Lil' Chris

Christopher James Hardman (August 1990 - 23rd March 2015), more commonly known by his stage name Lil' Chris, was a singer-songwriter and television personality. Chris rose to prominence in January 2006 after appearing in series two of Channel 4's Rock School. The TV show saw Gene Simmons (from the band KISS) try to form a rock band out of a class of children attending Kirkley High School (Chris's school). In the series, Chris was immediately seen as a contender for the band after revealing that he could sing, play guitar, drum, and write songs. Eventually Chris was selected as frontman and lead singer in the line-up for the band (now named "Hoax UK"). In the final episode the band went on to open for Judas Priest, Rob Zombie, and Anthrax at a concert in Long Beach, California. A week after the performance Chris was contacted by record producers Ray Hedges and Nigel Butler, who appeared in Rock School to help the class with songwriting. Chris went on to sign a record contract with RCA Records and released his debut single "Checkin' It Out" in September 2006 which reached no. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. After performing a cover of Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack" on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge, Chris then released his debut album Lil' Chris in December 2006. Chris continued to promote and release singles from his album throughout 2007, as well as performing as a supporting act for McFly on their 24 date Up Close and Personal tour throughout the UK. Chris also took part in BBC Three's Celebrity Scissorhands and guest-presented an episode of CBBC's SMart. More television work followed in 2008 including appearances on The Weakest Link, Hider in the House, Dani's House and Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Chris also compered the 4Music stage of the T4 on the Beach music festival in July 2008. In October - November 2008 (after a successful pilot earlier in the year) Chris hosted Everybody Loves Lil' Chris on the T4 strand of Channel 4 on Saturday mornings. The show was a mixture of celebrity interviews, live music performances and various 'challenges' that Chris undertook. The airing of the show coincided with the release of Chris's second album What's It All About? in October 2008. Throughout 2009 Lil' Chris made celebrity appearances as a DJ, visiting various venues around the UK. Since November 2009 Lil' Chris was using his Twitter page to update fans regarding new material. The album would have been called The Sweet Spot and produced by RedOne. His last single, called Christmas Number One, was released in December 2013. On 24th March 2015, it was announced that he had died the day previously, having committed suicide. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.