Wesley Willis

Wesley Willis
Willis in October 2000
Background information
Birth name	Wesley Lawrence Willis
Born	(1963-05-31)May 31, 1963
Origin	Chicago, Illinois
Died	August 21, 2003(2003-08-21) (aged 40) Skokie, Illinois
Genres	Outsider music, electronic, punk rock, alternative
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards
Years active	1976–2003 (as artist) 1989–2003 (as musician)
Labels	Alternative Tentacles, American Recordings
Website	Wesley Willis on Alternative Tentacles

Wesley Willis (May 31, 1963 – August 21, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter and visual artist from Chicago.

Willis began a career as an underground singer-songwriter in the outsider music tradition, with songs featuring his bizarre, humorous and often obscene lyrics sung over the auto accompaniment feature on his Technics KN electronic keyboard.

On August 21, 2003, Willis died due to complications from chronic myelogenous leukemia in Skokie, Illinois. He was 40 years old.

Other websites

• Wesley Willis Biography and MP3s at Alternative Tentacles Archived 2006-04-19 at the Wayback Machine
• monzy.org Wesley Willis Biography including Wesley Willis Song Generator Archived 2006-12-16 at the Wayback Machine
• Press release Archived 2015-01-04 at the Wayback Machine from Willis's good friend Jello Biafra in memory of Willis
• Art of Wesley Willis Archived 2017-12-03 at the Wayback Machine, drawings by Willis of scenes in Chicago, as well as a sampling of his music.
• Wesley Willis Art Archived 2018-11-07 at the Wayback Machine, drawings by Willis of scenes in Chicago
• Loved Like a Milkshake A Wesley Willis tribute album by a variety of artists