13 Facts About Wesley Willis

Wesley Lawrence Willis was an American musician and visual artist.

Wesley Willis' songs are typically partially spoken in an MC style, and partially sung in a nasal and out-of-tune manner reminiscent of punk rock vocals.

Wesley Willis's songs cover a wide variety of topics, with mental illness and consumerism being the most prominent themes.

Wesley Willis is best known for songs such as "Rock N Roll McDonald's" as well as a series of songs where he would directly insult his demons.

Wesley Willis gained a large cult following in the 1990s, particularly after the release of his 1995 Greatest Hits album on the Alternative Tentacles label.

Wesley Willis was a visual artist long before he developed an interest in music, and produced hundreds of intricate, unusual, colored ink-pen drawings, most of them depicting Chicago streetscapes; he frequently sold these on the street for between $20 and $40.

Wesley Willis was born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 31,1963, to Walter and Annie Wesley Willis.

Wesley Willis had a brother named Ricky, who is a disabled artist; he has another brother, Jerry, who worked as an exterminator as of 2014.

Wesley Willis was known for his ability to draw from memory a completely different location than the one in which he was sitting.

However, after his death, Wesley Willis began to receive recognition in the art community for his large body of visual art.

In early 1994, Wesley Willis recorded with the Canadian industrial-metal band Monster Voodoo Machine and appeared on their Juno Award-winning debut studio album Suffersystem.

Wesley Willis went on to record numerous solo albums of novelty rock, toured frequently, and was profiled on MTV.

Wesley Willis has been honored with a star on the outside mural of the Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue, recognizing performers that have played sold-out shows or have otherwise demonstrated a major contribution to the culture at the iconic venue.