Greyson Chance | |||||||
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 Chance in 2017 | |||||||
| Background information | |||||||
| Born | (1997-08-16)August 16, 1997 (age 27)[1] Wichita Falls, Texas, US[2] | ||||||
| Origin | Edmond, Oklahoma, US[2] | ||||||
| Genres | |||||||
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2010–present | ||||||
| Labels | |||||||
| Website | greysonchancemusic | ||||||
YouTube information | |||||||
| Channel | |||||||
| Years active | 2010–present | ||||||
| Genre | Music | ||||||
| Subscribers | 887 thousand[3] | ||||||
| Views | 200.4 million[3] | ||||||
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Last updated: December 16, 2022 | |||||||
Greyson Michael Chance (born August 16, 1997)[1] is an American singer-songwriter. He rose to national attention in 2010 as a child singer, after his performance ofLady Gaga's "Paparazzi" wentviral on YouTube and gained over 72 million views. Two of his original songs, "Stars" and "Broken Hearts", gained over six and eight million views respectively on his channel the following year.[4] He signed a joint-venture recording contract withEllen DeGeneres'eleveneleven – an imprint ofMaverick, Streamline, andGeffen Records – to release his debut commercial single, "Waiting Outside the Lines" in October 2010. His debut studio album,Hold On 'til the Night (2011) was released the following year and peaked at number 29 on theBillboard 200, remaining his only charting release.[5]
Chance released his secondextended play,Somewhere Over My Head in May 2016. It was preceded by the lead single, "Afterlife", in October 2015, and followed by singles "Hit and Run" and "Back On the Wall" in the following year. Chance independently released his second studio album,Portraits (2019), which exploredsynth-pop and was preceded by the singles "Shut Up" and "Timekeeper".
Chance was born August 16, 1997, inWichita Falls, Texas, and grew up as aCatholic[6] inEdmond, Oklahoma. The youngest child of Scott and Lisa Chance, he has an older sister and an older brother, both of whom also make music. Chance began playing the piano at age eight and had several years of piano lessons before he first wentviral.[citation needed]
Chance's cover ofLady Gaga's "Paparazzi" was posted toYouTube on April 28, 2010, and for almost two weeks, the video generated low views. At least two social websites, GossipBoy.ca andReddit, posted video embeds on May 10, 2010. The next morning, it was embedded on ryanseacrest.com, which reported finding the video viaBuzzFeed, a website that attempts to track and predict emerging viral internet memes.[7] Later in the day,TVGuide,[8]The Huffington Post,[9] andYahoo! Music's video blog, Video Ga Ga,[10] also posted articles embedding the video;TVGuide mentioned that aFacebook fan page had already been started for Chance. That afternoon,Ryan Seacrest andEllen DeGeneres linked the video on theirTwitter accounts,[11][12] as did celebrityAshton Kutcher[13] later that evening.
DeGeneres first saw the video after Chance's brother, Tanner Chance, wrote to her show suggesting she watch it.[14] The video had about 10,000 views when DeGeneres first saw it.[15] On the afternoon of May 11,Yahoo! Music reported: "As of this writing, the video has had more than 36,000 views so far, and he's even been invited to perform onThe Ellen DeGeneres Show.[10] On May 12, DeGeneres' announcement of Chance's booking on the show was broadcast at different times across the US and posted to her website.[16] The Wall Street Journal[17] andLos Angeles Times,[18] among other mainstream media, posted articles embedding the video and announcing the forthcoming appearance. Chance taped an interview and performance of "Paparazzi" in Los Angeles.[19] During the interview, Chance received a phone call from Gaga,[20] who the boy says is his "true inspiration."[21] That evening,ABC World News broadcast a report on Chance, introduced byDiane Sawyer, who said the story struck ABC News as "partBilly Elliot and partGlee."[22] On May 13, Chance's appearance onThe Ellen DeGeneres Show was broadcast,[23] and mainstream media, includingCBS[24] andPeople,[25] reported on the appearance. That morning, Ryan Seacrest posted another link on Twitter, this time to the video of Chance appearing onThe Ellen DeGeneres Show.[26]
On May 15, Chance created an officialMyspace page[27] and an official Twitter account.[28] Chance made a second appearance onEllen, airing May 26, 2010, on which he performed his original song "Broken Hearts", received a $10,000 award for winningEllen's Wonderful Web of Wonderment contest, a brand newYamaha piano, and was announced as DeGeneres's first signed artist to her new recording labeleleveneleven.[29][30] While explaining her reasons for naming her record label, she listed as one reason the fact that she first saw Chance's "Paparazzi" cover on May 11, 2010. Also, she states that 11 is Chance's soccer jersey number.[31]Guy Oseary, who managesMadonna's career, andTroy Carter, who manages Gaga's career, would be co-managers of Chance's career, but no partnership with a major recording label had been finalized.[32]
Because of his quick rise, including fast creations of fan sites, and high quality of the videos,The Christian Science Monitor examined the story to see if it was genuine or a clever marketing campaign,[33] ultimately stating the "video is legit."[34] In May 2010,ITN News raised many of the same questions; highlighting aspects of Chance's "Paparazzi" video, media industry analyst Alan Stevens pointed out the growing inability within modern media culture to distinguish between videos which are produced by amateurs and videos which are produced by professionals but made to appear amateur in origin.[35]
His debut single, "Waiting Outside the Lines", was released to iTunes on October 26, 2010. It was released digitally in the UK on December 9. The single also contained a remix featuringFilipino singerJake Zyrus (then Charice), as well as studio versions of his covers of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" and "Fire" byAugustana.[36] Throughout December, Chance appeared atWe Day 2010 in downtownToronto at theAir Canada Centre, where he performed the latter,[37] and visited both Paris and London, appearing on local radio stations and giving private concerts in both cities.[38][39] On February 5, 2011, Chance entered the National spotlight again with a performance of "Waiting Outside the Lines" on CBS'sEarly Show, while stopping through New York onMiranda Cosgrove'sDancing Crazy Tour.[40] He then started theWaiting 4U tour with Australian pop/R&B singerCody Simpson on April 9 in Ivins, Utah. The tour ended on May 18, 2011, in Portland, Oregon.
On May 17, 2011, his second single, "Unfriend You", was released to iTunes[41] and, on May 23, Chance visitedThe Ellen DeGeneres Show to premiere the single. After the performance, Chance revealed a solid release date for his upcoming debut album,Hold On 'Til the Night, which was released on August 2, 2011. The music video features an appearance byAriana Grande.[42]
On September 15, he again appeared onThe Ellen DeGeneres Show to talk about his album, and also revealed that he had taken his first steps into acting, portraying a younger version ofJimmy Chance, the protagonist of Fox's comedyRaising Hope, in the series' second-season premiere.[43] The episode aired on September 20, 2011.
In November 2011, Chance undertook a tour of Southeast Asia to promote his album, which had just been released in the region. The tour started inKuala Lumpur,Malaysia, where in addition to a showcase performance he was invited to perform at theMalaysian Music Industry Awards show (the first foreign artist so invited since 1999) with Malaysia YouTube sensation,Najwa Latif,[44][45] Chance also gave performances in Singapore;Kota Kinabalu (Borneo,Malaysia);Manila,Philippines; andJakarta, Indonesia.[46][47][48]
In March 2012, Chance returned to Asia to support the release of a special edition of the album, which was released to the Asian market on March 20.[49] He was accompanied by his full four-part band and gave full concert performances inKuala Lumpur, Singapore,Jakarta, andManila, before going on without the band on a promotional tour toTaiwan, Hong Kong, andBangkok, Thailand. In early July, he was back in the region for promotional and TV appearances in Hong Kong andChangsha (Hunan, China). In August, he performed at theMTV-CCTV Mandarin Music Awards show in Beijing and won the award for Most Popular New International Artist of the Year.[50]
In November 2012, after releasing his new EP,Truth Be Told Part 1, he again returned to Asia for a promo tour starting inKota Kinabalu (Borneo,Malaysia) toKuala Lumpur,Malaysia, Singapore andManila, Philippines.
On January 13, 2014, Chance released a new song named "Temptation" onto his SoundCloud.[51] He performed the song at theSundance Film Festival. Throughout the year, he continued the process of writing and recording his EP,Somewhere Over My Head. On September 16, Chance released a single called "Thrilla In Manila".[52] Another track named "Meridians" was released on March 24, 2015.[53] Both songs, ultimately, did not appear on the final track list. The official lead single, "Afterlife", was released on October 29, 2015.[54] In 2016, it was succeeded by "Hit & Run" on February 5[55] and "Back On the Wall" on April 29[56] as the second and third singles, respectively. On April 28, he released a new music video for his single "Back On The Wall" on his YouTube channel.[57] The EP was released May 13, 2016.[58]
Before the release ofSomewhere Over My Head, from January 27 to February 1, 2016, Chance performed three shows in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City.[59][60] He had a release party of his new EP inYouTube Space LA on May 13, 2016. And on May 28–29, he had another two shows after the release of the EP in San Francisco andSeattle.
During promotion of the EP, Chance was also featured on an electronic dance track bytyDi and Jack Novak titled "Oceans", which was released on February 19, 2016.[61]
In February 2016, he was picked asElvis Duran's Artist of the Month and was featured onNBC'sToday show hosted byKathie Lee Gifford andHoda Kotb and broadcast nationally where he performed live his single "Hit & Run".
In June 2016, one month after releasing his new EP,Somewhere Over My Head, Chance returned to Asia for a short promo tour starting in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur andPenang in Malaysia, andManila, Philippines.[62]
On September 15, 2016, Frank Pole released a song titled "Anything" which featured Chance.[63] On December 23, 2016, Chance released a song called "London". On May 6, 2017, Chance is also featured on Fabian Mazur's song called "Earn It". On May 12, 2017, Chance's cover of "Hungry Eyes" was released as part of the soundtrack album for the television film remake ofDirty Dancing. On June 30, 2017, Chance released a song called "Seasons".
On December 8, 2017, Chance released his single "Low," and on May 4, 2018, he released his single "Lighthouse", collaborating with Danish-American DJ & music producer Fabian Mazur. Another single was released on June 8, 2018, called "Good As Gold".
On March 15, 2019, he released his second studio album,Portraits.[64] Due to his success independently, Chance signed his second major record deal with Sony Music Global and Arista Records, which will release any subsequent material he produces, in June 2019.[65] In the same month he also announced aworld tour promotingPortraits.[66]
On January 15, 2021, Chance released "Holy Feeling", the lead single from his upcoming extended play. The second single, "Hellboy", was released on April 23.[67] Chance announced on April 29 that his third extended play,Trophies, would be released on June 25, 2021.[68] In May, he announced he would be embarking on the Trophies World Tour, visiting various cities in North America and Europe over 2021 and 2022.[69]
In March 2022, it was announced that Chance would make his feature film debut, starring inMaybelline Prince.[70]
Chance's third studio album,Palladium, was released on September 22, 2022.
In 2017, Chance was attending theUniversity of Tulsa and majoring in history,[71] but he later dropped out to focus on music. On July 19, 2017, Chancecame out as gay in anInstagram post.[72][73] On August 14, 2020, Chance revealed he struggles withanorexia nervosa.[74]
In 2022, in an interview withRolling Stone, he accused DeGeneres of being manipulative and felt "completely abandoned" by her by the time his second album was released.[75]
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| US [76] | |||
| Hold On 'til the Night |
| 29 |
|
| Portraits[77] |
| — | |
| Palladium |
| — | |
| "—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. | |||
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Truth Be Told, Part 1 |
|
| Somewhere Over My Head |
|
| Trophies |
|
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Heat [78] | BEL (FL) [79] | |||
| "Waiting Outside the Lines" | 2010 | 12 | 95[A] | Hold On 'til the Night |
| "Unfriend You" | 2011 | — | — | |
| "Hold On 'til the Night" | — | — | ||
| "Take a Look at Me Now" | 2012 | — | — | |
| "Sunshine & City Lights" | — | — | Truth Be Told, Part 1 | |
| "Thrilla In Manila" | 2014 | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Meridians" | 2015 | — | — | |
| "Afterlife" | — | — | Somewhere Over My Head | |
| "Hit & Run" | 2016 | — | — | |
| "Back on the Wall" | — | — | ||
| "London" | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Seasons" | 2017 | — | — | |
| "Low" | — | — | ||
| "Lighthouse" (with Fabian Mazur) | 2018 | — | — | |
| "Good as Gold" | — | — | ||
| "Twenty One" | — | — | ||
| "Shut Up" | 2019 | — | — | Portraits |
| "Yours" | — | — | ||
| "White Roses" | — | — | ||
| "Boots" | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Dancing Next to Me" | 2020 | — | — | |
| "Honeysuckle" | — | — | ||
| "Bad to Myself" | — | — | ||
| "Holy Feeling"[80] | 2021 | — | — | Trophies |
| "Hellboy" | — | — | ||
| "Nobody" | — | — | ||
| "Overloved" | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "Palladium" | 2022 | — | — | Palladium |
| "Athena" | — | — | ||
| "Homerun Hitter" | — | — | ||
| "Herringbone" | 2023 | — | — | Palladium Deluxe Edition |
| "Rearview Mirror" | 2024 | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Haymaker" | — | — | ||
| "Meet Me Outside" | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. | ||||
| Title | Year |
|---|---|
| "Oceans" (tyDi and Jack Novak featuring Greyson Chance) | 2016 |
| "Anything" (Frank Pole featuring Greyson Chance) | |
| "Earn It" (Fabian Mazur featuring Greyson Chance) | 2017 |
| "Walk Away" (Sick Individuals featuring Greyson Chance) |
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Timekeeper" | 2019 | Portraits |
| Year | Song | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | "Waiting Outside the Lines" | Sanaa Hamri |
| 2011 | "Unfriend You" | Marc Klasfeld[81] |
| "Hold On 'til the Night" | Dano Cerny, Marielle Tepper | |
| 2012 | "Sunshine & City Lights" | Clarence Fuller |
| 2016 | "Back on the Wall" | Rage |
| 2018 | "Good as Gold" | Bobby Hannaford |
| 2019 | "Shut Up" | Bobby Hannaford |
| "Yours" | Bobby Hannaford | |
| "White Roses" | Bobby Hannaford | |
| "Boots" | Bobby Hannaford | |
| 2020 | "Dancing Next To Me" | Edgar Daniel |
| "Honeysuckle" | Rahul Chakraborty | |
| "Bad to Myself" | Rahul Chakraborty | |
| 2021 | "Holy Feeling" | Bobby Hannaford |
| "Hellboy" | The Lee Family | |
| "Nobody" | Greyson Chance | |
| 2022 | "My Dying Spirit" | Damien Blue |
Headlining
Co-headlining
Opening
| Year | Category | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Choice Web Star | Teen Choice Awards | Nominated |
| Icon of Tomorrow | J-14 Teen Icon Awards | Nominated | |
| Teen Pick: YouTube Artist | Hollywood Teen TV Awards | Won | |
| 2011 | Favorite Viral Video Star | People's Choice Awards | Nominated |
| Rockin' New Artist of the Year | Youth Rock Awards | Won | |
| 2012 | Most Popular New International Artist of the Year | MTV-CCTV Mandarin Music Awards | Won |
| 2013 | Singer | Shorty Awards | Won |
| Most Dedicated Fan Army[82] | Heat Tweets Award | Won | |
| Greatest YouTube Star | Popdust Award | Nominated |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
