Adam Richard Wiles (born January 17, 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris, is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. He is known for his singles "We Found Love", "This Is What You Came For", "Summer", "Feel So Close", and "Feels". His collaboration with Rihanna, "We Found Love", became an international success, giving Harris his first number one single on the US Billboard Hot 100. He has released five studio albums and runs his own record label, Fly Eye Records, which he founded in 2010.
His debut studio album, I Created Disco, was released in June 2007. Its singles "Acceptable in the 80s" and "The Girls" both reached the top 10 in the UK. In 2009, he released his second studio album, Ready for the Weekend, which debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and whose lead single, "I'm Not Alone", became his first song to top the UK Singles Chart. In 2012, Harris rose to international prominence with the release of his third studio album, 18 Months, whch topped the UK Albums charts and became his first album to chart on the US Billboard 200, peaking at number 19. All eight of the album's singles reached the top 10 in the UK, breaking the record for the most top 10 songs from one studio album on the UK Singles Chart with eight entries, surpassing Michael Jackson's record. In 2014, he released his fourth studio album, Motion, which debuted at number two in the UK and number five in the US. In 2017, he released his fifth studio album, Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1, which reached the top 2 in the UK and the US and became his third consecutive number one album on the US Dance/Electronic Albums chart.
In October 2014, he became the first artist to place three songs simultaneously on the top 10 of Billboard's Dance/Electronic Songs chart. He also became the first British solo artist to reach more than one billion streams on Spotify. Harris has received twelve Brit Award nominations–winning British Producer of the Year in 2019, and four Grammy nominations–winning Best Music Video in 2013. In 2013 he also received the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors, and was named the Top Dance/Electronic Artist at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards. He appeared on Debrett's 2017 list of the most influential people in the United Kingdom. He topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid DJs for six consecutive years from 2013 to 2018.
Early life and beginnings
Adam Richard Wiles was born on 17 January 1984 in Dumfries, Scotland. His English parents, David Wiles, a biochemist, and Pamela Wiles (née Noon), a housewife, married in Oxford before moving to the Dumfries suburb of Georgetown. He has an elder sister, Sophie, and an elder brother, Edward. He attended Dumfries High School, and, after leaving school, he stocked shelves in supermarkets and worked in a local fish processing factory in order to buy DJ gear.
He was first attracted to electronic music in his teens and began recording bedroom demos in 1999. When Harris was 18, he released two songs, "Da Bongos" and "Brighter Days". Both were released as 12-inch club singles and CD-EPs by the label Prima Facie in early 2002 under the name "Stouffer". With these singles to his credit, Harris moved from Scotland to London, hoping to learn from the local music scene. Only one of his songs, "Let Me Know" with vocalist Ayah Marar on the Unabombers' 2004 live-mix CD Electric Soul, Vol. 2, was released during his time in London. With the lack of job opportunities and money, he returned home to Dumfries and began posting homemade solo recordings to his Myspace page. His popularity on the social media website prompted Mark Gillespie, a talent booker for the dance-festival firm Global Gathering who had recently founded his own management firm, to make Harris the company's first signee. Regarding his choice of his stage name, Harris stated that, "My first single was more of a soul track, and I thought Calvin Harris sounded a bit more racially ambiguous. I thought people might not know if I was black or not. After that, I was stuck with it."
Career
2006–2008: Career beginnings and I Created Disco
Harris signed contracts with Three Six Zero Group (management), EMI (publishing), and Sony BMG (recording) in 2006 after he had been discovered on the social networking website Myspace. Later in 2006, Harris produced a remix of All Saints' single "Rock Steady".
Harris's debut album, I Created Disco, was released in June 2007. He started working on the album in 2006 after he moved back from living in London to his hometown of Dumfries, Scotland. All 14 tracks were written, produced, and performed solely by Harris, and all recording and producing for the album took place on an Amiga computer. To promote I Created Disco, Harris embarked on a tour of the UK, supporting Faithless and Groove Armada. I Created Disco was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). It reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart and number 19 on the US Top Electronic Albums.
The album contained uptempo electroclash songs that were influenced by music from the 1980s. The song, "Vegas", was issued on limited edition vinyl. The first wide-release single from the album was released in March 2007. "Acceptable in the 80s", a tribute to the style and culture of the decade, reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, remaining on the chart for 15 weeks. "The Girls", the album's second single, peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart and at number four on the Scotland chart. The third and final release from the album, "Merrymaking at My Place", reached number 43.
The same year, Harris caught the attention of Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue after his recordings had been passed on to her by another record producer. This led to him co-writing and producing two songs, "Heart Beat Rock" and "In My Arms", on her 2007 album X, the latter becoming a top 10 single in the UK. Harris said that working with Minogue was "surreal, but fun" although he admitted to Mixmag in 2007 to "needing a few drinks before meeting her". Harris also contributed the song "Off & On" to Róisín Murphy's album Overpowered, but it was cut from the album. Harris would later give the song to Sophie Ellis-Bextor to record for her 2011 album Make a Scene. Harris also produced a remix of the second single "4th of July (Fireworks)" from Kelis' album Flesh Tone. He additionally reworked singles by Jamiroquai, Groove Armada, All Saints, and CSS.
In 2008, Harris collaborated with rapper Dizzee Rascal on his single "Dance wiv Me", producing the track and singing the hook. The single reached number one in the UK and has been certified platinum by the BPI, selling 600,000 copies. It was shortlisted for the 2008 Popjustice £20 Music Prize. In 2009, it received a Brit Award nomination for British Single and an Ivor Novello Award nomination for Best Contemporary Song. On 18 October 2008, Harris was featured on BBC Radio 1's Essential Mix on a two-hour set.
2008–2010: Ready for the Weekend
Harris's second album, Ready for the Weekend, was released in August 2009 and debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, being certified gold by the BPI within two months of release. Eleven of the fourteen tracks on the album were sung, produced, and written solely by Harris. "I'm Not Alone", released as the album's lead single in April 2009, debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. The follow-up single, "Ready for the Weekend", reached number three. The third single, "Flashback", featuring Jordanian singer Ayah Marar reached number eighteen in the UK. During promotion of the album, Harris hosted a series of videos on YouTube titled JAM TV, in which musicians such as Florence Welch, Goldie, and Katy Perry tried to open pots of jam. At the 2010 Brit Awards, Harris received a nomination for Best British Male.
On 8 February 2010, "You Used to Hold Me" was released as the fourth and final single from the album. It reached number 27 on The UK Singles Chart. The song marked the last time Harris regularly sang on his records, opting to focus more on music production while having guest singers provide the vocals for him. The same year, shortly after his "Ready for the Weekend tour" wrapped up, Harris parted ways with members of his band in which he served as lead vocalist and made the decision to stop doing live shows. In an interview with Billboard, Harris said that, "I thought I'd exhausted every avenue [on the two albums] and it takes a long time to make me sound good, which is why I stopped singing live as well. I'd like to think of someone who's better-looking, a better singer, better dancer to be the frontperson for the song." He also released several remixes, including remixes of Shakira's "She Wolf", Katy Perry's "Waking Up in Vegas", Mr Hudson's "Supernova" (featuring Kanye West), and Mika's "We Are Golden".
Harris also produced Dizzee Rascal's next single titled "Holiday", which reached number one on the UK singles chart. Harris made a guest appearance as vocalist on Tiësto's song "Century" on the Dutch producer's album, Kaleidoscope. Harris also produced and mixed the English duo The Ting Tings' single Hands which was released on 18 August 2010. The song was originally set to become the first single of the duo’s second studio album, but they cancelled the album plans and the song was added as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of Sounds From Nowheresville. On 14 November, Harris invaded the stage of the UK's The X Factor during a performance by Irish duo Jedward, holding a pineapple on his head. He later apologised on Twitter.
Harris claimed that Chris Brown's "Yeah 3x", released in October 2010 plagiarised his 2009 single "I'm Not Alone." After considering similarities between the two songs, Harris was subsequently added to the songwriting credits on the single and the F.A.M.E. album. Harris was also featured on Kylie Minogue's eleventh studio album, Aphrodite, collaborating on a disco and synthpop track titled "Too Much." In July 2010, he released a mix titled L.E.D. Festival (short for L.E.D. Festival Presents... Calvin Harris).
2011–2013: 18 Months and international prominence
In 2011, Harris toured as a support act for the European leg of Barbadian singer Rihanna’s Loud Tour. Rihanna was quoted as saying, "Calvin is the perfect fit for the Loud Tour. He is going to bring something unique and fun for the fans." Harris played the 2011 Mardi Gras Party in Sydney on 5 March. Harris was also featured on LMFAO's album Sorry for Party Rocking, appearing on the track "Reminds Me of You," which is based on Harris's own song "Awooga." Harris produced Tinchy Stryder's second single, "Off the Record," from his fourth studio album, Full Tank. The track had its premiere on 15 September 2011 and was released in the UK on 6 November 2011.
Harris released the single "Bounce", the first single from his upcoming album, a collaboration with Kelis that debuted at number two on the UK Singles Chart in June 2011. "Feel So Close", the second single from the album, was released in August 2011 and also reached number two in the United Kingdom. "Feel So Close" became his first solo entry on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, peaking at number 12. He performed at the 2011 Jingle Bell Ball concert and was announced as one of the headline acts at a number of Southern Hemisphere 2011/2012 new year music festivals.
Following a stint as the support act on the Australian leg of Rihanna’s tour, Harris produced Rihanna’s songs "We Found Love" and "Where Have You Been". The former was included on Harris's upcoming album 18 Months and premiered on Capital FM radio in the UK on 22 September 2011. "We Found Love" topped the charts in 27 countries worldwide, including the UK where it became Harris's third UK number one, peaked in the top 10 in 30 countries, and broke many records worldwide. Topping the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 non-consecutive weeks, it was Harris's first US number one and was also Rihanna's longest-running US number one and the longest-running number one of 2011. "We Found Love" was later ranked number 24 on the list of the all-time top 100 songs on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2013, "We Found Love" was placed at number three on Billboard's top 10 dance-pop collaborations of all time.
Harris co-wrote and co-produced the bonus track "One Life" for R&B singer Mary J. Blige's album My Life II... The Journey Continues (2011). He also worked with the pop band Scissor Sisters on the single "Only the Horses" from their fourth studio album, Magic Hour. He wrote and produced Cheryl Cole's single "Call My Name", the lead single from her third album A Million Lights. He also produced a remix of Florence and the Machine's "Spectrum" titled "Spectrum (Say My Name)". The song was released as the album's fifth single on 5 July 2012. It was serviced to radio in the UK on 2 July 2012. It became the group's first single to peak at number one on the UK Singles Chart.
"Let's Go" featuring Ne-Yo, the third single from the album, was released in April 2012 and reached number two in the UK Singles Chart. It was his second US Billboard Hot 100 appearance as a main artist, charting at number 17. The song received a nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 55th Grammy Awards which was held in February 2013. The album's fourth single "We'll Be Coming Back" was released in July 2012. Featuring rapper Example, it peaked at number two in the UK. The fifth single, "Sweet Nothing", features Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine and was released on 14 October 2012. It peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart and at number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song received a nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 56th Grammy Awards.
His third studio album, 18 Months, was released on 29 October 2012. Harris eventually made UK chart history by becoming the first artist to attain eight top-10 singles from one studio album, breaking the record previously set by Michael Jackson. In March 2017, the record was surpassed once again by Ed Sheeran, after his album ÷ spawned 10 top-10 songs on the UK chart. 18 Months received a nomination for Best Dance/Electronica Album at the 56th Grammy Awards. Harris was also nominated for Best British Male Solo Artist at the 2013 Brit Awards in February.
Harris was the house DJ at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards held at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, where he won Best Electronic Video for "Feel So Close" and Video of the Year alongside Rihanna for "We Found Love". Harris performed as part of the post-race concert of the 2013 Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix in April 2013. At the 2013 Ivor Novello Awards held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London in May, Harris received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year, with Harris calling it "easily the greatest achievement of my entire life". In 2012, Harris made statements explaining why he wanted to stop singing on tracks stating, "I want each track as good as it can possibly be, which usually means me not singing on it."
2013–2015: Motion and "How Deep Is Your Love"
On 7 October 2013, Harris and Swedish DJ Alesso released a collaborative single with synthpop duo Hurts called "Under Control" as the first single from his fourth album. The song debuted at number one in the UK. Later that month, Harris remixed The Killers' song "When You Were Young" for the deluxe edition of their greatest hits album Direct Hits. He unveiled the full six-minute version through Rolling Stone and told the magazine: "It was a real honour to be asked to remix one of my favourite modern bands, and it was an exciting challenge for me to update this classic track for the dance-floor in a tasteful and respectful way".
On 14 March 2014, Harris's song "Summer" premiered on the UK's Capital FM. The track which was released as the album's second single debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Harris's sixth UK number-one single. It also became Harris's highest-charting solo single on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number seven. "Summer" was Spotify's most-streamed track of 2014 with over 200 million streams. Harris also produced the single "I Will Never Let You Down" for British singer Rita Ora. On 18 May 2014, the song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, two weeks after his song "Summer" debuted at the top of the charts.
In April 2014, Harris performed on the main stage of Coachella Festival. His set attracted the second largest crowd in the festival's history, topped only by the 2012 set of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg which featured a hologram of Tupac Shakur. That year, he was also a headline act at several prominent music festivals, including Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits Music Festival, the iTunes Festival in London, Electric Daisy Carnival, and the iHeartRadio Music Festival.
The third single, "Blame", was a collaboration with vocalist John Newman. It was released in September 2014 to positive reviews from music critics and debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, giving Harris his third consecutive UK number-one single (and his seventh solo single overall). After the release of the song, Harris became the first British solo artist to reach more than a billion streams on Spotify. Later that month, Harris uploaded an instrumental track called "C.U.B.A." to SoundCloud. "Outside", the fourth single from the album, featuring Ellie Goulding, was released in October 2014. It marked the second collaboration between Harris and Goulding, following the internationally successful single "I Need Your Love" from 2013. The instrumental track "Slow Acid" was released as a promotional single from the album on 14 October 2014.
His fourth album, Motion, was released on 4 November 2014. It includes the previously released singles "Under Control", "Summer", "Blame", and "Outside". Another track from the album, "Pray to God", featuring rock band trio Haim, was released on 11 February 2015. At the 2015 Brit Awards, "Summer" was nominated for Best British Single and British Artist Video of the Year. At the 2015 Glamour Awards in London on 2 June, Harris was named Glamour UK's Man of the Year. He was also ranked 6th on Billboard's Top 30 EDM Power Players. The same month, he was part of the main stage line-up at the Electric Daisy Carnival held in Las Vegas.
On 17 July 2015, Harris and London-based production trio Disciples released the single "How Deep Is Your Love". The song peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, giving Harris his 19th top-10 entry in the UK. It peaked at number one on the ARIA Charts, giving Harris his first chart-topper in Australia. The song peaked at number three on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs in the US and marked Harris's eighth top-10 entry since the chart's launch, making it the most of any act. In September, Harris was featured on Dillon Francis's EP This Mixtape Is Fire, collaborating on a Moombahton-style track entitled "What's Your Name". At the 2016 Brit Awards, Harris received three nominations: Best British Male Solo Artist, "How Deep Is Your Love" for British Single of the Year, and Best British Video.
2016–2017: Single releases and Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1
Harris released a new single titled "This Is What You Came For", which features Rihanna, on 29 April 2016. The single debuted at number two on the UK Singles Chart. It peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Harris's second top five song. It also reached number one on the US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, became Harris's tenth number one on sister chart Dance/Mix Show Airplay and his fourth chart-topper on the Hot Dance Club Songs Chart. It topped the charts in Australia, Canada, and the Republic of Ireland and peaked within the top ten of the charts in Germany, Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland.
On 24 June 2016, Harris released a collaboration with Dizzee Rascal, titled "Hype". On 8 July 2016, John Newman released the track "Olé", which was produced by Harris. On 16 September 2016, Harris released "My Way", where he also performed vocals for the song.
On 21 February 2017, he announced the song "Slide", his collaboration with American singer-songwriter Frank Ocean and hip hop group Migos. The song was released on 25 February 2017. Harris released a collaboration with Young Thug, Ariana Grande, and Pharrell Williams titled "Heatstroke" on 31 March 2017. In May, he announced that his forthcoming fifth studio album, Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1, would be released on 30 June 2017. The album featured appearances from the likes of Travis Scott, Kehlani, Future, Katy Perry, Big Sean, John Legend, Khalid, Schoolboy Q, DRAM, Nicki Minaj, Lil Yachty, Jessie Reyez, PartyNextDoor and Snoop Dogg.
2018–present: Upcoming sixth studio album
On 8 February 2018, Harris collaborated with PartyNextDoor to release a dancehall-influenced house track titled "Nuh Ready Nuh Ready". On 6 April 2018, he released "One Kiss" with Dua Lipa. On 17 August 2018, the next single "Promises" was released with Sam Smith. The music video for the song was released on 4 September and honors the LGBTQ community with references to the ball scene and voguing. In November 2018, he released "I Found You", a collaboration with Benny Blanco. The song features his first time singing on a track since his 2016 single "My Way". It peaked at number 29 in the UK. He topped Forbes’ Highest-Paid DJs of 2018, becoming his sixth consecutive year to top the list (2013–2018).
His next single "Giant", a collaboration with English singer Rag'n'Bone Man was released in January 2019, peaking in the top 10 in several countries, including at number 2 in the UK. Harris is scheduled to perform every Friday as the resident DJ in Ibiza at Ushuaia from August to September.
This page was created by Flugmented on November 13, 2019.
