Viola Wills

Viola Wills (born Viola Mae Wilkerson, Watts, Los Angeles, California, United States) is an American pop singer, best known for the 1979 UK Singles Chart #8cite book
first= David
last= Roberts
year= 2006
title= British Hit Singles & Albums
edition= 19th
publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
location= London
pages= p. 606
id= ISBN 1-904994-10-5] and U.S. Hot Dance Club Play #52 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=VIOLA|WILLS&sql=11:apfrxql5ld0e~T5 Allmusic.com - Charts & Awards] ] hit, "Gonna Get Along Without You Now". Other hits included further covers of the songs, "Both Sides Now" (#35 UK) (1986), and "If You Could Read My Mind" (#2 U.S. Hot Dance Club Play) (1980). It was Barry White who changed her surname Wilkerson to her stage name of Wills. [ [http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Viola%20Wills.html Soulwalking.co.uk] ]

Career

Wills is an international recording artist who started her career off at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music.As a mother of six, she was discovered by Barry White in 1965, and White signed her to Bronco records. In addition to working with White she also worked with Joe Cocker, Smokey Robinson and many other established recording artists of the era. It was while working as one of Cocker's backing vocalists (dubbed the "Sanctified Sisters") that she worked on and released her solo debut album of self-penned originals titled "Soft Centers" in London, England, backed by Cocker's session players. [http://www.violawills.com/ Violawills.com] ] Her first major break into the mainstream came in 1980 with her cover version of "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" which started a string of dance hits and Wills' subsequent title of a "disco diva". Determined to have a career writing and singing her own songs, Wills recorded and charted her first original hit "Dare To Dream", followed by her version of "Both Sides Now" in London. All three of the songs would land Wills in the "Guinness Book of Records". In 1982 her cover of "Stormy Weather" hit #4 in the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart.

Eventually Wills took a break and returned to America to work on a college degree in music therapy. During this period she wrote and produced her one-woman show 'Willspower'.

A demand for 80s music brought Wills back to Europe. With this new commitment she formed a new band and created her own unique style of music "Jazzspel", a mix of jazz and gospel. Most of the band members were graduates of Brighton University. Some of the UK venues Wills has appeared on, or at, are "Top of The Pops", "Pebble Mill", "Soul Train", "Later... with Jools Holland", Ronnie Scott's, "Never Mind The Buzzcocks" and a residency at Joogleberry's Playhouse in Brighton.

Although Wills has not had a mainstream U.S. hit to date, she is very popular among gay community there and her singles are popular in dance clubs and a number of her recordings are floating around in various compilations, including "No News Is News," "House Is Not a Home," "If You Could Read My Mind," "Love Pains," "Let's Love Now," "Take One Step Forward" (by Wills and Noel McCalla), and "Always Something There to Remind Me". [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=VIOLA|WILLS&sql=11:apfrxql5ld0e~T1 Allmusic.com - Biography] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=VIOLA|WILLS&sql=11:apfrxql5ld0e~T1 Viola Wills biography at Allmusic.com]
* [http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Viola%20Wills.html Wills at Soulwalking.com]
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Viola+Wills Discography at Discogs.com]