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WILLIS

American musician and artist (1963–2003)

Wesley Lawrence Willis was an American musician and visual artist. Diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1989, Willis began a career as an underground singer-songwriter in the outsider music tradition.

Willis' songs are typically partially spoken in an MC style, and partially sung in a nasal and out-of-tune manner reminiscent of punk rock vocals. They feature bizarre, humorous and sometimes obscene or absurd lyrics sung over backing created by using the auto accompaniment feature on his Technics KN keyboard.

His songs cover a wide variety of topics, with mental illness and consumerism being the most prominent themes. Dubbed "The Daddy of Rock 'n' Roll", he is best known for songs such as "Rock N Roll McDonald's" as well as a series of songs where he would directly insult his demons.

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WILLIS

what: one person
from: Chicago
born: 1963
until: 2003
on the air here: 0 songs
still after: 1 song

File card: WILLIS

labels: Alternative Tentacles

genres: outsider music

plays: keyboard instrument, voice

member of: Wesley Willis Fiasco

Facts from Wikidata and Discogs, free to use.

outsideralternative

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Life and career

Wesley Lawrence Willis was born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 31, 1963, to Walter and Annie Willis. According to the Los Angeles Times, "Willis grew up in Chicago's projects as one of 10 children of parents who had a violent relationship and separated when he was young; he spent time in several foster homes and was essentially raised by two older brothers, who went with him from home to home." His brothers include Ricky, who is also a disabled artist, and Jerry, who worked as an exterminator as of 2014. Willis began hearing voices during a period of living at his mother's home in the 1980s, when her abusive boyfriend Roger Lee Carpenter held a gun to his head and robbed him of $600 Willis had saved. By the end of the 1980s, he was diagnosed...

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Legacy

In 2013, a supporting character named Milan was introduced for the ongoing Wonder Woman comic. A blind demigod with the power of far-sight and half-brother to Wonder Woman, his physical appearance and mannerisms are based on Wesley Willis.

From Wikipedia, shared under CC BY-SA. Read the whole page

Wesley Willis (born May 31, 1963, Chicago, Illinois, USA – died August 21, 2003, Skokie, Illinois, USA) was an American singer-songwriter from Chicago, known for his simple but unique music, with emphasis on his humorous, bizarre, and sometimes obscene lyrics. A diagnosed chronic schizophrenic, Willis gained an enormous cult following in the 1990s. In addition to his large body of solo musical work, Willis fronted the punk rock band . He was also a visual artist long before his forays into music, and produced hundreds of intricate, unusual, colored ink-pen drawings, most of them of Chicago streetscapes and CTA buses. 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. Also known as: W. Willis, Weslley Willis, Wessley Willis, Willis From Discogs (free to use). Their entry