Kitt Wakeley is an American Grammy Award-winning composer, songwriter, musician, and music producer. His album, '' Symphony of Sinners & Saints'' (featuring Joe Satriani) peaked at #1 on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

's ''Classical Crossover'' and ''Classical'' charts and at #18 on ''Hot Hard Rock Songs''. Singles, ''Conflicted'', ''Forgive Me'', and ''Sinners and Saints'', all peaked at #1 on

's ''Hard Rock Digital Song Sales'' as well as charting in the ''Top-10 Hot Hard Rock Songs'' chart. He has released four studio albums that feature Nuno Bettencourt,

Nita Strauss Nita Strauss (born December 7, 1986) is an American rock musician. She is currently Demi Lovato's touring guitarist and was a former touring guitarist for Alice Cooper from 2014 to 2022 and has a successful career as a solo artist. Strauss was t ...

, Kenny Aronoff, Andy Timmons, the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

, the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

, and the London Voices, among others. In 2023, Wakeley's ''

An Adoption Story ''An Adoption Story'' is a Grammy-winning classical compendium album by Kitt Wakeley (featuring Starr Parodi). The album reached No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' Classical Crossover Albums chart and features the London Symphony, Joe Satriani, and Wo ...

'', won a Grammy Award for ''Best Classical Compendium''.

Early life and education

Wakeley was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

and grew up in Holdenville, Oklahoma. He completed his bachelor's degree in Pre-Law and Sociology and a Masters in Public Administration from East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma where he was in the Gamma Xi Chapter of

Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of November 2022, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 79 active chapters, 6 Associate chapte ...

in 1987.

Music career

Wakeley is a composer, songwriter, musician, and music producer whose genres have been classified as rock, hard rock, EDM, and orchestral. His professional career began at 16 years old when he was hired to write the intro for one of Oklahoma's top radio DJ's shows. He wrote, produced, and recorded songs for the rock band, ''Mydion''. They released one album, ''Ashes and the Angel''. His first rock and EDM solo album, ''Cinematic Chaos'', was released in 2013 under his pseudo-name, ''AudioKaoz''. His third orchestral rock collection, ''Midnight in Macedonia'' (recorded in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

), featured the Macedonian Choir and Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra, was released in 2015. Wakeley released his fourth solo studio album, ''Symphony of Sinners and Saints'', recorded at the

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, with the Royal Philharmonic and London Voices. The album tour included shows at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

, the Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma, and SXSW (South by Southwest). The first three singles from, '' Symphony of Sinners & Saints'', hit number #1 on Billboard's, ''Rock Charts'', with the album itself hitting #1 on Billboard's ''Crossover Classical'' and ''Classical'' charts. Throughout his career, Wakeley has received numerous awards for his music. In 2019, at the Indie Music Awards he won awards in 8 categories including, ''Best New Male Artist of the Year'', ''Best Special Live Performance'', ''Best Instrumental Producer'', ''Artist of The Year'', and ''Best Instrumental Songwriter'', and others. He won, ''Song of the Year'', at the

Hollywood Music in Media Awards The Hollywood Music In Media Awards (HMMA) is an award organization honoring original music (Song and Score) in all forms visual media including film, TV, video games, trailers, commercial advertisements, documentaries, music videos and special pr ...

and two JMA (Josie Awards) in 2020 for, ''Songwriter of the Year'', and ''Producer of the Year''. In 2021 he was inducted into the, ''Indie Music Hall of Fame'', along with winning, ''Album of The Year'' for ''Symphony of Sinners and Saints''. In 2023, Wakeley's album, ''An Adoption Story'', won a Grammy Award for ''Best Classical Compendium''. The album was recorded at

and features Joe Satriani, the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

and

Wouter Kellerman Wouter Kellerman (born 20 September 1961) is a GRAMMY® Award-winning South African flautist, producer and composer who has won eight South African Music Awards. Using his classical training as a foundation, Kellerman has focused his attention ...

Selected discography

*Mydion – ''Ashes and the Angel'' *AudioKaoz – ''Cinematic Chaos'' *''Midnight in Macedonia'' *''Symphony of Sinners and Saints'' *''Adoption Story''

Billboard charts

Awards

{, class="wikitable sortable" !Year !Nominated Work !Category !Award !Result , - , 2022 , , ''An Adoption Story'' , , Best Classical Compendium, ,

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

, , , - , 2022 , , Live and Recorded Sound , , Outstanding Musical Ensemble, , Josie Music Awards, , , - , 2021 , , ''You Gave Me Wings'' , , Best Instrumental Song , ,

, , , - , 2021 , , '' Symphony of Sinners & Saints'', , Album of the Year, , Josie Music Awards, , , - , 2021 , , , , Indie Music Hall of Fame Inductee, , Indie Music Hall of Fame, , , - , 2021 , , ''Forgive Me'' , , Instrumental Song of the Year, ,

, , , - , 2021 , , , , Outstanding Stage Production, , Josie Music Awards , , , - , 2020 , , , , Musician of the Year, , Josie Music Awards, , , - , 2020 , , ''You Gave Me Wings '', , Best Instrumental , ,

, , , - , 2019 , , ''End of my Journey'' , , Best Gospel Song, ,

, , , - , 2019 , , ''Midnight in Macedonia'' , , Album of the Year , , ISSA (Independent Singer-Songwriter Awards), , , - , 2019 , , ''Closure'', , Best Instrumental Producer, , Indie Music Channel Awards , , , - , 2018 , , ''Closure'', , Best Instrumental Producer , , Indie Music Channel Awards, , , - , 2019 , , ''An Evening in Gotham'' , , Best Instrumental Songwriter , , Indie Music Channel Awards , , , - , 2019 , , ''Closure'' , , Best Male Instrumental Artist , , Indie Music Channel Awards, ,

Personal life

Wakeley is married to Melissa Wakeley. They share four biological children together and adopted three children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wakeley, Kitt Living people 1979 births Musicians from Memphis, Tennessee