Greyson Chance
Greyson Michael Chance (born August 16, 1997) is an American pop rock singer and pianist whose April 2010 performance of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" at a sixth-grade music festival became a hit on YouTube gaining over 48 million views as of September 12, 2012. Two of his original compositions, "Stars" and "Broken Hearts", gained over 5 and 7 million views respectively on his YouTube channel. His début single, "Waiting Outside the Lines", was released in October 2010. Chance's début album, Hold On 'Til the Night, was released on August 2, 2011.
PERSONAL LIFE
Chance was born on August 16, 1997 in Wichita Falls, Texas, and currently resides in Edmond, Oklahoma. He is the youngest child of Scott and Lisa Chance. Chance has an eighteen-year-old sister, Alexa, and a twenty-year-old brother, Tanner, both of whom also do music. Chance began playing the piano at the age of 8 and has had three years of piano lessons. He, however, had no formal vocal training.
Of his inspiration, Chance said, "I love artists who are able to communicate their emotions through music and sing from the heart. That’s what I’m hoping to do with my songs." He was emboldened by
Lady Gaga after seeing her performance of "
Paparazzi" at the
2009 MTV Video Music Awards. He stated, "I was awestruck by her performance. I love her sense of drama and theatricality. Plus, she’s an amazing singer and piano player." Chance was also inspired by the artists
Christina Aguilera,
Augustana,
John Legend,
Elton John, and
John Lennon.
APPEARANCES
Chance's "Paparazzi" cover video was posted to YouTube, on April 28, 2010, and for almost two weeks the video generated low views. At least two social websites,
GossipBoy.ca and reddit.com, posted video embeds on May 10, 2010.
Ellen DeGeneres first saw the video after Chance's brother, Tanner Chance, wrote to her show suggesting she watch it.The video had about 10,000 views when DeGeneres first saw it. While explaining her reasons for naming her new record label
eleveneleven, 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 Greyson's soccer jersey number.On the afternoon of May 11,
Yahoo! Music reported: "As of this writing, the video has got more than 36,000 views so far, and he's even been invited to perform on
The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
On May 12, 2010 Greyson Chance taped an interview and performance of "Paparazzi" for
Ellen in Los Angeles.It was broadcast on May 13 During the interview, Chance received a phone call from Lady Gaga, who the boy says is his "true inspiration." This first appearance on
Ellen was followed by a second appearance on the show, airing May 26, 2010, on which Chance performed his original song "Broken Hearts", received a $10,000 award for winning
Ellen's Wonderful Web of Wonderment contest, a brand new Yamaha piano, and was announced as DeGeneres's first signed artist to her new recording label eleveneleven.Chance now has many fans on online social sites such as
Facebook and
Twitter. He is the 28th most subscribed musician of all time on YouTube, with a 286,000 subscriber base, as of January 3, 2011. Greyson Chance also appeared at
We Day (also known as Me to We Day 2010) in downtown
Torontoat the
Air Canada Centre, where he performed "
Fire" by
Augustana.
Take a look at me now
So long to electric fences
Not much left for me to run from now
Guess I'll turn myself around
I'm putting down my defensess
These wings are gonna take me off the ground
It's freedom sweet as sound
And I'll admit that I was wrong
And it is obvious that I'm
Finally taking my fist down
Would you stop and take a look at me now
Could you stop and take a look at me now
When your standing right in front of me
Your looking at the positive that was negative
Would you stop and take a look at me now
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/l
Don't know what you get tomorrow
Not sure where I want to go tonight
Isn't that what lifes about
So long for the fear and worry
Lets go and you wont be sorry
I'll be the one that gets you out
Chase the demons out tonight
You can see how fast they run
When you turn the lights will shine
Would you stop and take a look at me now
Could you stop and take a look at me now
When your standing right in front of me
Your looking at the positive that was negative
Would you stop and take a look at me now
And it gets more beautiful it gets more beautiful
As the sun turns into rain
And the hurt turns into shame
And it gets more wonderfull it gets more wonderfull
Can you get this through your brain
That you can not lose again
Would you stop and take a look at me now
Could you stop and take a look at me now
When your standing right in front of me
Your looking at the positive that was negative
Would you stop and take a look at me now
Unfriend You
I really thought you were the one
It was over before it begun
It's so hard for me to walk away
But I know I can't stay
You're beautiful and crazy too
Maybe that's why I fell into you
Even though you would pretend to be
You were never with me
So it's over yeah we're through, so I'm a unfriend you
You're the best liar ever knew, so I'll unfriend you
Cause I should have known, right from the start
I'm deleting you right from my heart
Yeah it's over, my last move is to unfriend you
I thought in time that you could change
And my time and love would heal the pain
And I didn't want this day to come
But now all I feel is numb
So it's over yeah we're through, so I'm a unfriend you
You're the best liar ever knew, so I'm a unfriend you
Cause I should have known, right from the start
I'm deleting you right from my heart
Yeah it's over, my last move is to unfriend you
You come on to everybody
Everybody all the time
You give up to anybody
What I thought was only mine
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oooooooh
So it's over yeah we're through, so I'm a unfriend you
You're the best liar ever knew, so I'm a unfriend you
'Cause I should have known, right from the start
That you didn't have a human heart
Yeah it's over my last move is to unfriend you
Unfriend you
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Woah ohh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
So I'm a unfriend you
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
So I'm a unfriend you
Waiting Outside The Lines lyricsSongwritersYou never enjoy your lifeLivin' inside the boxYou're so afraid of taking chancesHow are you going to reach the top?Rules and regulationsForce you to play it safeGet rid of all the hesitationIt's time for you to seize the dayInstead of just sitting aroundAnd looking down on tomorrowYou gotta get your feet off the groundThe time is nowI'm waiting, waiting, just waitingI'm waiting, waiting outside the linesWaiting outside the linesWaiting outside the linesTry to have no regretsEven if it's just tonightHow you gonna walk aheadIf you keep living blindStuck in the same positionYou deserve so much moreThere's a whole world around usJust waiting to be exploredInstead of just sitting aroundAnd looking down on tomorrowYou gotta get your feet off the groundThe time is now, just let it goI don't want to have to force you to smileI'm here to help you notice the rainbow'Cause I know what's in you is out thereI'm waiting, waiting, just waitingI'm waiting, waiting outside the linesWaiting outside the linesWaiting outside the linesI'm trying to be patientEach step is the hardestI know you can make itGo ahead and take itI'm waiting, waiting, just waitingI'm waitingI'm waiting, waiting, just waitingI'm waiting, waiting outside the linesWaiting outside the linesWaiting outside the linesYou never enjoy your lifeLivin' inside the boxYou're so afraid of taking chancesHow are you going to reach the top?