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Chris James is the stage name of Christopher James Brenner, a singer-songwriter born in California to a German mother and an American father. While he was still of nursery-school age, the family relocated to Hilden, a small town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, where he grew up in a modest household; his mother worked as an inspector in the import/export trade and his father was an English teacher. He began playing guitar at 15 and started writing his own songs.
Performing under the name Chris Brenner, he built an early fanbase by uploading weekly cover videos of artists such as Ed Sheeran and Coldplay to YouTube over a two-year period. After finishing school he moved to nearby Dusseldorf, where he studied computer science for one semester before turning his focus to busking and performing at birthday parties, weddings and small concerts. In 2018 he released his debut album, "Mellow!", adopting the stage name Chris James. Although he was already writing original material, he credits his move to Berlin in 2020 with helping him develop his signature sound, which he describes as bedroom indie pop, citing John Mayer and The 1975 as influences. He characterizes his music as relaxed "Sunday morning hangover music."
Chris James co-wrote "Life Goes On," a song recorded by the Korean boy band BTS. Released in November 2020, the track reached number one on the US Billboard charts and has been viewed more than 423 million times on YouTube, contributing to his greater recognition in Asia than in Germany. He has continued to release a new song each month; his single "The Cool Kid" marked his first advertising collaboration, being used by a German car manufacturer to promote a new model. His last live concert was in Berlin in December 2019, and as of the mid-2020s he has largely built his following online. A third album and a subsequent tour of Germany have been planned.
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