Chris_Willis

Chris Willis

Chris Willis

American singer-songwriter from Ohio

This article is about the American singer. For the American football coach, see Chris Willis (American football). For the film composer, see Christopher Willis.

Christopher Kevin Willis (born February 26, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.[1] Although initially a gospel singer, he later received international attention for his collaborations with house music artist David Guetta, including the songs "Just a Little More Love", "Love Don't Let Me Go, "Love Is Gone", "Tomorrow Can Wait", "Everytime We Touch" (with Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso), "Would I Lie to You" (with Cedric Gervais) and "Gettin' Over You".[2][3]

Quick Facts Background information, Birth name ...

Biography

Originally a gospel singer, with the Heritage Singers and others, he was featured on the pop-classical album Handel's Messiah – A Soulful Celebration in 1993, singing a contemporary version of "Every Valley Shall Be Exalted".[4] His first job after college in Alabama was touring with a group that sang hundreds of shows in churches over a two-year period.[5] In the mid-1990s, he toured as backup vocalist for Twila Paris.[6] In 1996, he released his debut self-titled album, for which he wrote or co-wrote eight of the eleven songs,[7] and earned a nomination for Best R&B Album at the 1996 Nashville Music Awards.[8] That year, he opened on tour for Mark Lowry,[9] and was one of several featured singers in the musical showcase Emmanuel, a national tour put together by Nashville producer Norman Miller.[10] The tour spawned an album, which won a GMA Dove Award in 1998 for Special Event Album of the Year.[11] He did mostly gospel until 1998 when he signed with a small music label.[5] The label was bought out by a large corporation and Willis took that as a cue to move on.[5] During this time he also worked to resolve the "angst" from being closeted about his sexuality, "I always felt like God really understood—but that wasn't the message I was receiving in the church. So, when I moved out on my own I really internalized that message that God makes us who we are and that it's up to us to embrace that or not. I chose to embrace all those things as freedom, and that freedom begat the freedom I experience now."[5] He cites his internalized struggle as important to his transitioning out of gospel music. "I think there's this unspoken denial that you go through in gospel—maybe so in other musical art forms too—but I just felt for me it just wasn't easy to keep perpetuating that."[5] On June 2, 2014, Willis married Jacqueline Leiske.[12]

In 2000 he was working with the French boy band 2Be3 and when doing some publicity for their album in Paris one of the bandmates introduced him to house musician and producer David Guetta.[1] Guetta invited Willis to the studio and the next day they wrote 'Just a Little More Love.'[1] Willis co-wrote and provided most of the vocals on Guetta's debut album Just a Little More Love, including the hit title track.[13]

His music genres have included gospel music, disco, pop rock, and R&B. Willis is active on social networks including MySpace, Facebook and recently Twitter. He often adds live photos and videos from his tours and answers questions from fans.[14] Throughout 2009 he toured with David Guetta through Europe in support of One Love. He has also been doing solo European dates.[15] In November 2009 he performed at Danceclub C4 in Steyer, Austria for their 2nd Anniversary Party.[16] A documentary about him, Inside Out, directed by Robert Jason and Eric Miclette for Complete World Domination was released in early 2010 alongside the "Gettin' Over" single.[17]

His solo single "Louder (Put Your Hands Up)" was released on October 12, 2010.[18] Willis co-wrote the song with Cutfather and Jonas Jeberg.[19][20] The video premiered on DailyMotion October 26, 2010.[21] Shot in Los Angeles, the video was directed by Billie Woodruff. The video now has nearly 2 million views on his YouTube page.[22] The song reached number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs on the issue dated January 8, 2011.[23]

His second single "Too Much In Love" was released digitally August 16, 2011.[24] The song features a guitar sample of Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way". A video was shot in Los Angeles and released on January 10, 2012.[25] Many remixes have been created and released on iTunes.[26]

An eight-song EP entitled "Premium – Songs From The Love Ship, Vol. 1" was released on November 29, 2011 and features several of his solo singles [27]

Willis performing in 2009.

Discography

Studio albums

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Singles

As lead artist

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Guest appearances

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References

  1. [1]
    "Chris Willis". Celebrity City Guide - PlanetOut. September 11, 2009. Archived from the original on September 15, 2009.
  2. [2]
    BBC. "BBC - Radio 1 - Judge Jules - Tracklisting". bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on December 15, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2010.
  3. [3]
    Dene, Lewis (November 27, 2008). "Single of the Week Marc Mysterio 'Roll Wit It'". DMCUpdate. Archived from the original on July 15, 2009.
  4. [4]
    Stark, Judy (November 26, 1993). "Our Annual Holiday CD Roundup Series". St. Petersburg Times. p. 18.
  5. [5]
    Rox, Mikey (August 6, 2008). "Chris Willis: He has the music in him". Windy City Times. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  6. [6]
    Bialczak, Mark (April 4, 1995). "For the love of God: Twila Paris' Christian music electrifies crowd". The Post-Standard. p. C4.
  7. [7]
    Hytche, C. J. (September 21, 1996). "Chris Willis". Houston Chronicle. p. 3.
  8. [8]
    Gray, Michael (November 12, 1996). "Nashville Music Awards taps eclectic collection". Nashville Banner. p. A1.
  9. [9]
    Price, Deborah Evans (September 14, 1996). "Higher ground". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 37. p. 46.
  10. [10]
    Hogan, Susan (December 1, 1996). "Emmanuel: A seasonal showcase for Christian singers". Star Tribune. p. F1.
  11. [11]
    "Dove list". The Times-Picayune. April 25, 1998. p. B4.
  12. [12]
    Ressler, Darren (December 31, 2014). "Big Shot Rewind: 219 DJs and Artists Look Back on 2014". Big Shot Magazine. Archived from the original on June 13, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  13. [13]
    Paoletta, Michael (February 7, 2004). "Beat Box". Billboard. Vol. 116, no. 6. p. 33.
  14. [14]
    "Chris Willis". facebook.com. Archived from the original on February 9, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  15. [15]
    "Chris Willis". myspace. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010.
  16. [16]
    Bosnjakovic, Stefan (November 7, 2009). "Photos: Chris Willis live on stage, Danceclub C4 / Ternberg". party.at (in German). Archived from the original on November 11, 2009. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
  17. [17]
    CHRIS WILLIS "Inside Out" Teaser!, archived from the original on April 29, 2017, retrieved July 19, 2021
  18. [18]
    "Louder (Put Your Hands Up) – EP". iTunes. September 21, 2010. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  19. [19]
    "GEMA – Members – Online Database – Musical Works" (in German). GEMA. Retrieved July 13, 2011.[permanent dead link]
  20. [20]
    Cooke, Buck (January 5, 2011). "We like it when Chris Willis gets 'Louder'". Project Q Atlanta. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
  21. [21]
    INgrooves (October 25, 2010). "Chris Willis – Louder (Put Your Hands Up) – Video Dailymotion". Dailymotion. Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
  22. [22]
    Chris Willis – Louder (Put Your Hands Up) [Radio Edit]. YouTube. October 28, 2010.
  23. [23]
    "Dance Club Songs Chart". Billboard. January 8, 2011. Archived from the original on October 19, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  24. [24]
    "Too Much In Love – Single". iTunes. August 16, 2011. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  25. [25]
    Chris Willis – Too Much In Love (Official Video). YouTube. January 10, 2012.
  26. [26]
    "Too Much In Love Remixes". iTunes. October 18, 2011. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  27. [27]
    "Premium – Songs from the Love Ship, Vol. 1". iTunes. November 29, 2011. Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  28. [28]
    Chris Willis album in Allmusic http://www.allmusic.com/album/chris-willis-r242648 Archived July 19, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
  29. [29]
    "He's Mine - Chris Willis - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
  30. [30]
    iTunes Music https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/my-freedom-ep/id179552261 Archived October 13, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  31. [31]
    "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2010 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on January 12, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2010.
  32. [32]
    "British certifications – Chris Willis". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved June 18, 2023. Type Chris Willis in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  33. [33]
    "Gold—/Platin-Datenbank (David Guetta)". Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
  34. [34]
    "Italian certifications" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  35. [35]
    "Blood in my veins - Single by Chris Willis, Vinyljackers on Spotify". Spotify. 2016. Archived from the original on January 12, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  36. [36]
    "Warriors of the Night - Single by Chris Willis, Rob Styles & Colin Crooks on Apple Music". Apple Music. Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  37. [37]
    "Warriors of the Night - Single by Chris Willis, The Vinyljackers (MikeNova) on Spotify". Spotify. Archived from the original on July 30, 2020. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  38. [38]
    "Not Afraid - Single by Marc Benjamin & Chris Willis on Apple Music". Apple Music. Archived from the original on May 5, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  39. [39]
    "Work It Harder - Single by Zight, Chris Willis & Maximals on Apple Music". Apple Music.
  40. [40]
    "Certifications Singles Or – année 2002" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on September 23, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  41. [41]
    "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2002". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  42. [42]
    "Certifications Singles Argent – année 2007" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  43. [43]
    "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (David Guetta)". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  44. [44]
    "Turn Your Love Around - Single by Cedric Gervais & Chris Willis on Apple Music". iTunes Store. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  45. [45]
    Harden, Duane. "#NB4U (Naked Before You) – Duane Harden". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
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