Chris Chameleon

BIOGRAPHY
Chris Chameleon..s solo career kicked off in 2005 and within a year he became one of South Africa..s most successful and popular artists, winning top music awards, achieving critical acclaim and consistently enjoying sold-out shows with a tight performance schedule of up to 5 times a week at venues nationwide and abroad. His sell out shows inspire new and old fans alike, and his dynamic stage personality and distinctive vocal range of 4 octaves, ensures that his audiences experience something entirely exceptional.
Background in brief…
Chameleon’s successes of the last 3 years were proceeded by years of hard work in the entertainment industry. He ventured into music in the early 1990s, forming the band ‘Blue Chameleon.’ Blue Chameleon were at the time one of the few bands in S.A. who were uncompromisingly original and refused to join the predominantly cover band scene.
Blue Chameleon was the precursor to Chris Chameleon’s next band Boo!, one of South Africa’s proudest musical exports. Chameleon was Boo!’sfront man and bassist and 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 (the South African equivalent of a Grammy Award) in 2002 for ‘Best Pop Album.’
Boo! disbanded in late 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 the poetry of iconic 60's poet, Ingrid Jonker. ‘Ek Herhaal Jou’ was nominated for a 2006 South African Music Award in the Best Adult Contemporary Album category and honored with two Vonk Awards for Best Male Album and Best Male Artist 2005 and reached platinum sales status in South Africa.
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’ (‘7th Heaven’) which consists of songs performed by the versatile Chameleon during his two month role on the nation’s favorite local soap opera, 7de Laan. ‘7 de Hemel’ reached platinum sales status within its first 2 months of release (it is now double platinum) and ‘Shine’ has enjoyed top chart success with singles “Blue”, “Saved” “Anywhere” and “Mind Made Up” all over the country. The track “Anywhere” competed against thousands of entries worldwide in the International Songwriting Competition and reached the semi-finals for Best Pop Song in February 2007.
Back home, Chameleon also received a Huisgenoot Tempo Award later in 2006 for ‘Favourite Contemporary Artist – 2006.’ Which was determined by popular vote by the nation’s most widely circulated magazine.
In 2007, South Africa’s primary music video channel, MK89 awarded Chameleon two MK89 awards for both Best Male Video as well as Sexiest Video. He also achieved the rare honour of receiving a Medal of Honour from the South African Academy of Science and the Arts for his contribution in music; and in April, Chameleon took home yet another South African Music Award for Best Contemporary Album at the 13th annual SAMA Awards. His album, ‘Shine’ was also nominated this year for Best Alternative Album and his song ‘Droomland’ was nominated for Song of the Year.
The SAMA nominations in three categories were complimentary to Chameleon’s exceptional ability to produce versatile music that is popular among both his fans and the media. It is a worthy achievement that both two of his albums were noted under South Africa..s best album releases in 2006.
In August 2007, Chris Chameleon signed a record deal with leading Benelux indie label Excelsior Recordings and had an extremely successful tour in October/November 2007 supporting major Dutch act "Spinvis".
In September, Chameleon received further honours from the FAK for Exceptional Cultural Achievement for his contribution to the Afrikaans music world. His production "Klassieke Chameleon" which incorporates more classical arrangements of his own songs as well as classics such as "Caruso" and "O Sole Mio" backed by a flute, drums, cello, double bass, violin, and keyboards, made its debut at the Volksblad Festival in Bloemfontein last July. In September, Klassieke Chameleon had a week-long run at the Aardklop National Arts Festival and won the coveted People's Choice Award of the festival. These awards followed the news of 'Ek Vir Jou' reaching gold sales status!
Chris Chameleon’s talents are not limited to performance and songwriting as he has written monthly columns for both the country’s top music magazine Stage, and the thought provoking magazine called Insig and is currently writing a biweekly column for national newspaper Beeld. As an actor he’s either starred or had supporting roles in over 30 TV and movie productions over the last 17 years.
So as you can see, true to his name, there are many colours to this Chameleon, and music is what keeps his heart pumping. Chris Chameleon has proven that his talent and appeal defy conventional demographics and genrefication. Here is an artist whose relevance extends beyond the local South African scene to include a wider international audience.
If the last year is anything to go by, Chris Chameleon seems set to become one of the most important artists in recent years. Innovative, prolific and endlessly creative, Chris Chameleon is set to take the world by storm!
Check out more photos spanning Chris' career by clicking here!