Diva Divo - Dance Magazine

Enjoying a few days off in Paris, Chris Willis is quick to explain how differently dance music is received across the pond: “It’s like night and day, child!” he exclaims. Willis is in the midst of a European tour to promote David Guetta’s Pop Life, the new release from the French DJ/producer (and longtime friend/collaborator). This is the third Guetta album to feature Chris as the dominant vocalist; he lends his impressive pipes to the lead single “Love is Gone.” But while working with David is old hat, Chris is still awestruck by Europe’s enthusiastic treatment of house music: “It’s an institution! It’s a religion!”

Given Willis’ musical history, “religion” is an appropriate choice of words. Indeed, before he was David Guetta’s go-to guy for soulful male vocals, Willis was enjoying a successful, critically acclaimed career in Christian music. Born to a musical family in Dayton, Ohio (a long way from club-friendly “Gay Paree”) Willis’ faith – and talent – initially led him to the gospel world.

He cut his teeth in Nashville, singing and dancing in Opryland. After signing to Christian label Starsong, Willis enjoyed a successful 12 years making inspirational music. Still, getting released from his record label was an unexpected blessing. “The whole corporate takeover thing is really a thorn in your side when you’re an artist,” he explains of Starsong’s buyout by Emd. “Just as you’re getting momentum, things change.” Luckily, the change of guard was just what Willis needed to get his pop ambitions off the ground. “I kept it inside once the gospel door started opening,” Chris says of his MTV aspirations. “But as I got more involved in the business side of things, I realized it was going to be really difficult for me to break free from the ceiling. At that moment [the label change], I said ‘You know what? It’s time for me to go for my dreams with all my heart!’”

That’s not to say Willis regrets his gospel roots; in fact, he’s “excited” over talks for a future return to the genre. But growing up, Willis considered pop acts Janet Jackson, Prince and Culture Club to be musical influences on par with Christian stars like The Clark Sisters and The Hawkins Family.

It was the Guetta family, though, that gave Chris his break in the dance industry.

“I was working in Miami with a French band, and when we finished I went to France to do publicity with them,” he explains. “One of the guys introduced me to David and [wife] Kathy… David asked if I’d like to do some work on the record. He said he wanted to have a singer come by, just to see if we vibed. So the next day we wrote ‘Just a Little More Love.’” The effect of that hit was instantaneous: “The day after we wrote the song David went back to the studio and said, ‘you’re never gonna believe this… the record company wants to release this song as a single!’”

On the contrary, “Just a Little More Love” enjoyed serious chart success overseas… and began to break Willis through in the American club market. It also kicked off a longstanding relationship with Guetta, who continues to call on Chris for recording sessions, songwriting tete-a-tetes, and live performances. Indeed, Willis’ soulful pipes gave Guetta’s biggest hits their humanity; without his silky smooth vocals, singles like “Love Don’t Let Me Go,” “Stay,” and “The World is Mine,” would have been lost in the electro shuffle. He’s also collaborated with Ultra Nate (“Give it all you Got”), RuPaul (“Free to Be”), and scored a Billboard Club hit with the first single released under his own name: “My Freedom.”