Bill Champlin Net Worth + How Get Famous

William Bradford Champlin or Bill Champlin (born May 21, 1947) is an American singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the rock band Chicago from 1981 to 2009. 

He sang on three of Chicago's biggest songs in the 1980s - "Hard Habit to Break" from 1984, and "Look Away" and "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" from 1988. In concerts, he sang the lower vocal parts that Terry Kath, the band's original guitarist who passed away in 1978, used to sing. He has won several Grammy Awards for his songwriting.

Bill Champlin is a music legend known for winning Grammys and creating chart-topping hits. His powerful voice, amazing musical talents, and captivating stage performance have made him popular around the globe.

Champlin got famous as part of the well-known rock band Chicago. He helped make many hit songs like "Hard Habit to Break" and "You're the Inspiration." Over the years, he has worked with popular artists like Earth, Wind & Fire and Boz Scaggs.

Champlin keeps impressing the music scene with his unique voice and amazing skills. He's known for mixing rock, pop, and R&B flawlessly, which has gained him praise from critics and a loyal fan following of all ages.

Early life and education

When Champlin was young, he showed he was good at playing the piano. Later, he learned to play the guitar because of Elvis Presley. During his time at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, California, he formed a band called The Opposite Six. Instead of continuing music studies in college, a professor suggested that he should leave school and focus on a music career.

Sons of Champlin and solo career

The Opposite Six, a band from Champlin's high school, had changed their name to the Sons of Champlin and had made several well-received albums (such as Loosen Up Naturally and Circle Filled With Love) by 1977, although these albums were not very popular. At the age of 30, Champlin relocated to Los Angeles.

Between 1969 and 1970, Champlin wasn't sure about the future of Sons of Champlin. He teamed up with Jerry Miller from Moby Grape to form The Rhythm Dukes after Don Stevenson left. The band gained recognition as an opening act for famous artists and released an album called "Flashback" in 2005.

In Los Angeles, he started working a lot in recording studios. Many people wanted him to sing on their songs, and he was on lots of recordings in the 1970s and 1980s. The National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) gave Champlin the Most Valuable Player award in 1980 for male background vocalists.

Champlin won a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song in 1980 for helping write the popular song "After The Love Has Gone" with Jay Graydon and David Foster, known by the band Earth, Wind & Fire. They won another Grammy Award in 1983 for co-writing the hit "Turn Your Love Around" with Jay Graydon and Steve Lukather, famously performed by George Benson.

In 1979, Champlin was asked by the popular band REO Speedwagon to provide background vocals for some songs on their album Nine Lives, which was their final album with a strong hard-rock sound.

This job helped Champlin meet and work with famous musicians such as Jay Graydon, David Foster, and Steve Lukather from the band Toto. He also collaborated with artists like Al Jarreau, George Duke, Boz Scaggs, Elton John, The Tubes, Lee Ritenour, Amy Grant, and Nicky Trebek. Additionally, he was part of Barry Manilow's 1982 EP called Oh, Julie! and provided background vocals for Manilow's Here Comes the Night.

In 1986, Champlin sang with Patti LaBelle on Last Unbroken Heart for Miami Vice, which was released the same year on the album "Miami Vice II".

In 1991, he provided backing vocals for Kim Carnes' album Checkin' Out the Ghosts (released only in Japan); in 1997, Champlin revived the Sons of Champlin and continued to play with them between tours with Chicago. Throughout the 1990s he released several solo albums and toured Europe and Japan in support of his live solo album "Mayday". 

In 2009, Champlin worked with Manuel De Peppe, an Italian-American who is a composer, singer, actor, and producer. In 2011, Champlin played the Hammond B3 organ on "Moon Cry" and "Mississippi Creek" by Curt Campbell and the Eclectic Beast Band.

He and his second wife, the singer/songwriter Tamara Champlin, were on a tour in Scandinavia with Leon Russell, Joe Williams, and Peter Friestedt. Champlin performed with conductor Lars Erik Gudim and the Norwegian Radio Orchestra in Oslo, Norway. The performance was shown on NRK TV in Norway on December 27, 2011.

From 2014 to 2017 he performed several acoustic shows with Tamara Champlin in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and South and Central America, where they joined the Rock Pack Tour, guested with California Transit Authority featuring Danny Seraphine, played concerts to benefit Eddie Tuduri's Rhythmic Arts Project with the Pockets. 

They performed with other independent artists for the Lone Wolf Entertainment Foundation and reunited with the re-formed Sons of Champlin for a series of shows in the Northwest. In 2017, he and Tamara were included in the Ambrosia & Friends Tour.

Continued solo success

David Foster made two solo albums for Champlin: Single (1978) and Runaway (1981). The albums did not sell well because the record company did not promote them enough, but the second album did have two minor hits on the Billboard Hot 100 ("Sara" and "Tonight, Tonight").

In the '90s, Champlin put out five more solo albums: No Wasted Moments, Burn Down the Night, Through It All, He Started to Sing, and Mayday. The final one was a live recording of his songs, featuring musicians Greg Mathieson, Jerry Lopez, Eddie Garcia, Tom Saviano, and Rochon Westmoreland.

In September 2008, Champlin released "No Place Left To Fall" and a companion DVD in Japan on JVC/Victor. The album was created by Champlin and Mark Eddinger, and included musicians Bruce Gaitsch, George Hawkins, Jr., Billy Ward, Tamara Champlin, Will Champlin, and Eddinger. Guest appearances were made by Steve Lukather, Peter Cetera, Michael English, Jerry Lopez, and talented songwriters and musicians like Jay Graydon, Andreas Carlsson, Diane Warren, Michael Caruso, Tom Saviano, and Dennis Matkosky. The album came out in Europe through Zinc Music in December 2008 and in the U.S. by DreamMakers Music in August 2009.

In January 2021, Champlin released his solo album "Livin For Love" through Imagen Records. The album featured Champlin on keyboard and guitars, along with musicians Bruce Gaitsch, Carmen Grillo, Steve Porcaro, Vinnie Colaiuta, George Hawkins Jr., Greg Mathieson, Gordon Campbell, Lenny Castro, Marc Russo, Alan Hertz, Tal Morris, Jason Scheff, and Abraham Laboriel.

Singers in this group were Bill Champlin, Tamara Champlin, Gary Falcone, Jason Scheff, and Andreas Carlsson. They sang the songs written by Bill Champlin, Tamara Champlin, Bruce Gaitsch, Michael Caruso, Greg Mathieson, Jason Scheff, and Gary Falcone.

Partnership and success with Chicago

In 1978, the band contacted Champlin after Terry Kath's death, asking him to try out as the new guitarist. Champlin declined, saying he couldn't do it.

In the beginning of 1981, Champlin worked with Danny Seraphine, the drummer from Chicago, singing background vocals with Peter Cetera on a project outside of Chicago. Seraphine and Champlin wrote some songs together for Chicago that year, and Champlin was asked to sing one of those songs, "Sonny Think Twice", as a guest singer.

Champlin recommended to Seraphine that David Foster would be a good producer for Chicago back then. Seraphine worked to bring Champlin into the group, and he became a member before 1981 ended.

The band worked with Foster on their next album, Chicago 16, which was certified platinum in 1982. Champlin sang on songs like "Bad Advice," "Follow Me," and "Sonny Think Twice." He also sang with Cetera on "Waiting for You to Decide."

Chicago 17 in 1984 made Champlin more important in the group. He wrote a few songs ("Please Hold On" and "Remember the Feeling") and sang the popular song "Hard Habit to Break" with Cetera.

In 1988, Champlin was featured on popular songs from Chicago 19 like "Look Away," "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love," and "You're Not Alone." He also sang the theme song for the TV show In the Heat of the Night.

In 1990, Champlin wrote, produced, and sang lead on "Hearts in Trouble", a song for the movie soundtrack of Days of Thunder. Originally a solo song, the producers of the movie decided, for marketing purposes, that it be released under the name of Chicago. The band's horn section added a brass arrangement to the track, and subsequently it was released as a single. In the summer of 1990, Chicago launched its Hearts in Trouble Tour.

In 1991, Chicago came out with the album Twenty 1. The album had the popular song "Chasin' the Wind" sung by Champlin. This song reached No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the band's final top 40 hit on that chart.

In 1993, Chicago made an album that was not released until 2008 as Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus. Champlin sings on songs like "Mah-Jong", "Cry for The Lost", "The Show Must Go On", and "Plaid".

Champlin helped out a lot with Chicago's big-band tribute Night & Day Big Band in 1995 and also with the 1998 Christmas album Chicago XXV: The Christmas Album. One of the songs he co-wrote from that album, "What's It Gonna Be, Santa?", was included in the 2003 re-release. Champlin also co-wrote four songs on the band's 2006 album Chicago XXX.

In 2009, Chicago and Champlin said he was leaving the group while they were on tour with Earth, Wind & Fire. Chicago's management said, "Bill Champlin is no longer in Chicago. He was a longtime band member. We wish him the best as he starts his new solo project, which he's put a lot of effort into."

A statement from Champlin's publicist mentioned that Bill Champlin is leaving his longtime band, Chicago, after 28 years. He is now shifting his focus back to his solo career. Champlin later revealed that the decision to part ways was unexpected for him and that he was not involved in making it.

Forming the band Bill Champlin and WunderGround

Champlin started a band in 2018 called "Bill Champlin and the WunderGround." The band had singer-guitarist Gary Falcone, singer Tamara Champlin, bass player Bill Bodine, Ambrosia's drummer Burleigh Drummond, and keyboardist-singer Mary Harris. They released an album named Bleeding Secrets and performed at shows in the Los Angeles, California region to promote and support their music.

Personal life

Bill Champlin lives in Los Angeles, California. He has two sisters, Mimi Champlin and Sally Champlin. Champlin got married in the 1970s and has two children, Bradford Raymond Champlin and Amy Jo Kelly. Since 1982, Champlin has been married to his second wife, singer-songwriter Tamara Champlin. They have a son, Will Champlin, who came in third place on Season 5 (2013) of The Voice.

In 1983, when their son Will was born, Bill and Tamara acted together in the movie Copper Mountain. On September 13, 2016, Champlin's son Bradford passed away from complications of esophageal cancer. He was 51.

Net worth of Bill Champlin

Bill Champlin is a famous American singer, musician, and songwriter. He is rich, with a net worth of $10 million. He was born in Oakland, California in May 1947. Champlin is most famous for his music with Chicago and Sons of Champlin. He plays guitar and keyboards and started a band called The Opposite Six when he was in high school.

That band changed their name to Sons of Champlin and put out their first studio album Loosen Up Naturally in 1969. Their ninth and most recent album Hip Li'l Dreams came out in 2005. Champlin has also put out solo albums like Single, Runaway, No Wasted Moments, Burn Down The Night, Through It All, He Started To Sing, and No Place Left To Fall. Bill's son Will Champlin got third place on season five of the NBC reality TV show The Voice in 2013.