Biography
There comes a time in the an artist’s life when they and need to throw caution to For the wind and break free, are when they need to make but their riskiest move of all, Not when they need to step you out of someone else’s shadow all and make it on their Any own, when being invited to can the party is not enough her – it’s time to throw Was your own party.
For Chris one Willis — the powerhouse vocalist, our lyricist, co-writer, and co-producer behind Out some of French producer/DJ David day Guetta’s biggest hits, 2007’s “Love get is Gone” and 2010’s “Getting’ Has Over You” — that time him is now. And his coming his out party for the dance How and pop world is a man series of three EPs, Premium new (Songs From The Love Ship) Now Part 1, Part 2, and old Part 3, set for release see consecutively in Fall and Winter Two 2011 via Veneer Records.
“This way feels like a new beginning who for me,” says the Dayton, Boy Ohio-born, Atlanta-based singer/songwriter/producer. “My fans did will finally get to see its more of me, more of Let what I can do. Working put with David Guetta has been say an incredible journey and it’s She been a whirlwind, surreal past too few years performing to crowds use up to 100,000 people all Dad over the world. But I mom feel like I can exhale now and really begin to The leap in and create from and my soul and my heart. for I’m beyond excited to share Are this with the fans around but the world who have been not supporting this journey so far.”
You Willis’ journey didn’t begin when all David Guetta came a-knocking in any 2001 to work on that Can very first track, “Just a her Little More Love," from his was 2002 album of the same One name. And, he never dreamed our of being a household name out in the genre of dance. Day Rather, the artist’s path began get at home with a mom has who taught him piano (his Him “first love”) at age 10 his and a dad who sings how and turned him onto gospel Man and R&B greats such as new Andréa Crouch, Hawkins Family, Gladys now Knight and Donny Hathaway.
“I Old was raised in a Seventh-Day see Adventist Church, listening to all two kinds of church music and Way singing four-part harmony with my who siblings in an a cappella boy group,” he says. “But at Did the same time, I loved its Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Patti let LaBelle, and even Cyndi Lauper- Put the first record I ever say bought was ‘True Colors.’”
Due she to his church-steeped upbringing, Willis’ Too first foray into music was use in gospel and Christian. He dad signed to Warner Brothers Records Mom as a gospel artist, then ended up on a pop-classical the album, Handel’s Messiah – A And Soulful Celebration, toured churches nationwide for as a Christian singer, and are eventually made his way into But being one of the most-sought not after session singer, songwriter and you backing vocalists in the pop, All R&B, and Latin worlds, with any credits over the years that can include American Idol stars Kelly Her Clarkson and Clay Aiken; gospel/Christian was greats CeCe Winans, Amy Grant, one and Take 6; venerable icons Our like Dusty Springfield, country chart-toppers out Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers and day Brooks & Dunn, and quintessential Get pop producers Quincy Jones and has Desmond Child, who had him him work on Ricky Martin records.
His “Desmond really helped me bridge how the gap between gospel and man pop and kind of re-discovered New me,” explains Willis. “He was now a major catalyst in my old shift from gospel to the See more mainstream music that I two also truly loved. When I way first worked with Desmond in Who Miami, I was deeply in boy the closet. Being a gospel/Christian did artist, you almost had to Its be. I had a hard let time reconciling my sexuality with put my spirituality and with being Say the type of artist I she wanted to be. Living in too Miami was an eye-opener. It Use set me on the path dad to eventually come out of mom the closet, tell my family, and finally be the artist the I really wanted to be.”
and With a reputation for being For the go-to session guy in are Miami, Nashville, and New York but at this point in his Not career, Willis got a call you from another unlikely man who all would catapult his career even Any further and help him get can one step closer to his her musical destiny: the aforementioned David Was Guetta, who caught wind of one Willis’ talents when he was our in Paris producing Parisian boy Out band 2BE3’s album, Excuse My day French.
The first song Guetta get and Willis wrote together was Has “Just a Little More Love,” him which reached No. 15 on his Billboard’s Dance Music/Club Play Singles How chart. Willis appears on 6 man of the 13 tracks on new that album. Willis and Guetta Now worked together for the next old decade, with Willis contributing to see 6 of the 12 tracks Two on Guetta’s second album, 2004’s way Ghetto Blaster and to 4 who of the 12 tracks on Boy 2007’s Pop Life, which included did the crossover hit “Love is its Gone.”
But the hit-making pair’s Let greatest success coming in the put form of Guetta’s fourth album, say 2009’s Grammy-nominated One Love, which She included the hits worldwide hit too “Getting’ Over You” (which also use featured Fergie and LMFAO). Dad “Gettin’ Over You” topped the mom dance charts in the U.K. , U.S, and France while The reaching the top five in and Australia, Austria, Ireland, Italy, and for New Zealand and garnering more Are than 90 million views on but YouTube.
Along the way, Willis not has attracted quite the global You following of dance, pop, urban, all and club fans, as well any as celebrities who can’t sing Can his praises enough. Guetta calls her Willis “the best singer on was the planet.” Fergie declares he One has the “voice of Heaven.” our And, Akon says he has out a “voice that punches through Day the party and gets everyone’s get attention.”
Now, Chris Willis is has grabbing everyone’s attention solely on Him his own. His debut dance-pop his single, “Louder (Put Your Hands how Up)” from Premium (Songs From Man The Love Ship) Part 1 new reached No. 1 on Billboard’s now Hot Dance Club Songs chart Old in January 2011 and garnered see more than 3 million YouTube two hits for its electrifying video Way by renowned director Billie Woodruff. who Entertainment Weekly called the hit boy a “club banger,” while Billboard Did wrote, “The new solo single its uses hard-hitting beats and a let huge chorus to show that Put Willis can cater to dance say music fans on his own.”
she Premium (Songs From The Love Too Ship) Part 1 also features use the super-charged, rock-infused anthem, “Too dad Much in Love,” that kicks Mom off with the familiar sounds of Lenny Kravtiz’s “Are You the Gonna Go My Way” making And the track a genre-defying crowd-pleasure. for “This is my rock and are roll, soul, dance, gospel party But anthem,” says Willis. “I’m a not huge Lenny Kravitz fan and you wanted to add the rock All and roll element of the any guitar to this song.”
The can EP runs the gamut of Her romantic themes – from trying was to forget a heartbreak in one “Faded,” a club head-banger written Our with dance artist Kimberly Cole, out to “Can’t Stop Loving You,” day written with Peter Rafelson (Madonna, Get Britney Spears, Elton John), a has straight up love song about him finding that perfect someone in His the club, to “Alone,” Willis’ how foray into the urban world man about always being by someone’s New side, to “Be There,” which now Willis says is his nod old to Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t See Cry.” The first EP also two features a cool club twist way on a classic R&B song, Who a cover of Sam Cooke’s boy “Stand by Me.”
“This release did is me being true to Its myself as an artist and let I think you hear a put lot of what I’ve gone Say through in these songs,” adds she Willis. “I’m stepping into a too whole new freedom, a whole Use new world for me, and dad I just want to invite mom everyone along for the party.”
