Guy Chambers | |
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Birth name | Guy Antony Chambers |
Born | Hammersmith, London, England | 12 January 1963
Occupations |
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Instrument | Keyboards |
Website | guychambers |
Guy Antony Chambers (born 12 January 1963) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work with Robbie Williams.
Chambers attended Quarry Bank Comprehensive School sixth form in Liverpool. From 18, he studied composition and piano at the Guildhall School of Music, London, where he won the 1985 composition prize. [1]
In December 1985, Chambers joined The Waterboys, touring with them on a tour supporting Simple Minds until the end of the year. [2] [3] Chambers joined World Party in 1986. He co-wrote "Love Street" with Karl Wallinger, who he had replaced in The Waterboys, on the band's album Goodbye Jumbo . He appeared on the Mission's album Carved in Sand , providing the orchestral arrangement and piano for the song "Grapes of Wrath", and was producer for the short-lived group Stress with their debut album.
In 1992, Chambers formed his own band the Lemon Trees and wrote, produced and performed with them until they disbanded in 1995. The band only released one album - Open Book. Following the end of The Lemon Trees, Chambers wrote with Cathy Dennis on Am I the Kinda Girl? and other albums before meeting Robbie Williams in January 1997. Their first work together, Life thru a Lens , was released in September 1997. In the next five years, they produced four other albums: I've Been Expecting You , Sing When You're Winning , Swing When You're Winning and Escapology . Following 2002's Escapology, both Williams and Chambers went on to collaborate with other writers and artists for the next ten years, eventually reuniting for 2013's Swings Both Ways , 2017's The Heavy Entertainment Show and 2019's The Christmas Present .
In 2016, Chambers and Williams teamed up with Chris Heath to compose the music and lyrics for the Royal Shakespeare Company's musical adaptation of David Walliams’ book The Boy in the Dress , which opened in 2019-20 at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon. In 2018, Chambers wrote a children’s folk opera based on the Oscar Wilde short story "The Selfish Giant". He released his debut solo piano album Go Gentle Into the Light on 3 May 2019. It reached number 49 on the UK Albums Chart. [4] In 2021, he composed the score and wrote original songs for Sky Cinema's 'A Christmas Number One'. [5]
Chambers co-wrote a number of Williams' tracks, including "Rock DJ", "Feel", "Millennium", "Let Me Entertain You" and "Angels".
In November 2012, Chambers and Williams were reunited onstage for the latter's shows at the O2 Arena.
The release of Swings Both Ways was announced by Williams in September 2013. It was released in the UK by Island Records on 18 November. The album featured cover versions of well known songs, as well as six new tracks written by Williams and Chambers, who also produced the album. Swings Both Ways also featured duets between Williams and Lily Allen, Michael Bublé, Kelly Clarkson, Olly Murs and Rufus Wainwright. [6] In 2014, Chambers and Williams toured Swings Both Ways, covering Europe, Asia and Australia.
In 2015, Chambers joined Williams on the road for the Let Me Entertain You Tour . The tour began in Spain and travelled through Europe and Asia, reaching Australia in October. They also played at various festivals throughout the summer. In 2016, Williams and Chambers collaborated on The Heavy Entertainment Show which preceded The Heavy Entertainment Show Tour, and in 2019, they collaborated once again on The Christmas Present. Chambers co-wrote and produced tracks off Under the Radar Volume 1, 2 and 3 comprising demos, B-sides and rarities.
In 2002, Chambers wrote "Staring Into Space" for BBMak's second album. In 2003, he co wrote "Melt" with Melanie C on the album Reason , which he co-produced along with Richard Flack.
In 2004, Chambers worked with Beverley Knight, co-writing the songs "Affirmation" (also the title track of the album), "No-One Ever Loves in Vain", "Under the Same Sun" and the top ten single "Come As You Are". He reunited with Knight on the 2009 album 100% and co-wrote the title track "Soul Survivor" that Knight duetted on with Chaka Khan. That same year he co-wrote "Shine" with Kara DioGuardi for Hilary Duff. He also co-wrote and co produced "Silent Movie" with Natasha Bedingfield for her album Unwritten . In the same year, he co-produced American singer-songwriter Aslyn's debut album Lemon Love , and co-wrote the song "Here", and co-wrote 7 songs on Brian McFadden's debut album — including the single "Real to Me", and the follow-up singles "Irish Son" and "Demons".
In 2007, he co-wrote four songs on Anastacia's fourth album Heavy Rotation. He teamed up with Christophe Willem on his second record Cafeine, co-wrote with Matt Hales from Aqualung on the single "Heartbox" and with Cathy Dennis on "Sensitized", a duet with Kylie Minogue, for Willem's record, released in 2009. Additional work that year involved new work with British artists Julian Perretta, Katie Melua, Random Impulse, Marlon Roudette and Taio Cruz.
In 2010, Chambers began working on the single "World Behind My Wall" released by pop/rock band Tokio Hotel. Chambers also co-wrote Tokio Hotel's track, "Pain of Love" which featured on their album, Humanoid . Katie Melua's album The House , released 24 May 2010, included five co-written songs for her new album produced by William Orbit, including "I'd Like to Kill You", "The Flood" (first single), "A Happy Place", "A Moment of Madness" and "Tiny Alien". Chambers also worked on the track "Virtual Friend", co-written with Armin van Buuren for his 2010 album, Mirage .
In 2011, Chambers worked on new material with English singer-songwriters Katy B and Charlene Soraia. He also teamed up with Example, co-writing the song "Microphone" which featured on Example's album, Playing in the Shadows . In the same year, Chambers worked with Marlon Roudette, producing and co-writing her single "New Age". A track Chambers had written with Julian Lennon titled "Never Let You Go" was released on Lennon's album Everything Changes . Chambers collaborated with BBC2 for two three-part programmes: Goldie's Band: By Royal Appointment airing in April and Secrets of a Pop Song which aired throughout July. Through the series, Chambers worked alongside Mark Ronson to create a single, singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright to create a ballad, and British band Noisettes to compose an anthem. Chambers & Wainwright's "World War III" features on the digital version of Wainwright's album Out of the Game .
Chambers has collaborated with Sophie Hunter on two studio albums: the French-language The Isis Project (2005) and the English-language Songs for a Boy (2011).
In 2013, Chambers collaborated with Maverick Sabre in his new West London studio on new material for the artist, as well as working on new material with Rufus Wainwright, and co-writing "Out of Control" with Miles Kane, a track from Kane's second studio album Don't Forget Who You Are . In 2014, Chambers wrote "Crying for No Reason" with Katy B. In 2016, Chambers collaborated again with Kylie Minogue, Marlon Roudette, and Rufus Wainwright, and wrote and recorded with John Newman.
In 2019 Chambers collaborated with Robbie Williams on the music and lyrics for RSC stage show The Boy in the Dress , the stage adaptation of David Walliams's book of the same name.
In 2022, Chambers collaborated with the Austrian musician Trickster on the single Thank Fuck It's Christmas, an expletive-ridden song reflecting the tensions and stress of that year, performed by Trickster alongside the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. [7] They also released a clean version titled Praise Be It’s Christmas, which went viral, with several million views on YouTube. [8] Chambers continued to collaborate with Trickster in producing subsequent music tracks, like Still Kicking and "Silent Night" vs "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". [9]
Chambers will be portrayed by Australian actor Tom Budge in the 2024 biographical film Better Man , based on Robbie Williams' life and career. [10]
On 25 October 2012, Chambers, Steve Rotheram MP and Kenny Dalglish called a press conference in the Houses of Parliament to announce the release of the charity single "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" – a cover of the Hollies track which was aiming to raise funds and awareness for the campaign for justice for the Hillsborough families who lost 96 loved ones in the football disaster of 1989. The single was released on 17 December 2012 and went on to take the Christmas number one position for 2012 on the UK Singles Chart. [11]
Chambers has contributed as a musician, producer and/or writer to the following:
Albums
Singles
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Films
Robert Peter Williams is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, Life thru a Lens, was released in 1997, and included his best-selling single "Angels". His second album, I've Been Expecting You, featured the songs "Millennium" and "She's the One", his first number one singles. His discography includes seven UK No. 1 singles, and all but one of his 14 studio albums have reached No. 1 in the UK. Six of his albums are among the top 100 biggest-selling albums in the UK, with two of them in the top 60, and he gained a Guinness World Record in 2006 for selling 1.6 million tickets in a single day during his Close Encounters Tour.
World Party was a musical group, predominantly the solo project of its sole consistent member, the songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Karl Wallinger. Wallinger started the band in 1986 in London after leaving the Waterboys. At various times, World Party also featured Guy Chambers, David Catlin-Birch, future Oasis drummer Chris Sharrock, Jeff Trott, Amanda Kramer and John Turnbull.
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded eleven studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set Shakespeare's sonnets to music for a theatre piece by Robert Wilson.
Martha Wainwright is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. She has released seven critically-acclaimed studio albums.
I've Been Expecting You is the second studio album by English recording artist Robbie Williams. It was released on 26 October 1998 through Chrysalis Records. The album spawned five singles, including lead single "Millennium", which became Williams' first UK number-one hit.
"Millennium" is a song by English singer Robbie Williams from his second studio album, I've Been Expecting You (1998). On 7 September 1998, it was released as the first track from the album and became Williams' first single to top the UK Singles Chart. The song also received extensive airplay in the United States and Canada, where it was the lead single from Williams' 1999 compilation album, The Ego Has Landed.
"She's the One" is a song by British rock band World Party. It was written and produced by Karl Wallinger for World Party's fourth studio album, Egyptology (1997). The song won an Ivor Novello Award in 1997. It was featured in the 1997 movie The Matchmaker and the 1998 movie The Big Hit. World Party performed the song live on British TV show, Later... with Jools Holland in 1998. Robbie Williams released a cover of the song in 1999, which reached number one in the UK Singles Chart.
"Angels" is a song by the English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams. It was included on Williams's debut solo album, Life thru a Lens (1997), and released as a single on 1 December 1997 by Chrysalis. "Angels" was written by Williams and Guy Chambers, who produced alongside Steve Power. Irish singer-songwriter Ray Heffernan claims the song is based on an earlier song initially written by him called "Angels Instead", which he then reworked with Williams prior to Williams meeting Chambers.
Swing When You're Winning is a swing cover album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, and his fourth studio album overall. It was released in the United Kingdom on 19 November 2001 and peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart.
"Let Me Entertain You" is a single by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, released by Chrysalis as the fifth and final single from his debut solo studio album Life Thru a Lens (1997). It was written by Williams and Guy Chambers. In March 1998, the track peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. It is certified gold for sales of over 400,000 copies.
Marlon Roudette is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is the former front man for the duo Mattafix who had their first number 1, "Big City Life", in 2006. After the group split, Roudette embarked on a solo career with two number one singles in Europe, "New Age" and "When the Beat Drops Out"; the latter made it to number 7 on the UK Singles Chart and is certified platinum. In recent years, he is also known for his co-writing work for artists, including Sinéad Harnett and his half-sister, Mabel. He co-wrote Mabel's hit singles "Finders Keepers" and "Fine Line", as well as the Not3s single "My Lover" and Jax Jones' hit "Ring Ring". He has also co-written tracks featuring Wiley, Tory Lanez, Kranium, Bad Gyal and Busy Signal.
Nigel Stonier is an English rock, roots and pop record producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
Take the Crown is the ninth studio album released by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams. The album was released in the United Kingdom on 5 November 2012 via Island Records.
Swings Both Ways is the tenth studio album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams. It is his second swing album after 2001's Swing When You're Winning; unlike the latter, which had one original composition, this album features an equal mix of both covers and original material. The album marked Williams' first major work with former longtime collaborator Guy Chambers since 2002's Escapology. Chambers produced the album and co-wrote most of the album's new material with Williams.
Vibrate: The Best of Rufus Wainwright, sometimes referred to simply as Vibrate: The Best Of, is the greatest hits album by American-Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released on February 28, 2014 in Australia and Ireland by Universal Music Enterprises and in other nations subsequently. The standard issue of the album includes eighteen songs from six of Wainwright's studio releases, including his self-titled debut album (1998), Poses (2001), Want One (2003), Want Two (2004), Release the Stars (2007) and Out of the Game (2012), plus soundtrack contributions and one previously unreleased track. The deluxe version includes a bonus disc with sixteen rare and unreleased recordings, both live and studio recorded. Featured are "Chic and Pointless", previously unreleased and produced by Guy Chambers, and "WWIII", a song that was co-written by Chambers and had not been released in a physical form until Vibrate.
"Shine My Shoes" is a song by British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams and the third and final single from his tenth studio album Swings Both Ways (2013). The single was released on 24 March 2014. The song was written by Robbie Williams, Guy Chambers and Chris Heath. A vinyl version of the single was released two months prior to the official single release, through robbiewilliams.com.
Dom Search, also known as Dom Nextmen, is a record producer, songwriter, guitarist and DJ based in London.
"Time for Change" is a song by British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, released as the first single from his twelfth studio album The Christmas Present (2019). The single was released in the United Kingdom on 22 November 2019. The song was written by Williams, Guy Chambers, Karl Brazil and Tom Longworth. It was produced by Chambers.
"Can't Stop Christmas" is a song by British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, released as the second single from his twelfth studio album The Christmas Present (2019). The track was not on the original release of the album but was added as the opening track on the second CD of the 2020 reissue. The single was released in the United Kingdom on 20 November 2020. The song was written by Williams, Karl Brazil, Owen Parker, Benjamin Roy Castle and Chris Heath and produced by Guy Chambers and Richard Flack.
Trickster is an Austrian musician living in the UK, known for his eclectic musical style.