Chris Willis

Christopher Kevin Willis (born February 26, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Although initially a gospel singer, he later received international attention for his collaborations with French house music disc jockey David Guetta. Willis guest performed on his singles "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".

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". 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. 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, 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.

His music genres have included gospel music, disco, pop rock, and R&B. Willis has previously used social networks including MySpace, Facebook and Twitter to share live photos, videos from his tours and answer questions from fans. Throughout 2009 he toured with David Guetta through Europe in support of One Love. He has also performed solo European dates. In November 2009 he performed at Danceclub C4 in Steyer, Austria for their 2nd Anniversary Party. 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.

His solo single "Louder (Put Your Hands Up)" was released on October 12, 2010. Willis co-wrote the song with Cutfather and Jonas Jeberg. The video premiered on DailyMotion October 26, 2010. Shot in Los Angeles, the video was directed by Billie Woodruff. The video has over two million views on his YouTube page. The song reached number one on Billboards Hot Dance Club Songs chart on the issue dated January 8, 2011.

His second single "Too Much in Love" was released digitally August 16, 2011. 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. Many remixes were created and released on iTunes.

An eight-song EP titled Premium – Songs from the Love Ship, Vol. 1 was released on November 29, 2011 and features several of his solo singles. 180px

Discography

Studio albums + List of studio albums Title Album details Chris Willis Released: January 1, 1996 Label: Star Song Formats: CD, digital download Premium: Songs From The Love Ship Vol. 1 Released: November 29, 2011 Label: Veneer Records Formats: CD, digital download

Singles

As lead artist + List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name Title Year Peak position Certifications Album US USDance AUS BEL FRA ITA NLD SWE SWI UK"Out of My Hands" 1996—————————— "He's Mine" 2004—————————— "My Freedom" 2006—25————————"Tomorrow Can Wait"(with David Guetta vs. Tocadisco)2008———197—21—4384"Everytime We Touch"(with David Guetta, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso)2009———43——46—9768"Gettin' Over You"(with David Guetta featuring Fergie and LMFAO) 2010311512133128111 ARIA: 2× Platinum BPI: Platinum BVMI: Gold FIMI: Platinum "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—————————— "Survivor"(with Ben DJ) 2014—————————— "One Life"—————————— "Lonely One"(with Crazibiza) 2015—————————— "No One Can Replace You"(with Purple Aura featuring Akon)—————————— "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 — BVMI: Gold (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 — — — — — — — — — — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

As featured artist + List of singles as featured artist, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album nameTitleYearPeak positionCertificationsAlbumUSUSDanceAUSBELFRAITANLDSWESWIUK"Supersonic"(Billyweb featuring Chris Willis)2001—————————— "Just a Little More Love"(David Guetta featuring Chris Willis)———2929—80—5919Just a Little More Love"Love Don't Let Me Go"(David Guetta featuring Chris Willis)2002———74—37—1346 SNEP: Gold BEA: Gold "People Come People Go"(David Guetta featuring Chris Willis)———4742———54—"Money"(David Guetta featuring Chris Willis and Moné)2004———5263———52—Guetta Blaster"Stay"(David Guetta featuring Chris Willis)———1918———8278"Love Is Gone"(David Guetta featuring Chris Willis)200798——9328109119 SNEP: Silver IFPI SWI: Gold "Give It All You Got"(Ultra Naté featuring Chris Willis)—1————————"My DJ Rock Superstar"(Nicola Fasano featuring Chris Willis)2012—————————— "Party 2 Daylight"(Global Deejays featuring Chris Willis)2013——————————"Magnet"(Hook N Sling featuring Chris Willis)——————————"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—————————— "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Guest appearances + List of non-single guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name Title Year Other artist(s) Album "Gettin' Over" 2009 David Guetta One Love "Still Don't Have You" 2013 Duane Harden, Bimbo Jones NB4U (Naked Before You)