Celebrity,  Entertainment,  Music

From Viral Internet Sensation to Established Artist: A Study on Greyson Chance

Photo courtesy of the Official Greyson Chance website.

TRIGGER WARNING.

Picture it. It’s 2010, Tangled and Ramona and Beezus premiere in theaters for the first time. Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam and Starstruck premiere for the first time on Disney Channel. Victorious premieres on Nickelodeon. A 12-year-old boy goes viral for singing Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi on YouTube. Who was that boy? That boy, well young man now, is Greyson Chance. I remember this like it was yesterday. It’s honestly surreal writing this because this is bringing back so much nostalgia for me. Today, I thought I would go through the whirlwind career Greyson Chance has had so far dating all the way back to that viral YouTube video. Let’s get into this.

Greyson Chance was born on August 16, 1997 in Wichita Falls, Texas. He grew up as a Catholic in Edmond, Oklahoma. He is the youngest out of his 2 siblings, Alexa and Tanner, who are also musically inclined. Chance began playing the piano when he was just 8-years-old.

Chance posted his cover of Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi on YouTube on April 28, 2010. Ironically, the video generated low views at first that is until multiple media outlets started embedding it into their articles. Ryan Seacrest, Ashton Kutcher, and Ellen Degeneres were the famous faces who shared the video. If you’re familiar with Greyson Chance, you know what happens next but if you’re not, let me explain. He was invited to perform on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Chance taped an interview with DeGeneres, had a surprise chat with Lady Gaga over the phone, and performed Paparazzi for DeGeneres and her audience. The video currently has over 70 millions views.

The interview aired on May 13, 2010 and he appeared on the talk show for the second time on May 26, 2010. He performed his original song, Broken Hearts, received a brand new Yamaha piano, signed with DeGeneres’ new record label, and won $10,000 for winning a content she held. He released his first single, Waiting Outside the Lines, on iTunes on October 26, 2010.

On May 17, 2011, Chance released his second single, Unfriend You, on iTunes. 5 days later, he returned to The Ellen DeGeneres Show to perform the song for the first time. The music video features pop icon Ariana Grande who’s recognizable because her iconic red hair which was for her Victorious character, Cat Valentine.

On August 2, 2011, his first album, Hold On ‘Til the Night, was released.

Between 2014 to 2018, Chance would release a slew of singles. He attended the University of Tulsa and studied history while working on his career as a musician but he did eventually drop out to focus on music.

In 2017, Chance came out in a heartfelt Instagram post as gay in the hopes that it would inspire others to be their authentic selves.

He would go onto release his sophomore album, Portraits, on March 15, 2019. In June 2019, he signed with Sony Music Global and Arista Records due to his independent success.

In an interview with People, he details his ongoing battle with anorexia: “Not only do I finally feel confident to talk about it, but I want to create a crack in this stigma and this taboo about eating disorders,” he says. “I want people to realize that this is something that’s affecting a lot of people.”

He wrote an insightful Instagram post on the matter as well.

Chance’s third studio album, Palladium, was released on September 22, 2022.

There’s a reason why I’m writing this piece and that’s because Rolling Stone recently published an interview with the singer who revealed who Ellen DeGeneres really is. He told the media outlet that he “never met someone more manipulative, more self-centered, and more blatantly opportunistic” than her which is unfortunate but not surprising to me. He details how she was insanely “controlling” and how she wanted him to emulate Justin Bieber’s career.

In 2012, Chance’s music and ticket sales began to underperform and the record label dropped him. Then, the dominoes started to fall. His publicist and management team dropped him too. Chance told Rolling Stone that DeGeneres “completely abandoned” him. “I couldn’t get ahold of her. I couldn’t talk to her,” he said. “Whenever I would come on the show, it was such a fake smile. She wouldn’t even ask, ‘How are you doing? How are you holding up?’ It was just like, ‘Here’s what we’re going to talk about. We’ll see you on there.'”

He would appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show yet again in 2019 for a performance and interview. He said DeGeneres didn’t bring up the lack of communication on her end at all while he was at the show. He goes on to say: “She came out during soundcheck and she looked at me, hugged me,” he recalled. “And she said, ‘How have you been?’ And that just killed me inside because I was like, ‘What do you mean how have I f*cking been? Where have you been?'”

During that 2019 interview, Chance claimed that DeGeneres was trying to take credit for his journey when he “hadn’t spoken to her in years.” 

He was invited back to the show in 2022 for the farewell season but declined to come back. He was reportedly offered another 2 times to come back. He has maintained a relationship with Lady Gaga who’s been more supportive of Chance’s career than DeGeneres ever was.

I’m hoping that he’ll come out with more music in the near future. I’m still processing everything that he’s gone through. He was so young when he first started out and never deserved to go through any of that unnecessary pressure.

For now, feel free to check out Palladium. It’s available to listen to wherever you listen to music. 

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