Chris Willis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Chris Willis
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Willis in 2008
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Christopher Kevin Willis |
| Born | February 26, 1969 Dayton, Ohio, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1986–present |
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Christopher Kevin Willis (born February 26, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He first became known as a gospel singer. Later, he gained international fame for working with French house music DJ David Guetta. Chris Willis sang on many of Guetta's hit songs, including "Just a Little More Love", "Love Don't Let Me Go", "Love Is Gone", and "Gettin' Over You".
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Chris Willis's Early Music Journey
Chris Willis started his career singing gospel music. He performed with groups like the Heritage Singers. In 1993, he sang a modern version of "Every Valley Shall Be Exalted" on an album called Handel's Messiah – A Soulful Celebration. After college, he toured for two years, singing in many churches.
In the mid-1990s, he was a backup singer for Twila Paris. In 1996, he released his first album, titled Chris Willis. He wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on it. This album even earned him a nomination for Best R&B Album at the 1996 Nashville Music Awards. That same year, he opened shows for Mark Lowry. He also performed in a national musical tour called Emmanuel, which won an award in 1998.
Chris mostly sang gospel music until 1998. He then decided to explore other types of music. He felt it was time for a change in his musical path. On June 2, 2014, Chris Willis married Jacqueline Leiske.
Working with David Guetta
In 2000, Chris Willis was working with a French boy band called 2Be3. While promoting their album in Paris, one of the band members introduced him to David Guetta. Guetta is a famous French house music DJ and producer.
Guetta invited Chris to his studio, and the very next day, they wrote the song 'Just a Little More Love'. Chris Willis helped write and sang most of the songs on Guetta's first album, also called Just a Little More Love. This included the popular title track.
Chris Willis has sung on many other big hits with David Guetta. These include "Love Don't Let Me Go", "Love Is Gone", "Tomorrow Can Wait", and "Everytime We Touch". He also sang on "Would I Lie to You" and "Gettin' Over You".
Chris Willis's Solo Career and Other Projects
Chris Willis has explored many music styles, including gospel music, disco, pop rock, and R&B. He likes to connect with his fans online. He often shares photos and videos from his tours and answers questions.
In 2009, he toured across Europe with David Guetta to support Guetta's album One Love. Chris also performed his own solo shows in Europe. A documentary about him, called Inside Out, was released in 2010.
His solo song "Louder (Put Your Hands Up)" came out on October 12, 2010. Chris co-wrote this song. The music video was released later that month. It was filmed in Los Angeles and directed by Billie Woodruff. The song became a number one hit on Billboard magazine's Hot Dance Club Songs chart in January 2011. This chart tracks the most popular songs played in dance clubs.
His next solo song, "Too Much In Love," was released digitally on August 16, 2011. This song uses a guitar sound from Lenny Kravitz's song "Are You Gonna Go My Way". A music video for it was released in January 2012. Many different versions of the song (remixes) have also been released.
On November 29, 2011, Chris Willis released an eight-song mini-album (called an EP) titled "Premium – Songs From The Love Ship, Vol. 1". It features several of his solo songs.
Chris Willis's Music Albums
Chris Willis has released several albums and many songs. Here are his main studio albums:
| Title | Album details |
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| Chris Willis |
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| Premium: Songs From The Love Ship Vol. 1 |
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Chris Willis's Hit Songs
Here are some of the popular songs Chris Willis has released, both as the main artist and as a featured singer. Some songs have received "certifications," which mean they sold a lot of copies (like Platinum for a million sales or Gold for half a million).
Songs as the Main Artist
| Title | Year | Peak position | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Dance |
AUS | BEL | FRA | ITA | NLD | SWE | SWI | UK | ||||
| "Out of My Hands" | 1996 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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| "He's Mine" | 2004 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "My Freedom" | 2006 | — | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Tomorrow Can Wait" (with David Guetta vs. Tocadisco) |
2008 | — | — | — | 19 | 7 | — | 21 | — | 43 | 84 |
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| "Everytime We Touch" (with David Guetta, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso) |
2009 | — | — | — | 43 | — | — | 46 | — | 97 | 68 | ||
| "Gettin' Over You" (with David Guetta featuring Fergie and LMFAO) |
2010 | 31 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 31 | 28 | 11 | 1 |
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| "Louder (Put Your Hands Up)" | — | 1 | — | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Premium - Songs from the Love Ship, Vol. 1 | ||
| "Too Much in Love" | 2011 | — | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "People (Feel the Love)" (with OtherView) |
2013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Survivor" (with Ben DJ) |
2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "One Life" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Lonely One" (with Crazibiza) |
2015 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "No One Can Replace You" (with Purple Aura featuring Akon) |
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| "Don't Cry (Remember My Name)" (with Joachim Garraud) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Blood in my veins" (The Vinyljackers (MikeNova)) |
2016 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Would I Lie to You" (with David Guetta and Cedric Gervais) |
2016 | — | — | — | 30 | 20 | 71 | — | 80 | 35 | — |
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| "Warriors of the Night" (with Colin Crooks and Rob Styles) |
2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Warriors of the Night" (with The Vinyljackers and MikeNova) |
2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Not Afraid" (with Marc Benjamin) |
2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Work It Harder" (with Zight and Maximals) |
2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" means the song did not appear on the charts or was not released in that country. | |||||||||||||
Songs as a Featured Artist
Chris Willis has also been featured on many songs by other artists:
| Title | Year | Peak position | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Dance |
AUS | BEL | FRA | ITA | NLD | SWE | SWI | UK | ||||
| "Supersonic" (Billyweb featuring Chris Willis) |
2001 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "Just a Little More Love" (David Guetta featuring Chris Willis) |
— | — | — | 29 | 29 | — | 80 | — | 59 | 19 | Just a Little More Love | ||
| "Love Don't Let Me Go" (David Guetta featuring Chris Willis) |
2002 | — | — | — | 7 | 4 | — | 37 | — | 13 | 46 |
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| "People Come People Go" (David Guetta featuring Chris Willis) |
— | — | — | 47 | 42 | — | — | — | 54 | — | |||
| "Money" (David Guetta featuring Chris Willis and Moné) |
2004 | — | — | — | 52 | 63 | — | — | — | 52 | — | Guetta Blaster | |
| "Stay" (David Guetta featuring Chris Willis) |
— | — | — | 19 | 18 | — | — | — | 82 | 78 | |||
| "Love Is Gone" (David Guetta featuring Chris Willis) |
2007 | 98 | — | — | 9 | 3 | 28 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 9 |
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| "Give It All You Got" (Ultra Naté featuring Chris Willis) |
— | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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| "My DJ Rock Superstar" (Nicola Fasano featuring Chris Willis) |
2012 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Party 2 Daylight" (Global Deejays featuring Chris Willis) |
2013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Magnet" (Hook N Sling featuring Chris Willis) |
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| "This Is Your Life" (Psyko Punkz and MC Lyte featuring Chris Willis) |
2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Colors" (Celestal featuring Chris Willis) |
2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Turn Your Love Around" (Cedric Gervais featuring Chris Willis) |
2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" means the song did not appear on the charts or was not released in that country. | |||||||||||||
Guest Appearances
Chris Willis has also made guest appearances on other artists' albums:
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
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| "Gettin' Over" | 2009 | David Guetta | One Love |
| "Still Don't Have You" | 2013 | Duane Harden, Bimbo Jones | NB4U |
See also
In Spanish: Chris Willis para niños
