Will Champlin
American singer-songwriter (born 1983)
William Christopher Champlin (born April 24, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his appearance on Season 5 of the NBC singing competition The Voice as part of Adam Levine's team. He finished in third place behind Jacquie Lee, the runner-up, and Tessanne Chin, the winner of the season.
01Career
Before his participation on The Voice, Champlin reached some success as a songwriter. He collaborated with Michael Caruso and provided backing vocals for Ace Young's self-titled album, and also played piano on Michael Jackson's posthumous compilation album Michael, on the song "(I Like) The Way You Love Me". He was nominated in the Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album category, for co-writing "Ordinary Me", which appears on Heather Headley's album Audience of One. Audience of One was awarded the 2010 Grammy in its category.
Champlin contributed to the 2013 album "Sacred Ground" released by California Transit Authority, a band created by founding Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine. He sang lead vocals on three tracks: "Strike," which he co-wrote, "Staring at the Sun," and the album's titular track. He also provided background vocals on several other songs on the album. His father, former Chicago member and Sons of Champlin frontman Bill Champlin, also appears on the album.
He is now the lead singer of the gritty rock band Valley of Wolves. They made their debut in 2018 with the release of the Album 'Out for Blood'. In 2019 they released 'Take it All' and in 2021 'Outlaws' was released.
02The Voice
On the fourth episode of the Blind Auditions broadcast on October 1, 2013, he performed Gavin DeGraw's song "Not Over You." Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, and Blake Shelton turned their chairs but he opted to join Adam Levine.
In the Battle Rounds, Wolpert won, and Champlin was stolen by Aguilera. In the Knockout Rounds, Schuler won, and Champlin was then stolen back from Aguilera by Levine.
- , Studio version of performance reached the top 10 on iTunes
| Stage | Song | Original Artist | Date | Order | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blind Audition | "Not Over You" | Gavin DeGraw | October 1, 2013 | 4.1 | Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, and Blake Shelton turned Joined Team Adam |
| Battle Rounds | "Radioactive" (vs. James Wolpert) | Imagine Dragons | October 21, 2013 | 9.6 | Defeated Stolen by Christina Aguilera |
| Knockout Rounds | "When I Was Your Man" (vs. Matthew Schuler) | Bruno Mars | October 29, 2013 | 12.8 | Defeated Stolen by Adam Levine |
| Live Playoffs | "Secrets" | OneRepublic | November 4, 2013 | 13.7 | Saved by Coach |
| Live Top 12 | "Demons" | Imagine Dragons | November 11, 2013 | 16.12 | Saved by Public Vote |
| Live Top 10 | "Love Me Again" | John Newman | November 18, 2013 | 18.3 | Saved by Public Vote |
| Live Top 8 | "At Last" | Glenn Miller and his orchestra, with vocals by Ray Eberle and Pat Friday | November 25, 2013 | 20.6 | Saved by Public Vote |
| Live Top 6 | "A Change Is Gonna Come" | Sam Cooke | December 2, 2013 | 22.4 | Saved by Public Vote |
| "Hey Brother" | Avicii | 22.10 | |||
| Live Top 5 (Semi-finals) | "Carry On" | Fun | December 9, 2013 | 24.2 | Saved by Public Vote |
| Live Finale | "Not Over You" | Gavin DeGraw | December 16, 2013 | 26.2 | Third place |
| "Tiny Dancer" (with Adam Levine) | Elton John | 26.6 | |||
| "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" | Bryan Adams | 26.8 |
03Personal life
Champlin was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He is the youngest son of Bill Champlin, former member of Chicago, and Tamara Champlin. He graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. He has one daughter, Harper.
04Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| US | ||
| Will Champlin |
|
, |
| Borrowing Trouble |
|
, |
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | CAN | |||
| "Last Man Standing" | 2014 | , | , | Borrowing Trouble |
| "Eye of the Pyramid" | , | , | ||
| "Picasso in My Pocket" | 2018 | , | , | Picasso in My Pocket |
Guest appearances
| Title | Year | Artist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Too Far Gone" | 2019 | Sound Breakers | , N/a |
Releases from The Voice
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| US | ||
| The Complete Season 5 Collection |
|
, |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Will Champlin”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Will Champlin on RealTVfilms.jpg by RealTVfilms, CC BY-SA 3.0
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