Chris Willis
Encyclopedia
Christopher "Chris" Willis is an American singer-songwriter and producer. Although initially a gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

 singer, he later received international attention for his collaborations with house music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

 artist David Guetta
David Guetta
Pierre David Guetta , known professionally as David Guetta , is a French house music producer and DJ. Originally a DJ at nightclubs during the 1980s and 1990s, he co-founded Gum Productions and released his first album, Just a Little More Love, in 2002. Later, he released Guetta Blaster and Pop Life...

, including on the songs "Just a Little More Love
Just a Little More Love (song)
"Just a Little More Love" is a 2001 house song and debut single by French DJ David Guetta. It appears on his debut album of the same name. The song was recorded in only thirty minutes...

", "Love Don't Let Me Go (Walking Away), "Love Is Gone
Love Is Gone
"Love Is Gone" is a song by French house DJ David Guetta and American singer Chris Willis. It is the second single from Guetta's third studio album Pop Life. The single was released in France on June 18, 2007 and in the UK on August 3, 2007. The song reached #9 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming his...

", "Tomorrow Can Wait
Tomorrow Can Wait (song)
"Tomorrow Can Wait" is a dance song performed by French DJ David Guetta, Chris Willis and Tocadisco from Guetta's third studio album, Pop Life. The song was released as the album's fifth single on July 7, 2008...

", "Everytime We Touch
Everytime We Touch (David Guetta song)
"Everytime We Touch" is a house song performed by French DJ David Guetta, Chris Willis, Steve Angello & Sebastian Ingrosso for Guetta's third studio album, Pop Life. The song was released as the album's sixth and final single on January 16, 2009...

" (with Steve Angello
Steve Angello
Steve Angello is a Greek-Swedish DJ, producer, and record label owner. He is part of a three person group dubbed the Swedish House Mafia.- Background :...

 and Sebastian Ingrosso
Sebastian Ingrosso
Sebastian Ingrosso is a Swedish DJ and producer of Italian descent. Born in Grahamstown, South Africa but raised in Solna, Sweden. Sebastian spent his teenage years in his fathers studio learning how to make music, with his first official remix released on Mega Records in 1999...

) and "Gettin' Over You", all with Guetta.

Biography

Originally a gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

 singer, 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". His first job after college in Alabama was touring with a group that sang hundreds of shows in churches over a two-year period. In the mid-1990s, he toured as backup vocalist for Twila Paris
Twila Paris
Twila Paris Wright is a Contemporary Christian Music songwriter, author, vocalist and pianist.-Musical career:Since 1980, Twila Paris has released 22 albums, amassed 33 number one Christian Radio singles, and was named the Gospel Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year three years in a row...

. In 1996, he released his debut self-titled album, for which he wrote or co-wrote eight of the eleven songs, and earned a nomination for Best R&B Album at the 1996 Nashville Music Awards. That year, he opened on tour for Mark Lowry
Mark Lowry
Mark Alan Lowry is a Christian comedian, songwriter, and singer, best known for co-writing the song “Mary, Did You Know?”. Lowry performed with the Gaither Vocal Band from 1988–2001 and, in January 2009, he re-joined the group along with other "GVB" alumni Michael English and David Phelps...

, and was one of several featured singers in the musical showcase Emmanuel, a national tour put together by Nashville producer Norman Miller. The tour spawned an album, which won a GMA Dove Award in 1998 for Special Event Album of the Year. He did mostly gospel until 1998 when he signed with a small music label. The label was bought out by a large corporation and Willis took that as a cue to move on. During this time he also worked to resolve the "angst
Angst
Angst is an English, German, Danish, Norwegian and Dutch word for fear or anxiety . It is used in English to describe an intense feeling of apprehension, anxiety or inner turmoil...

" from being closeted
Closeted
Closeted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...

 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." He cites his being gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

 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." Willis is now openly gay and resides in Atlanta, GA. He now sees both his color and sexuality as assets rather than liabilities.

In 2000 he was working with the french boys band 2Be3
2Be3
-History:2Be3 was formed in 1996 and comprised three childhood friends from Longjumeau : Filip Nikolic, Adel Kachermi and Frank Delay...

 and when doing some publicity for their album in Paris one of the bandmates introduced him to house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

 musician and producer David Guetta
David Guetta
Pierre David Guetta , known professionally as David Guetta , is a French house music producer and DJ. Originally a DJ at nightclubs during the 1980s and 1990s, he co-founded Gum Productions and released his first album, Just a Little More Love, in 2002. Later, he released Guetta Blaster and Pop Life...

. Guetta invited Willis to the studio and the next day they wrote 'Just a Little More Love.' Willis co-wrote and provided most of the vocals on Guetta's debut album Just a Little More Love
Just a Little More Love
Just a Little More Love is the debut studio album by David Guetta, released on June 10, 2002 by Gum Prod, EMI France and Virgin Records France. The album uses two main vocalists, Chris Willis and Barbara Tucker. The title track "Just a Little More Love" was recorded in only thirty minutes...

, including the hit title track.

His music genres have included gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

, disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

, pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...

, 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. Throughout 2009 he toured with David Guetta
David Guetta
Pierre David Guetta , known professionally as David Guetta , is a French house music producer and DJ. Originally a DJ at nightclubs during the 1980s and 1990s, he co-founded Gum Productions and released his first album, Just a Little More Love, in 2002. Later, he released Guetta Blaster and Pop Life...

 through Europe in support of One Love
One Love (David Guetta album)
One Love received generally favourable reviews from most music critics. According to Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 66, based on ten reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews"...

. He has also been doing solo European dates. In November 2009 he performed at Danceclub C4 in Steyer, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 for their 2nd Anniversary Party. A documentary about him, Inside Out, directed by Robert Jason and Eric Miclette for Complete World Domination is to be released early 2010 alongside the "Gettin' Over" single.

His solo single "Louder (Put Your Hands Up)" was released on October 12, 2010. Willis co-wrote the song with Cutfather
Cutfather
Mich Hedin Hansen better known by his stage name Cutfather is a Danish music producer and songwriter.-Career:He is perhaps best known for his remix of "Return of the Mack" by Mark Morrison , and the song "Superstar" released internationally by Jamelia in 2003.He has worked with Danish producer...

 and Jonas Jeberg
Jonas Jeberg
Jonas Jeberg , is a Danish songwriter and music producer best known for co'writing/ co'producing the smash hits I hate this part for Pussycat dolls and One step at a time for Jordin Sparks...

. The video premiered on DailyMotion
Dailymotion
Dailymotion is a video sharing service website, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement, Paris, France. According to Comscore, Dailymotion is the second largest video site in the world after YouTube....

 October 26, 2010. Shot in Los Angeles, the video was directed by Billie Woodruff. The video now has nearly 2 million views on his YouTube page. The song reached number one on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

s Hot Dance Club Songs on the issue dated January 8, 2011.

As lead artist

Year Single Peak Positions
US DAN AUS
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

BEL
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

FR
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

ITA
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

SWI
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

NL
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

SWE
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

UK
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

2006 "My Freedom"
2010 "Louder (Put Your Hands Up)
Louder (Put Your Hands Up)
"Louder " is the second solo single by American singer Chris Willis. It's his first single without long-time collaborator David Guetta. The single debuted in number #1 in Hot Dance Club Songs and peaked #27 in Netherlands. Written by Chris Willis, Jonas Jeberg and Cutfather...

"
1 27
2011 "Too Much In Love" 12

With David Guetta

Singles:
Year Single Peak position Album
US UK
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

FR
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

ITA
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

BEL
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

SWI
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

NL
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

AUS
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

SWE
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

U.S. Dance
Hot Dance Airplay
Dance/Mix Show Airplay is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is featured weekly in Billboard magazine. The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic dance music on the radio in the United States and the stations that program it...

2001 "Just a Little More Love
Just a Little More Love (song)
"Just a Little More Love" is a 2001 house song and debut single by French DJ David Guetta. It appears on his debut album of the same name. The song was recorded in only thirty minutes...

"
(with David Guetta)
19 29 59 38
Just a Little More Love
Just a Little More Love
Just a Little More Love is the debut studio album by David Guetta, released on June 10, 2002 by Gum Prod, EMI France and Virgin Records France. The album uses two main vocalists, Chris Willis and Barbara Tucker. The title track "Just a Little More Love" was recorded in only thirty minutes...

2002 "Love Don't Let Me Go
Love Don't Let Me Go
"Love Don't Let Me Go" is a house song performed by French DJ David Guetta featuring Chris Willis as the second single from the album Just a Little More Love...

"
(with David Guetta)
46 4 13 19
"People Come People Go
People Come People Go
"People Come People Go" is a house song performed by French DJ David Guetta featuring Chris Willis as the third single from the album Just a Little More Love.-Music video:...

"
(with David Guetta)
42 54
2004 "Money
Money (David Guetta song)
"Money" is a house song performed by French DJ David Guetta, Chris Willis & Moné for Guetta's second studio album, Guetta Blaster. The song was released as the album's first single on April 9, 2004. The single achieved it's best success on the Belgian Singles Chart, peaking at #12 there...

"
(with David Guetta & Mone)
63 52
Guetta Blaster
Guetta Blaster
Guetta Blaster is the second album by French DJ David Guetta. It was released on September 13, 2004 by Perfecto Records, Gum Prod.-Track listing:# "Money" - 3:06# "Stay" - 3:30...

"Stay
Stay (David Guetta song)
"Stay" is a house song performed by French DJ David Guetta and Chris Willis for Guetta's second studio album, Guetta Blaster. The song was released as the album's second single on September 13, 2004. The single found the most success on the Belgian Singles Chart, peaking at #10...

"
(with David Guetta)
18 82
2006 "Love Don't Let Me Go (Walking Away)"
(with David Guetta vs The Egg)
3 3 11 9 42 19 43 32 25
Fuck Me I'm Famous - Ibiza Mix 06
Fuck Me I'm Famous
Fuck Me I'm Famous is a series of compilation electronic dance music albums by the French DJ David Guetta. Distributed by Universal Music Group under exclusive license from Ministry of Sound Australia, the first album in the series was released in 2003....

2007 "Love Is Gone
Love Is Gone
"Love Is Gone" is a song by French house DJ David Guetta and American singer Chris Willis. It is the second single from Guetta's third studio album Pop Life. The single was released in France on June 18, 2007 and in the UK on August 3, 2007. The song reached #9 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming his...

"
(featuring David Guetta)
46 1 9 3 32 9 11 14 9
Pop Life
Pop Life (David Guetta album)
Pop Life is the third studio album released by French DJ David Guetta. It was released in 2007 and produced by Joachim Garraud. Longtime collaborator Chris Willis is the main vocalist; guest vocals are provided by JD Davis, Juliet, Tara McDonald, Cozi Costi and Thailand...

"Give It All You Got
Give It All You Got (Ultra Naté song)
"Give It All You Got" is a song performed by American recording artist Ultra Naté featuring Chris Willis. Co-written by Andy Evans, Glenn Evans, Ultra Naté and Chris Willis, the song was released as the fourth and final single from Ultra Naté's fifth studio album album Grime, Silk, & Thunder.-Track...

"
(with Ultra Naté
Ultra Naté
Ultra Naté is an American house music, Dance-pop and sometimes R&B musician who has achieved a respectable amount of success on the pop charts with songs such as "Free" and "If You Could Read My Mind" as part of Stars on 54....

)
81 1
Grime, Silk, & Thunder
Grime, Silk, & Thunder
Grime Silk Thunder is the fifth studio album by singer-songwriter, Ultra Naté. The album includes her Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance Airplay hits "Love's the Only Drug", "Give It All You Got", featuring Chris Willis, and "Automatic", which was previously a hit for the Pointer Sisters in...

2008 "Tomorrow Can Wait
Tomorrow Can Wait (song)
"Tomorrow Can Wait" is a dance song performed by French DJ David Guetta, Chris Willis and Tocadisco from Guetta's third studio album, Pop Life. The song was released as the album's fifth single on July 7, 2008...

"
(with David Guetta vs. El Tocadisco
DJ Tocadisco
-Biography:Tocadisco was born Roman Böer on 8 June 1974, and grew up in a small city near Cologne, Germany. He plays several instruments and played in different bands in his youth....

)
21 8 44 21
Pop Life
Pop Life (David Guetta album)
Pop Life is the third studio album released by French DJ David Guetta. It was released in 2007 and produced by Joachim Garraud. Longtime collaborator Chris Willis is the main vocalist; guest vocals are provided by JD Davis, Juliet, Tara McDonald, Cozi Costi and Thailand...

2009 "Everytime We Touch
Everytime We Touch (David Guetta song)
"Everytime We Touch" is a house song performed by French DJ David Guetta, Chris Willis, Steve Angello & Sebastian Ingrosso for Guetta's third studio album, Pop Life. The song was released as the album's sixth and final single on January 16, 2009...

"
(with David Guetta, Steve Angello
Steve Angello
Steve Angello is a Greek-Swedish DJ, producer, and record label owner. He is part of a three person group dubbed the Swedish House Mafia.- Background :...

 and Sebastian Ingrosso
Sebastian Ingrosso
Sebastian Ingrosso is a Swedish DJ and producer of Italian descent. Born in Grahamstown, South Africa but raised in Solna, Sweden. Sebastian spent his teenage years in his fathers studio learning how to make music, with his first official remix released on Mega Records in 1999...

)
68 19
"Gettin' Over"
(with David Guetta)
41 One Love
One Love (David Guetta album)
One Love received generally favourable reviews from most music critics. According to Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 66, based on ten reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews"...

"Sound of Letting Go"
(with David Guetta
David Guetta
Pierre David Guetta , known professionally as David Guetta , is a French house music producer and DJ. Originally a DJ at nightclubs during the 1980s and 1990s, he co-founded Gum Productions and released his first album, Just a Little More Love, in 2002. Later, he released Guetta Blaster and Pop Life...

 & El Tocadisco
DJ Tocadisco
-Biography:Tocadisco was born Roman Böer on 8 June 1974, and grew up in a small city near Cologne, Germany. He plays several instruments and played in different bands in his youth....

)
2010 "Gettin' Over You"
(with David Guetta
David Guetta
Pierre David Guetta , known professionally as David Guetta , is a French house music producer and DJ. Originally a DJ at nightclubs during the 1980s and 1990s, he co-founded Gum Productions and released his first album, Just a Little More Love, in 2002. Later, he released Guetta Blaster and Pop Life...

, Fergie & LMFAO
LMFAO (group)
LMFAO is an American electro pop duo consisting of rappers, producers, dancers, and DJs Redfoo and SkyBlu . The group formed in 2006 in Los Angeles, California. Redfoo is SkyBlu's uncle. Redfoo is also the son of music mogul Berry Gordy, SkyBlu a grandson...

)
31 1 1 1 3 15 14 47 5 28
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