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Willis Earl Beal | |
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| Genres | Lo-fi,folk,experimental,R&B,soul,gospel,blues |
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| Website | www |
Willis Earl Beal (also known asNobody) is an artist[1] and musician.[2]
Willis Earl Beal was born on thesouth side of Chicago, Illinois.[3] In his early twenties Beal joined theU.S. Army, moving toFort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Beal was medically discharged from the army due to intestinal and visual problems. He then returned to Chicago where he worked atSears Tower, following a five-month hospital stay.[4]
In 2007, Beal moved toAlbuquerque, New Mexico. Here Beal spent some timehomeless, and working entry-level jobs, notably as a night-shift security guard. During this time Beal began to record music, leaving CD-Rs in public spaces around Albuquerque. Beal would also leave self-illustrated flyers around the town in the hope of finding a girlfriend.[5] One of these flyers was discovered byFound Magazine who put Beal on the cover of their magazine.[1]Found later released a limited-edition box set calledThe Willis Earl Beal Collection, which included Beal's poetry, artwork and a 17-song album.[6] Through these flyers and the subsequent coverage in Found, Beal was contacted by more than 100 members of the public.[1]
Beal participated in auditions forSimon Cowell'sThe X Factor television show, but dropped out of the "boot-camp" stage of the competition.[7] In 2012, Beal signed a recording contract withHot Charity, an imprint of independent record label,XL Recordings. Beal's first single for the labels, "Evening's Kiss" was released on February 17, 2012, and the accompanying music video was illustrated by Beal.[8] Beal's debut album, entitledAcousmatic Sorcery was released on April 2, 2012.[9] In 2013, Beal was the star and subject of the musical drama film,Memphis, directed by Tim Sutton. The film screened at theVenice Film Festival andSundance, and was distributed theatrically throughKino Lorber in 2014.
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