Christopher James Hardman (born 26 August 1990, Lowestoft

Lowestoft

Lowestoft is a town in the English county of Suffolk. The town is on the North Sea coast and is the most easterly point of the United Kingdom. It is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and south-east of Norwich...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 to parents Ian Hardman and Karen Elizibeth Clarke), more commonly known by his stage name Lil' Chris, is an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

, DJ and television personality

Celebrity

A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...

.

Rock School

Chris rose to prominence in January 2006 at the age of 16 after appearing in series two of Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

's Rock School

Rock School

Rock School is a British reality TV series starring Gene Simmons , in which he has a short time to turn a class of school children into a fully fledged rock band, at the end of which they must perform in a supporting slot for a leading rock band.Rock School is made by British production company...

. The TV show saw Gene Simmons

Gene Simmons

Gene Simmons is an Israeli-American entrepreneur, singer-songwriter, actor, and rock bassist. Known as "The Demon", he is the bassist/vocalist of Kiss, a hard rock band he co-founded in the early 1970s.-Early life:...

 (from the band KISS

KISS (band)

Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...

) try to form a rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

 out of a class of children attending Kirkley High School (now East Point Academy

East Point Academy

East Point Academy is an academy located in the Kirkley district of Lowestoft, in the English county of Suffolk. It educates children from ages 11 to 16...

). In the series, Chris was immediately seen as a contender for the band after revealing that he could sing, play guitar, drum, and write songs. Eventually Chris was selected as frontman and lead singer in the line-up for the band (now named "Hoax UK"). In the final episode the band went on to open for Judas Priest

Judas Priest

Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...

, Rob Zombie

Rob Zombie

Rob Zombie is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the...

, and Anthrax

Anthrax (band)

Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981. Founded by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker, the band has since released ten studio albums and 20 singles, and an EP featuring Public Enemy. The band was one of the most popular of the 1980s thrash metal scene...

 at a concert in Long Beach, California

Long Beach, California

Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...

.

Solo career

A week after the performance Chris was contacted by record producers Ray Hedges

Ray Hedges

Ray Hedges from Surrey, England is a songwriter and record producer.Ray Hedges has had over 60 top 20 singles and albums including 6 UK No 1’sas producer and or writer with many on his own record labels....

 and Nigel Butler, who appeared in Rock School to help the class with songwriting. Chris went on to sign a record contract with RCA Records

RCA Records

RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...

 and released his debut single "Checkin' It Out

Checkin' It Out

"Checkin' It Out" was the first single from singer Lil' Chris' debut self-titled album. The song debuted at number nineteen in the UK Singles Chart on 24 September 2006 via download sales alone and peaked at number three the following week. It topped the UK Official Download Chart...

" in September 2006 which reached no. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. After performing a cover of Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake

Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...

's "SexyBack

SexyBack

"SexyBack" is a song by American recording artist Justin Timberlake from his second studio album, FutureSex/LoveSounds . It was released on July 7, 2006, by Jive Records as the lead single from the album...

" on BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

's Live Lounge

Live Lounge

The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio station BBC Radio 1. Originally hosted by Jo Whiley on her mid-morning radio show and now hosted by Fearne Cotton, it exhibits well-known artists usually performing one song of their own and one by another artist, in an acoustic format...

, Chris then released his debut album Lil' Chris

Lil' Chris (album)

Lil' Chris is the debut self-titled album by Chris Hardman, also known as Lil' Chris. The album was co-written by Lil Chris and pop producer/songwriter, Ray Hedges...

in January 2006. Chris continued to promote and release singles from his album throughout 2007, as well as performing as a supporting act for McFly

McFly

McFly are an English pop rock band who first found fame in 2004. The band consists of Tom Fletcher , Danny Jones , Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd . They were signed to the Island Records label from their 2004 launch until December 2007, before creating their own label, Super Records...

 on their 24 date Up Close and Personal tour throughout the UK. Chris also took part in BBC Three

BBC Three

BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...

's Celebrity Scissorhands

Celebrity Scissorhands

Celebrity Scissorhands is a reality show that is part of the BBC's Children in Need charity campaign, in which celebrities attempt to cut people's hair to raise money for the campaign while trained and watched by professional hairdresser Lee Stafford...

and made guest appearances in episodes of CBBC

CBBC

CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...

's SMart

SMart

SMart was a British CBBC television programme based on the subject of art, which began in 1994. The programme was recorded at BBC Television Centre in London, previously it had been recorded in Studio A at BBC Pebble Mill in Birmingham. The format is similar to the Tony Hart programmes Take Hart...

and TMi

TMi

Sam & Mark's TMi Friday was a British children's television show that was presented by Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes . It originally aired on Saturday mornings on BBC Two from its launch on 16 September 2006, until the end of its fourth series on 19 December 2009. Sam & Mark were joined by Caroline...

.

More television work followed in 2008, including appearances on The Weakest Link

The Weakest Link

The Weakest Link is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and will end its run in 2012 when its host Anne Robinson ends her contract. The original British version of the show airs around the world on BBC Entertainment...

, Hider in the House

Hider in the House

Hider in the House was a British children's game show presented by Jason King and Joel Ross . In the programme, a celebrity had to be hidden in a family's house by three children and a parent. If the family have fewer than three children, they use friends or related children to make up the numbers...

, Dani's House

Dani's House

Dani's House is a UK BAFTA-nominated Series produced BBC children's sitcom, starring actress Dani Harmer. The series started broadcast on 26 September 2008, three series have now aired and a fourth is currently being broadcast on CBBC, it started on 16 September 2011. A fifth series was...

and Never Mind the Buzzcocks

Never Mind the Buzzcocks

Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a comedy panel game television show with a pop music theme, currently without a permanent presenter. It stars Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding as team captains. The show is produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC, and is usually aired on BBC Two...

. Chris also compered the 4Music

4Music

4Music is a music and entertainment channel in the United Kingdom and available on some digital television providers in the Republic of Ireland - its web component can be found at with its own and pages. It is the only channel within the Box Television Network to be branded under Channel 4 and...

 stage of the T4 on the Beach

T4 on the Beach

T4 On The Beach is a British one day music event which is held on the beach at Weston-super-Mare and televised for Channel 4. The event began in 2003 as Pop Beach in Great Yarmouth, changing to the current title and venue in 2005....

 music festival in July 2008. In October - November 2008 (after a successful pilot earlier in the year) Chris hosted Everybody Loves Lil' Chris on the T4

T4 (Channel 4)

T4 is a scheduling slot on Channel 4 from about 09:00 until 14:00 on Saturdays and 17:00 on Sundays. It also airs on weekdays in the school holidays. The slot has a separate station identification on screen graphic from Channel 4 and E4. The logo of T4 is noticeably the top right segment of the...

 strand of Channel 4 on Saturday mornings. The show was a mixture of celebrity interviews, live music performances and various 'challenges' that Chris undertook. The airing of the show coincided with the release of Chris's second album Whats It All About in October 2008. He also supported pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 band Alphabeat

Alphabeat

Alphabeat are a Danish pop band from Silkeborg, fronted by singers Stine Bramsen and Anders SG and signed to Polydor Records. Their single "Fascination" was a major hit in Denmark during the summer of 2007 and a significant hit in the United Kingdom in 2008...

 on their Wolfbaggin' tour, throughout the UK.

Throughout 2009, Chris made celebrity appearances as a DJ, visiting various venues around the UK. These included Zanzibar club in Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

 in May 2009, and Tramps Nightclub in Worcester

Worcester

The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...

 in August 2009. In October 2009 Chris made a guest appearance in the BBC1 game show

Game show

A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...

 Hole In The Wall

Hole in the Wall (UK game show)

Hole in the Wall was a game show that airs on BBC One in the United Kingdom. This game is an adaptation of the Japanese game Brain Wall in which players must contort themselves to fit through cutout holes of varying shapes in a large polystyrene wall moving towards them as they stand in front of a...

, and also featured in an episode of the second series of the CBBC

CBBC

CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...

 comedy show Sorry, I've Got No Head

Sorry, I've Got No Head

Sorry, I've Got No Head is a CBBC children's sketch comedy. The programme's cast originally consisted of William Andrews, David Armand, James Bachman, Marcus Brigstocke, Anna Crilly, Justin Edwards, Mark Evans, Mel Giedroyc, Marek Larwood and Nick Mohammed...

. During December 2009 to January 2010, Chris presented the making of Remo Skilla's music video, Stoosh, which was posted on YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

.

Albums

• Lil' Chris
  Lil' Chris (album)
  Lil' Chris is the debut self-titled album by Chris Hardman, also known as Lil' Chris. The album was co-written by Lil Chris and pop producer/songwriter, Ray Hedges...
  
  (4 December 2006) #54 UK
• What's It All About (6 October 2008) #94 UK

Singles

• "Checkin' It Out
  Checkin' It Out
  "Checkin' It Out" was the first single from singer Lil' Chris' debut self-titled album. The song debuted at number nineteen in the UK Singles Chart on 24 September 2006 via download sales alone and peaked at number three the following week. It topped the UK Official Download Chart...
  
  " (September 2006) #3 UK
• "Gettin' Enough??
  Gettin' Enough??
  "Gettin' Enough" is the second single from pop star Lil' Chris' debut self-titled album. Although the song failed to repeat the success of its predecessor "Checkin' It Out" on the UK Singles Chart, it still reached the top twenty, peaking at number seventeen...
  
  " (December 2006) #17 UK
• "Figure It Out
  Figure It Out (song)
  "Figure It Out" is the third single from pop star Lil' Chris' debut self-titled album. It was his first single that failed to reach the Top 40 in the UK...
  
  " (February 2007) #57 UK
• "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off
  We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off
  "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" is pop vocalist Jermaine Stewart's first of three singles from 1986. The song was included on Stewart's second album "Frantic Romantic"...
  
  " (October 2007) #63 UK

External links

• Lil Chris Official Myspace