Bobby Wills is a Canadian country music singer-songwriter. Raised by an adoptive family in Calgary, Wills began expressing a serious interest in music after a well-received performance at an open-mic night, and started to pursue it as a career once he discovered that members of his biological family possessed musical talent. To date, Wills has released four albums – Man with No Past, If It Was That Easy, Crazy Enough, and Tougher Than Love. Many of his singles have made it onto the Billboard Canada Country Chart, including the hits "Somebody Will", "Down by the River", and "Won't You Be Mine", which each peaked at the number 9 spots. In 2013, Wills gained notoriety by winning the Canadian Country Music AssociationRising Star Award. Wills currently lives in Calgary with his wife and children.
Early life
Wills was born in Edmonton, Alberta to teenage parents, and was put up for adoption when he was 18 months old. He was soon adopted and raised by a family from Calgary, Alberta. Wills grew up with his adoptive parents and their biological daughter in Oakridge, a southwest Calgary community. Although Wills had an interest in music during his childhood and teenage years, his adoptive family wasn't musical, so he spent more time focusing on athletics like skateboarding and hockey. When Wills was 18, he registered with an adoption registry with the hopes of being able to connect with his biological family. Wills began to get into music while on a backpacking trip through Australia in the late 1990s. At an open mic night, Wills' friend bet him $20 that he wouldn't go on stage and sing a song with the band. Wills accepted the bet, sang "The Dance" by Garth Brooks, and received an overwhelmingly positive reaction from the crowd. Wills then decided that he wanted to begin to focus on music, and learned to play guitar while still in Australia. When Wills returned home from his travels, he discovered that his biological mother had also registered with the adoption agency, and that she was requesting contact with him. When Wills was 20 years old, he met his birth parents and his five biological siblings, and found that there was a big musical streak in his birth family.
Career
Musical career
After meeting his biological family and discovering that music was in his genes, Wills began to seriously consider pursuing music as a career. He started performing at open mic nights and toured across Canada in a country bar band. He recorded demos in Toronto with Thomas Wade, and then began to split his time between Calgary and Nashville to commit to making country music. While in Nashville, Wills began working with producers Mike Pyle and Walt Aldrige, who helped him develop his craft. Wills released his debut album, Man with No Past, independently in 2010. It produced four singles, including "A Little More Time", which made it onto the BillboardCountry Top 40 Chart. In 2012, Wills signed with On Ramp Records. His second album, If It Was That Easy, was released in November 2012 and distributed by EMI. His single "Somebody Will" peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Canada Country Chart and at No. 91 on the BillboardCanadian Hot 100 Chart. He began to gain acclaim during the 2013 awards season when he was nominated for three Canadian Country Music Association Awards and went on to win the CCMA Rising Star Award. In 2014, Wills released his third album, Crazy Enough, which was recorded entirely at the Music Centre Canada studio in his hometown of Calgary. The singles "Crazy Enough" and "Never Didn't Love You" peaked at No. 13 and No. 14 respectively on the Billboard Canada Country Chart, and at No. 76 and No. 75 respectively on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 Chart. In 2016, he released his fourth album, Tougher Than Love, which he penned while on his Crazy Enough tour. The singles "Won't You Be Mine" and "Down by the River" climbed to the No. 9 spots on the Billboard Canada Country Chart, and his current single "Tougher Than Love" peaked at No. 11. To this day, along with his stage name Bobby Wills, he is known as Robert Blough. He works at Honda West as their General Sales Manager
Artistry
Wills' music is stylistically diverse – while it's rooted in a classic country sound, some of his tracks have rock influences, some have more of a funk appeal, and others are reminiscent of 70's and 80's country crossovers. Wills cites Garth Brooks, George Strait, Keith Whitley, Waylon Jennings, Lefty Frizzel, and Merle Haggard among his musical influences. He believes he got his passion for country music from his adoptive father, who was a big country music fan and listened to country music frequently at home while Wills was growing up.
