Wesley Willis
American · 1963–2003 · Illustrator
Wesley Lawrence Willis was an American musician and visual artist. Diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1989, Willis began a career as an underground singer-songwriter in the… (Wikipedia)
Own a work by Wesley Willis? Get a free auction estimate →
Record prices
The Dan Ryan Expressway Past 39th Toward 35th St.Wright · $4,585≈ £3,552≈ €4,160Sign up to see
The Lakefront Sept 25, 1983Wright · $3,750≈ £2,704≈ €3,113Sign up to see
The Shore LineWright · $3,612≈ £2,798≈ €3,277Sign up to see
Wesley Willis’s highest prices recorded at auction, ranked in US dollars at each sale-date exchange rate and shown in the currency of the sale (with the buyer’s premium where the house publishes it).
Wesley Lawrence Willis was an American musician and visual artist. Diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1989, Willis began a career as an underground singer-songwriter in the outsider music tradition. 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. They feature bizarre, humorous and sometimes obscene or absurd lyrics sung over backing created by using the auto accompaniment feature on his Technics KN keyboard. His songs cover a wide variety of topics, with mental illness and consumerism being the most prominent themes. Dubbed "The Daddy of Rock 'n' Roll", he 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.
Excerpt from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
In the collections of
Museum representation from open data (Wikidata, museum collection datasets); links go to the museum or its collection record.
Also known as Wesley Lawrence Willis, Wesley Willis And The Dragnews
Artist record compiled from: Wikidata (CC0), Art Institute of Chicago API (CC0). See data sources & attribution.