Greyson Chance

Greyson Michael Chance is an American singer-songwriter who first gained national attention in 2010 as a child performer. His piano cover of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" became a viral video on YouTube, eventually surpassing 72 million views. Following his internet exposure, he became the first artist signed to Ellen DeGeneres' record label imprint, eleveneleven, and embarked on a professional music career.

Chance was born on August 16, 1997, in Wichita Falls, Texas, and was raised in a Catholic household in Edmond, Oklahoma. He is the youngest child of Scott and Lisa Chance and has two older siblings who also create music. Chance began taking piano lessons at eight years old and played the instrument for several years before achieving public fame.

In May 2010, Chance's YouTube performance attracted widespread media attention and endorsements from prominent figures, leading to an invitation to perform on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. He subsequently received a $10,000 contest award, a new piano, and a recording contract with eleveneleven in a joint venture with Maverick, Streamline, and Geffen Records. In October 2010, he released his debut commercial single, "Waiting Outside the Lines."

Chance released his debut studio album, Hold On 'til the Night, in August 2011. The album peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200 chart. To promote his early music, he embarked on concert tours across North America and Southeast Asia. During this period, he also made his acting debut playing a younger version of the main character in the television comedy series Raising Hope. In August 2012, he was named Most Popular New International Artist of the Year at the MTV-CCTV Mandarin Music Awards in Beijing.

Over the following years, Chance released the extended plays Truth Be Told Part 1 in 2012 and Somewhere Over My Head in 2016. In 2019, he independently released his synth-pop second studio album, Portraits. Following its success, he signed a record deal with Sony Music Global and Arista Records. He later released his third studio album, Trophies, in 2021, and his fourth album, Palladium, in 2022. That same year, he was cast in his feature film debut, Maybelline Prince.

In addition to his music career, Chance briefly attended the University of Tulsa as a history major before leaving to focus on his music. In July 2017, he publicly came out as gay, and he has also spoken publicly about his experiences with anorexia nervosa. Chance has continued to tour internationally, including announcing the Gold Tour in 2025 and releasing a lead single in 2026 for an upcoming album titled Boystown.