update|last=Karges|first=Murphy|date=2008-12-10|work=Sugar Ray Blog|publisher=Wordpress|access-date=2009-01-18|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505185550/http://sugarray.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/novemberdecember-update/|archive-date=May 5, 2009|df=mdy-all}}</ref> On March 6, 2009, Mark McGrath announced that the new album would be titled ''[[Music for Cougars]]''. It was released on July 21, 2009. The first single was "Boardwalk".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/268739/sugar-ray-returns-with-music-for-cougars |title=Sugar Ray Returns With 'Music For Cougars' |magazine=Billboard |access-date=2014-04-23}}</ref>

Some critics noted that McGrath aimed to lower people's expectations for the album during its promotion by saying things like: "I know people aren't sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for a Sugar Ray album, but that wasn't the point."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Prince |first=David J. |date=May 4, 2009 |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/sugar-ray-returns-with-music-for-cougars-268739/ |title=Sugar Ray Returns With 'Music For Cougars' |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]  |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006011955/https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/sugar-ray-returns-with-music-for-cougars-268739/ |archive-date=October 6, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>