Wesley Willis

Wesley Willis (May 31, 1963 – August 21, 2003) was an African American musician from Chicago, Illinois.

Related Topics:
May 31 - 1963 - August 21 - 2003 - African American - Musician - Chicago, Illinois

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A 6 ft 5 in, 350 lb. diagnosed schizophrenic with a habit of head-butting people (as a greeting), Willis created more than 50 albums full of bizarre, excited, and often obscene rants about crime, fast food, cultural trends, violent confrontations with superheroes, commands for his "demons" to engage in bestiality, and praise for his favorite actors, politicians, and hip-hop and rock artists.

Related Topics:
Schizophrenic - Superhero - Bestiality - Hip-hop - Rock

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Willis' songs invariably featured the title as a chorus and ended with the phrase "Rock over London! Rock on, Chicago" and then a popular commercial slogan. Willis had no musical training and relied on the prerecorded arrangements from the Auto-Accompany features on his keyboards. Willis occasionally changed the key or tempo or pressed a "Drum Fill" button for a slightly different arrangement. His well-known songs include "Rock and Roll McDonald's", "Cut the Mullet", "Rock Saddam Hussein's Ass", "Alanis Morissette", and "I Whupped Batman's Ass."

Related Topics:
Keyboards - McDonald's - Mullet - Saddam Hussein - Alanis Morissette - Batman

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Willis and his siblings spent most of their childhoods in various foster homes. In 1989, Willis began hearing "demon voices" and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He called his psychotic episodes "hell rides". Alternatively, rock-and-roll was "the joy ride music" and Willis often indicated that listening to and performing music helped him battle the voices.

Related Topics:
Foster homes - 1989

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In the early 1990s, Willis became creatively active, selling his marker drawings of the Chicago cityscape — drawings which would appear on the covers of his albums — on the city?s streets. In 1992, Willis joined musicians from the city's alternative rock scene to form the hard rock band, The Wesley Willis Fiasco, which produced such future file sharing favorites as "Jesus is the Answer" and "Casper the Homosexual Friendly Ghost". Although few took him seriously, Willis created a buzz in the Chicago music scene and soon caught the attention of American Recordings, a major record label.

Related Topics:
1990s - 1992 - File sharing - Casper - American Recordings

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Without his band, Willis was signed to American Recordings in 1995 and went on to record two albums for the label (while producing dozens of other albums independently) and became a minor novelty rock sensation. He toured frequently, was profiled on MTV, and was a guest on Howard Stern's radio show.

Related Topics:
1995 - Novelty rock - MTV - Howard Stern

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Some have questioned the æsthetic taste of Willis' audience. Rock critic Will Robinson Sheff wrote that Willis? "periodic appearances for crowds of jeering white fratboys evoke an uncomfortable combination of minstrel act and traveling freakshow." Others have heralded Willis as a welcome punk respite from overproduced pop music and pretentious indie rock.

Related Topics:
Will Robinson Sheff - Minstrel act - Freakshow

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One moment that drew attention to Willis was his appearance on The Howard Stern Show on November 18, 1996.

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On August 21, 2003, at the age of forty, Willis died due to complications from chronic myelogenous leukemia. At the time of his death, he had recorded over 1,000 songs.

Related Topics:
August 21 - 2003 - Chronic myelogenous leukemia

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