Bobby Wills

After meeting his biological family and discovering that music was in his genes, Wills began to seriously consider pursuing music as a career. He started performing at open mic nights and toured across Canada in a country bar band.[7] He recorded demos in Toronto with Thomas Wade,[9] and then began to split his time between Calgary and Nashville to commit to making country music.[10] While in Nashville, Wills began working with producers Mike Pyle and Walt Aldrige, who helped him develop his craft.[6]

Wills released his debut album, Man with No Past, independently in 2010.[10] It produced four singles, including "A Little More Time", which made it onto the Billboard Country Top 40 Chart.[6][10]

In 2012, Wills signed with On Ramp Records.[7] His second album, If It Was That Easy, was released in November 2012 and distributed by EMI.[4] His single "Somebody Will" peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Canada Country Chart and at No. 91 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 Chart.[11][1]

He began to gain acclaim during the 2013 awards season when he was nominated for three Canadian Country Music Association Awards and went on to win the CCMA Rising Star Award.[2]

In 2014, Wills released his third album, Crazy Enough, which was recorded entirely at the Music Centre Canada studio in his hometown of Calgary.[2] The singles "Crazy Enough" and "Never Didn't Love You" peaked at No. 13 and No. 14 respectively on the Billboard Canada Country Chart,[1] and at No. 76 and No. 75 respectively on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 Chart.[11]

In 2016, he released his fourth album, Tougher Than Love, which he penned while on his Crazy Enough tour.[12] The singles "Won't You Be Mine" and "Down by the River" climbed to the No. 9 spots on the Billboard Canada Country Chart, and his current single "Tougher Than Love" peaked at No. 11. To this day, along with his stage name Bobby Wills, he is known as Robert Blough. He works at Honda West as their General Sales Manager[1]

Wills' music is stylistically diverse – while it's rooted in a classic country sound, some of his tracks have rock influences, some have more of a funk appeal, and others are reminiscent of 70's and 80's country crossovers.[13][12] Wills cites Garth Brooks, George Strait, Keith Whitley, Waylon Jennings, Lefty Frizzel, and Merle Haggard among his musical influences.[14] He believes he got his passion for country music from his adoptive father, who was a big country music fan and listened to country music frequently at home while Wills was growing up.[6]

Wills is a committed humanitarian who acts as an Ambassador for the Adoption Council of Canada.[4] He also supports the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, and during the 2014 Golden Globe awards weekend, he gave a charitable performance at the Oh Canada Cocktail Party to support the Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.[13]