Background and career
Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris (and sometimes under the stage name Love Regenerator), is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer and songwriter. His debut studio album, I Created Disco (2007) was preceded by the singles "Acceptable in the 80s" and "The Girls", both of which achieved commercial success in Europe and Australia. His second album, Ready for the Weekend (2009), debuted atop the official album charts in his native Scotland as well as the United Kingdom, and its lead single, "I'm Not Alone", became his first song to reach number one in the UK Singles Charts. On his early tracks, Harris mostly sang in his songs. Harris rose to international prominence in 2012 with the release of his third studio album, 18 Months, which topped the UK Albums Chart and became his first album to chart on the US Billboard 200, peaking at number 19. In 2014, he released his fourth studio album, Motion, which debuted at number one in his native Scotland, as well as number two in the United Kingdom and number five in the United States. His fifth studio album, Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 (2017) peaked at number two in both the United Kingdom and the United States, also becoming his third consecutive number one-album on the US Dance/Electronic Albums chart. His sixth studio album, Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2 (2022), served as a sequel to his previous release, and achieved commercial success internationally. He holds the Official Charts Company record for most number one singles in the United Kingdom during the 2010s decade, and in 2013 surpassed Michael Jackson and his record for the most top ten singles from one album, achieving nine from 18 Months, against Jackson's seven. In October 2014 Harris 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 UK solo artist to reach more than one billion streams on Spotify. Harris has received 23 Brit Award nominations–winning British Producer of the Year and British Single of the Year in 2019, as well as five Grammy nominations, including a win for Best Music Video in 2013. In 2013 he also received an Ivor Novello Award, 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, and topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid DJs for six consecutive years from 2013 to 2018.
Adam Richard Wiles was born on 17 January 1984 in Dumfries, Scotland, to English parents, who married in their native Oxford before moving to Dumfries. His father worked as a biochemist. He has an elder sister and brother. Wiles attended Calside Primary School then Dumfries High School, and, after leaving school, he stocked shelves in supermarkets and worked in a local fish processing factory 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. Gillespie continues to represent Harris today. Regarding his stage name, the artist has stated that the name 'Calvin Harris' was his stage alter-ego and that he prefers not to be addressed as "Calvin" outside of his performances. Initially tolerant of it as a nickname early in his career, he has since emphasised the importance of being addressed by his real name, Adam Wiles, in all of his personal interactions. "At the start of my career people were meeting me for the first time and I let it slide. It was sort of a nickname". When family and friends began using the stage name, he said, "I was like, I'm sorry this is ridiculous. You're speaking to my alter ego".
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. 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, peaked at number ten 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. The third and final release from the album, "Merrymaking at My Place", peaked at number 43 on the chart. 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 topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks and was 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.
Harris's second album, Ready for the Weekend, was released in August 2009 and entered 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 peaked at 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 topped the UK Singles Chart in August 2009. 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 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 included as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of Sounds from Nowheresville. On 14 November 2009, Harris invaded the stage of the ITV talent competition The X Factor during a live performance by Irish contestants John and Edward Grimes, 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 the track "Too Much".
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."
