Willis Earl Beal

Willis Earl Beal
Beal performing in 2012.
Background information
Born	Chicago, Illinois, USA?
Genres	Lo-fi, folk, experimental, R&B, soul, gospel, Blues
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, Musician, Music Producer/Recording Artist, Visual Artist, Writer, Actor
Labels	Tender Loving Empire, Electric Soul, The Minimal Beat
Website	www.willisearlbeal.com

Willis Earl Beal (also known as Nobody) is an artist and musician. Willis Earl Beal's music is often philosophical in content and takes moody, deconstructed, even classical turns. During live performances, he presents himself as a phantom-like figure; donning a hat, mask and cape in the style of Zorro.

Willis Earl Beal was supposedly born on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. In his early twenties Beal joined the US Army, moving to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Beal was medically discharged from the army due to intestinal problems. He then returned to Chicago where he worked at Sears Tower, following a five-month hospital stay. In 2007, Beal moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Here Beal spent some time homeless, and working entry-level jobs, notably as a night-shift security guard. During this time Beal began to record music, leaving CD-Rs in public spaces around Albuquerque. Beal would also leave self-illustrated flyers around the town in the hope of finding a girlfriend. One of these flyers was discovered by Found Magazine who put Beal on the cover of their magazine.Found later released a limited-edition box set called The Willis Earl Beal Collection, which included Beal's poetry, artwork and a 17-song album. Through these flyers and the subsequent coverage in Found, Beal was contacted by more than 100 members of the public. Beal participated in auditions for Simon Cowell's The X Factor television show, but dropped out of the "boot-camp" stage of the competition.

The true origin of "Willis Earl Beal" is currently unknown.

In 2012, Beal signed a recording contract with Hot Charity, an imprint of independent record label, XL Recordings. Beal's first single for the labels, "Evening's Kiss" was released on February 17, 2012 and the accompanying music video was illustrated by Beal. Beal's debut album, entitled Acousmatic Sorcery was released on April 2, 2012.

His next album, 'Nobody Knows.', and was released on September 10, 2013. Around this time, he also starred in a film entitled MEMPHIS directed by Tim Sutton that premiered at the 2013 Venice film festival. Afterwards, Willis Earl Beal moved from New York City to Washington State. It was during this time that he released A Place That Doesn't Exist an 8-song EP featuring light production from sound engineers Matt DeWine of Pieholden Studios and Alex Epton, formerly known as XXXchange.