William Charles Anderson (born May 5, 1986) is an American singer and songwriter who is best known as the lead vocalist of the American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band Parachute.

Early life

Anderson was born in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

but his family later moved to Charlottesville, Virginia.Will Anderson , ParachuteFan.com , Your Source For Everything ParachuteArchived
2 December 2013 His father, Mark, is a physician and a professor of radiology and orthopaedic surgery at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

. He has two brothers, Charles and John, and a sister, Jane. He began taking piano lessons at a young age and his parents bought him his first guitar as a Christmas present when he was eleven years old. He worked as a lifeguard in both high school and college. Anderson graduated from the University of Virginia in 2008, having majored in music.

Career

Anderson formed the band Sparky's Flaw in high school with his classmates Kit French, Johnny Stubblefield, and Alex Hargrave. He met Nate McFarland while studying at the University of Virginia; they were both members of The Virginia Gentlemen. McFarland joined the band as a lead guitarist and Sparky's Flaw released two independent EPs. They later changed their band name to Parachute. Parachute played many college shows and were signed to

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

during Anderson's third year of college in 2007. Parachute has released five albums since 2009, and has toured with artists including Switchfoot,

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...

NEEDTOBREATHE Needtobreathe (stylized as NEEDTOBREATHE) is an American rock band from Seneca, South Carolina. The band is composed of Bear Rinehart (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Seth Bolt (backing vocals, bass), Josh Lovelace (backing vocals, keys), Randall ...

, Jon McLaughlin, The Script,

Mat Kearney Mathew William Kearney (; born December 1, 1978) is an American musician born in Eugene, Oregon, and based in Nashville, Tennessee. So far, he has a total of five top 20 hits on the Adult Top 40 Chart. '' Just Kids'' was released on February 2 ...

, and

The Goo Goo Dolls ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

Influences

In his teenage years, Anderson was a fan of Ben Folds Five, John Mayer and

Dave Matthews Band Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and bac ...

: "Honestly, I think Dave Matthews Band is pretty much the reason we all wanted to be in a band. They were huge at the time we were coming together." ''

Tragic Kingdom ''Tragic Kingdom'' is the third studio album by American rock band No Doubt, released on October 10, 1995, by Trauma Records and Interscope Records. It was the final album to feature original keyboardist Eric Stefani, who left the band in 1994. Th ...

'' by

No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1986. For most of their career, the band has consisted of vocalist Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young. Since the mid-1990s, the ...

and ''

Motorcade of Generosity ''Motorcade of Generosity'' is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Cake. It was recorded at the Pus Cavern studio in Sacramento, California, and released through Capricorn Records on February 7, 1994. According to ''Pitchfork ...

'' by Cake were the first albums he ever bought. He has named Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Elton John, and Stevie Wonder as his top four songwriting influences, characterizing them as "classic singer-songwriters". He describes Sam Cooke as his favorite singer "of all time".

Personal life

Anderson lived in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

in from 2010 to 2016. "Everything here is about music, at least amongst my friends and I. It's fun to be in a place where everybody is thinking about writing ... and just loves talking about it." He owns a Maltese Chihuahua mix named Eddie. In 2017, Anderson married American poet Courtney Kampa.In November 2022, his wife Courtney passed away in her sleep.

References

External links

* Will Anderson at Twitte

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Will Living people American rock singers Musicians from Sacramento, California 1986 births Singers from California 21st-century American singers