Bill Champlin was born in Oakland, California on May 21, 1947 to a musical family. His grandparents, mother and sisters have all been singers. Bill is married to Tamara Champlin, a singer/songwriter in her own right, and is the father of three children. His youngest, Will Champlin, is building a name for himself as a prolific and distinctive singer-songwriter.

 

Bill’s musical career began in 1961 when he formed a band called the Opposite Six. A year later he began writing music. After forming the Sons of Champlin in 1967, he focused his songwriting talents on material for the Sons. “They were breathing fire. They were the most talented of all the San Francisco bands”, said Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. The Sons’ first album, “Loosen Up Naturally,” was released in 1969 and followed by six more albums before the Sons disbanded in 1977. Many of these have been re-released as CDs and are available for purchase.

 

After the breakup of the Sons, Bill moved to Los Angeles and worked as a session vocalist on numerous recordings from 1977 to 1985. The artists he worked with included Patti LaBelle, Lou Rawls, Elton John, Boz Scaggs, Donna Summer, Nancy Wilson, George Benson,  Jimmy Smith,  Amy Grant, Neil Diamond and Kenny Rogers. In 1978 he released his first solo album, “Single.” In 1979 he won his first Grammy award for co-writing “After the Love is Gone,” which was later recorded by Earth, Wind & Fire. During the Chicago/EWF tours in 2004 and 2005, Champlin was asked to perform this song with them, as lead singer.

 

The National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences awarded Bill The Most Valuable Player peer award for male background vocalists in 1980. The following year he won another Grammy for co-writing “Turn Your Love Around” for George Benson, and released his second solo album, “Runaway.”

 

In 1982 he joined Chicago to record “Chicago 16.” His unique and expressive voice can be heard on “Hard Habit to Break” from Chicago 17.

 

Bill’s 1988 recording of the song “In the Heat of the Night” was picked up as the show opener by the TV show of the same name. The following year Chicago released what turned out to be it’s biggest-selling single and their last No. 1 hit, “Look Away,” once again with Bill on lead vocal.

 

Bill released the critically acclaimed “No Wasted Moments” in 1990. That same year he was asked to perform two songs from “No Wasted Moments” at the Tokyo Music Festival and was presented with their Songwriter of the Year award.

 

Four more solo albums followed from Bill’s fertile mind: “Burn Down The Night” (1992), “Through It All” (1994), “He Started To Sing” (1995) and “Mayday” (1996). In July 1997 Chicago topped the adult contemporary chart with “Here in My Heart,” as the band once again turned to Bill for lead vocals. That same year also rendered the release of  “West Coast All Stars,” an a cappella project he did with Jason Scheff of Chicago and Toto’s Bobby Kimball and Joseph Williams.

The Sons of Champlin reunited in 1997, with a loyal group of enthusiastic fans traveling great distances to see them perform. They recorded “Live At The Luther Burbank Center” in 1998, as well as “Secret” (CD and DVD) and “Hip Lil’ Dreams” in 2002.

 

Bill’s solo release “No Place Left To Fall” (CD and DVD), recorded at The Barber Shop Studios in Hopatcong, NJ for the Dream Makers Music label. It was first released by JVC Japan in September 2008, as well as being released for digital downloading, and later released in Europe by Zync Music in December. The U.S. release by Dream Makers came in August 2009.

 

On the heels of that US release and after 28 years with Chicago, Bill parted ways with the band to focus more on his solo career. “This music is callin’ me,” he said.

 

The two-time Grammy Award winner launched a successful West Coast tour in November 2009 with the Bill Champlin Band promoting “No Place Left To Fall.” That was followed by a Sons of Champlin tour in March 2010.