# Will Wheaton > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Will_Wheaton > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Will_Wheaton.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Wheaton > Source revision: 1350754598 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) This article is about the musician. For the actor and writer, see [Wil Wheaton](/source/Wil_Wheaton). For the 19th-century lawyer and baseball pioneer, see [William Wheaton](/source/William_Wheaton). **Will Wheaton**, born **Willie Mack Wheaton Jr.** (born October 26, 1972) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He grew up in Los Angeles and is the son of Gospel singer Juanita Wheaton.[1] He studied music in his teens and was eventually tutored by Furman Fordham, whose former students include [Lena Horne](/source/Lena_Horne). He became a sought-after studio background singer and has performed on projects for [Natalie Cole](/source/Natalie_Cole), [Coolio](/source/Coolio), [Celine Dion](/source/Celine_Dion), [Michael Jackson](/source/Michael_Jackson), [Willy DeVille](/source/Willy_DeVille), [Quincy Jones](/source/Quincy_Jones), [Montell Jordan](/source/Montell_Jordan), [Kenny Loggins](/source/Kenny_Loggins), [Diana Ross](/source/Diana_Ross), [Barbra Streisand](/source/Barbra_Streisand), [Whitney Houston](/source/Whitney_Houston), and [Stevie Wonder](/source/Stevie_Wonder). In 1998, he did background vocals on [Rod Stewart](/source/Rod_Stewart)'s *[When We Were the New Boys](/source/When_We_Were_the_New_Boys)*,[2] and played bass in his performances. He also sings in commercials, including spots for [American Express](/source/American_Express), [Dr Pepper](/source/Dr_Pepper), [The Gap](/source/Gap_(clothing)), [MasterCard](/source/MasterCard), [McDonald's](/source/McDonald's) and [Sprite](/source/Sprite_(soft_drink)).[3] In 1992 he won [Dick Clark](/source/Dick_Clark)'s *USA Music Challenge* talent contest and received an [MCA](/source/MCA_Records) recording contract. Clark said of him, "Will Wheaton has a signature voice that puts you in the mood for romance."[4] Although an MCA album never materialized, in 1995 he came to the attention of [Grammy Award](/source/Grammy_Award)-winning producer [David Foster](/source/David_Foster) who signed him to the vocal group *Next Millennium*. He co-wrote four songs for the project with Foster[5] but that album was not released either.[6] Wheaton began to achieve major success as a songwriter in the 1990s and has composed songs for the [Manhattans](/source/Manhattans), [Earth, Wind & Fire](/source/Earth,_Wind_%26_Fire), [Tevin Campbell](/source/Tevin_Campbell), [Will Downing](/source/Will_Downing), and [Iyanla Vanzant](/source/Iyanla_Vanzant). He also co-wrote the title hit for American superstar [Anastacia](/source/Anastacia)'s *[Not That Kind](/source/Not_That_Kind)* which sold over 10 million copies. He has released two albums on his own *Platinum Brass Records* imprint: *Consenting Adultz* in 1999, and the critically acclaimed *Old School Soul* in 2005. In a nationwide promotion and marketing campaign, the latter was launched in [AMC Theatres](/source/AMC_Theatres) in Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, and New York.[3] In 2000, [BET](/source/BET) used three of Wheaton's songs from "Consenting Adultz" for its *Midnight Blue* movie of the week. He also sang bass on the soundtrack for *[The Temptations](/source/The_Temptations_(miniseries))* mini series. The *[Felicity](/source/Felicity_(TV_series))* TV series used two of his songs for their syndication update.[3] He toured with Japanese superstar [Namie Amuro](/source/Namie_Amuro) on her *[Genius 2000](/source/Genius_2000)* tour and has worked on her recent albums. He was also a featured singer in [Ben Stiller](/source/Ben_Stiller)'s *[Mystery Men](/source/Mystery_Men).* Wheaton lives in Los Angeles. ## Discography *Projects including Will Wheaton compositions (partial list)* - *[Not That Kind](/source/Not_That_Kind_(song))* – [Anastacia](/source/Anastacia) single (album title song 1998) - *[In the Name of Love](/source/In_the_Name_of_Love_(Earth,_Wind_%26_Fire_album))* – [Earth Wind and Fire](/source/Earth_Wind_and_Fire) - *Somewhere in the Night* (lyrics) – [Manhattans](/source/Manhattans), *Even Now* - *Invitation Only* – [Will Downing](/source/Will_Downing) - *In The Mean Time* – Iyanla Vanzant (Inspirational project) - *Consenting Adultz* – Will Wheaton - *Old School Soul* – Will Wheaton - *French Exit* – Film score contribution - *[Mystery Men](/source/Mystery_Men)* – Film (featured singer) - *[Lady in My Life](/source/Thriller_(album))* - Will Wheaton cover of [Rod Temperton](/source/Rod_Temperton) composition first popularized by [Michael Jackson](/source/Michael_Jackson) ## References 1. [Soultracks.com](http://www.soultracks.com/will_wheaton.htm) 1. [Musicmos.com, Rod Stewart When We Were The New Boys](http://www.musicmos.com/?artist=Rod-Stewart&track=When-We-Were-the-New-Boys) 1. Music Remedy.com 1. [Music Remedy.com](http://www.musicremedy.com/w/Will_Wheaton/album/Old_School_Soul-2049.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20070927022126/http://www.musicremedy.com/w/Will_Wheaton/album/Old_School_Soul-2049.html) September 27, 2007 at the Wayback Machine 1. BMI Repertoire search 1. ["*The New Black Magazine* website"](https://web.archive.org/web/20061220183525/http://www.thenewblackmagazine.com/view.aspx?index=129). Archived from [the original](http://www.thenewblackmagazine.com/view.aspx?index=129) on December 20, 2006. Retrieved April 19, 2007. ## External links - [Official website](http://www.willwheaton.com/) (Domain expired around the beginning of 2025. Wayback snapshots in 2024 are pretty empty.) - [Will Wheaton Jr](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923710/) at IMDb --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Will Wheaton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Wheaton) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Wheaton?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.