Innovative, prolific and endlessly creative, Chris Chameleon is currently being hailed as a phenomenon on the South African Music front. He has a style all his own and a reputation for mesmerizing audiences with his four octave voice range and irresistible stage personality. His versatile and exceptional talent has won him rave reviews and a total of sixteen impressive awards over the past 3 years, including a SAMA and a Medal of Honor from the South African Academy of Science and Arts.
Background in brief
In 1997, Chris Chameleon became the bassist and front man of one of South Africa’s proudest musical exports, Boo! In 7 years Boo! acquired an enormous cult following worldwide by performing 800 gigs in 17 countries, including 14 states in the USA as well as countries such as Hungary and Croatia. Boo! performed at many European and American festivals with the likes of the White Stripes, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, Franz Ferdinand, Cypress Hill, Coldplay and many more. The band also received a South African Music Award (SAMA) in 2002 for ‘Best Pop Album.’
Boo! disbanded in 2004 giving Chameleon the opportunity to go solo and explore his South African roots by releasing the critically acclaimed ‘Ek Herhaal Jou’ (“I repeat you”) a composition of iconic 60's poet Ingrid Jonker's poetry. ‘Ek Herhaal Jou’ was nominated for a 2006 South African Music Award for Best Adult Contemporary Afrikaans Album. ‘Ek herhaal jou’ reached gold status in South Africa in July 2006 and platinum status in December 2007.
Chris Chameleon released his first DVD “Volkleur” a few months after the release of “Ek Herhaal jou” in 2005. “Volkleur” is a perfect showcase of Chris`s phenomenal solo performances. The DVD was recorded at Die Boer in Durbanville and reached gold status in 2006.
2006 saw the simultaneous release of his first English solo rock album, ‘Shine’, an album that is loaded with power, passion and beautiful melodies, and a second Afrikaans album, ‘7 de Hemel’ which consists of songs performed by the versatile Chameleon as the popular character Liam in the nation`s favourite SABC 2 soap opera ‘7 de Laan’. ‘7de Hemel’ reached platinum status within its first 2 months of release. ‘Shine’ produced various chart topping singles on national commercial radio stations and was nominated for a SAMA 2007 Award for Best Alternative Album.
The single “Anywhere” from album ‘Shine’ was entered for the International Songwriting Competition (ISC) and reached the semi-finals in February 2007.
In July 2007, Chris Chameleon released his third Afrikaans album ‘Ek Vir Jou’ which achieved gold status in less than two months after its release. ‘Ek Vir Jou’tells the story of the development of a romantic relationship: from love at first sight to the eventual unravelling of the romance. Chris Chameleon’s extraordinary songwriting ability is apparent in the fact that each of the eleven tracks constitutes strong individual singles, while at the same time they all form part of a chronological whole.
Chris also released a live rock DVD in October 2007: “Flight of an Extraordinary Alien”
Chris Chameleon`s exhilarating stage presence and mesmerizing 4-octave voicework is perfectly captured in this live DVD that was recorded in Stellenbosch Townhall in March 2007. |
