Lil' Chris

Christopher James Hardman (26 August 1990 – 23 March 2015), known by the stage name Lil' Chris, was an English singer-songwriter, actor, and television personality. He came to prominence in 2006 after appearing on the Channel 4 series Rock School, which saw KISS vocalist and bassist Gene Simmons make a rock band at Lil' Chris' school. Later that year he released the single "Checkin' It Out", which charted at number 3, and a self-titled album. In 2008 he hosted his own series, Everybody Loves Lil' Chris. He took his own life in March 2015 at his home in Lowestoft after a period of depression.

Early life

Hardman was born in Lowestoft, Suffolk, the son of Ian Hardman, a slaughterhouse worker, and Karen Elizabeth Hardman (née Clarke), a supermarket worker. He had an older sister, Hannah, and a younger brother, Nathan.

He gained the nickname 'Lil' Chris' because at 4'11" at age 15 he was the shortest boy in his year at Kirkley High School.

Career

Rock School

Hardman rose to prominence in January 2006 at the age of 15 after appearing in series two of Channel 4's Rock School. The show saw Gene Simmons (from the band KISS) try to form a rock band out of a class of children attending Kirkley High School (now East Point Academy). In the series, Hardman was immediately seen as a contender for the band after revealing that he could sing, play guitar, drum and write songs. Eventually Hardman was selected as frontman and lead singer in the line-up for the group (now named "Hoax UK" after the slogan on Hardman's cap). In the final episode the group went on to open for Judas Priest, Rob Zombie and Anthrax at a concert in Long Beach, California.

Chris

Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Unlike these names, however, it does not indicate the person's gender although it is much more common for males to have this name than it is for females.

It is the preferred form of the full name of such notable individuals as Chris Tucker and Chris Penn. To find an article about one of these people, see List of all pages beginning with "Chris".

The word is also part of phrases, including Tropical Storm Chris, Ruth's Chris Steak House, and many more which refer to notable people, places, and things. For a list of these, see All pages with titles containing chris.

People with the given name

Chris Brown

Christopher Maurice "Chris" Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, dancer, rapper and actor. Born in Tappahannock, Virginia, he was involved in his church choir and several local talent shows from a young age. Having signed with Jive Records in 2004, Brown released his self-titled debut studio album the following year. It peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200 and was later certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). With his first single "Run It!" peaking atop the US Billboard Hot 100, Brown became the first male artist as a lead since Diddy in 1997 to have his debut single top the chart. His second album Exclusive (2007) spawned his second Hot 100 number one "Kiss Kiss", in addition to "With You" and "Forever". The album was also certified double platinum by the RIAA.

In 2009, Brown received much media attention after pleading guilty to felony assault of his then girlfriend, singer Rihanna; he was sentenced to five years of probation and six months of community service. His third album Graffiti was released later that year, and included the top-twenty single "I Can Transform Ya". Brown's fourth album F.A.M.E. (2011) became his first to top the Billboard 200; it spawned the successful singles "Yeah 3x", "Look at Me Now", and "Beautiful People". F.A.M.E. earned Brown his first Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 54th Grammy Awards. His fifth album Fortune was released in 2012. However, after the release of Exclusive, Brown's albums have not been well received commercially or by music critics, with the exception of X, which received a normalized rating of 63. Brown's seventh studio album Royalty was released on December 18, 2015.

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are also cases where songs are used in tie in marketing campaigns that allow them to become more than just a song. Tie ins and merchandising could be used in toys are marketing campaigns for food and other products. Although the origins of music videos date back to musical short films that first appeared in the 1920s, they came into prominence in the 1980s when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip" or "film clip". Since the creation and increased popularity of YouTube, mainstream artists now promote new music videos by releasing trailers of short promos on the site for their upcoming song and music video. Consequentially, YouTube has been converted into a social media platform for celebrities and artists to market themselves to their fans and audiences.

I Can Only Imagine

I Can Only Imagine may refer to: