Kristine W

Kristine W
Background information
Birth name	Kristine Weitz
Born	June 8, 1962 Pasco, Washington, U.S.
Genres	Dance-pop, house music, electronica, jazz
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, record producer, owner of Fly Again Music Label
Years active	1990–present (singer)
Labels	RCA/BMG, Tommy Boy Entertainment, Fly Again Music Label
Associated acts	Bimbo Jones, Patti LaBelle, Big Daddy Kane, George Lynch, Oscar G. and Murk, Scumfrog, Love 2 Infinity, DJs Are Alive, Rollo Armstrong, Elton John, Bruce Roberts, Tony Moran, Stonebridge, Subgroover
Website	Official Website

Kristine Weitz (born June 8, 1962)^[1] is an American singer-songwriter. She has released seven albums. Weitz has achieved 16 number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart in the United States. She has a worldwide fan base. She has more consecutive number one dance hits than Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson. Recently, Kristine W was voted by Billboard Magazine as Dance Artist of the Decade, behind Madonna and Beyoncé.

Personal

Weitz was born and raised in Pasco, Washington. She is a former Miss Washington (1980–1981)^[2] and won swimsuit and talent in the Miss America Pageant.{^[3]} She then moved to Las Vegas and enrolled at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, graduated with a BA in Communications–TV Production, she minored in music and marketing.

Career

While attending UNLV, Kristine formed her first Indie band called Kristine and the Sting. It performed cover songs as well as original music at the Las Vegas Hilton and Studio 54 at the MGM Grand. Kristine's following grew and she was a constant performer at the Las Vegas Hilton. The fan base grew so rapidly that a new and bigger venue was built to accommodate her growing audience. At the time, it was called the Night Club; it is now known as Shimmer. During the construction of the new venue, Kristine moved to London to start recording the Land of the Living album. Her first single recorded, which was called "Feel What You Want," was an instant global dance hit, and went to number one on the Billboard Dance Charts. "One More Try" was the next dance hit, which came out in '97. Upon completion of the new 500 seat venue, Kristine opened a new show called "Kristine W - Come See the Music. This show was revolutionary because it was like a live music video - incorporating five dancers, a six-piece live band, and three back up singers. She performed dance remixes of top 40 hits, as well as original music from the upcoming "Land of the Living" album, thereby testing the songs on a live audience nightly. The Night Club was the perfect testing ground for her original music. During this time, "One More Try" was not only a dance hit, but a cross-over radio hit, climbing the Billboard Pop Charts. In '97, Kristine traveled to New York to sign an exclusive recording contract with RCA Records, and to perform at the album release party at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square. Fans surrounded the building to hear the new singer that RCA had dubbed "The Voice." The single "Land of the Living" soon followed and was her 3rd number one Billboard hit.

Kristine's UK label Champion then released new re-mixes of "Feel What You Want" by Junior Vasquez, Dekkard, Maddlands, Rollo Armstrong, Johnathon Peters, and many more. "Feel What You Want" still remains the most re-mixed dance song of all time. With another new version currently on Kristine's newest album "New and Number Ones", this re-mix is done by Bimbo Jones. An additional unreleased remix was produced by Jonathan Peters which was one of the most popular tracks at his Friday night DJ residency. Junior Vasquez, one of the most well known New York DJs, is credited with introducing Kristine to the dance clubs in New York and the rest of the US. He was asked to produce remixes of her songs "Don't Wanna Think" and "Sweet Mercy Me", which weren't released commercially but instead distributed to select DJs, making them regional club hits in the New York metro area.

Kristine continued to work at The Las Vegas Hilton, two 90 minute shows a night, six nights a week, while working on her follow up album Stronger. She performed there until 1999, writing and performing songs that would later be featured on the album. Kristine performed more shows than Elvis, and on her final night - June 28th, 1999 - the Governor made that date Kristine W Day in the state of Nevada. The title track, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Dance chart on the strength of remixes by Johnny Vicious, and others. The single featured an additional remix of her song "Clubland" by Thunderpuss which was also a global club hit. The second official single, "Lovin' You" also reached No. 1 on the Club Play chart, with remixes by Hex Hector, Junior Vasquez, and Johnny Vicious.

In May of 2001 Kristine was diagnosed with AML Leukemia, after she came back from a tour of Japan. Unable to release a third single, RCA put the album on hold because Kristine could not tour to support. Kristine was then admitted to UCLA Hospital, under the care of Oncologist Mary Territo, where she went underneath months of chemo, and an experimental, yet life saving, stem-cell transplant on September 11th, the same day the Trade Towers were attacked. For the next two years, Kristine was in out of medical facilities, but continued to write her music. Prior to the album's release, a remix produced by Hani of the song "Letting Go" (the original version of which appeared on the album) was given to select DJs making it another of Kristine W's unreleased remix hits. The album, Fly Again was released in October 2003 by Tommy Boy Records Silver Label, and the lead single, produced and remixed by The Scumfrog and featuring mixes by Vasquez and Ralphi Rosario, gave her yet another No. 1 Club Play single. The second single, "Save My Soul" was remixed by a virtual who's-who of popular re-mixers, including Junior Vasquez, Mike Cruz, Gabriel & Dresden, Orange Factory, and Cypher. It too reached No. 1 on the Club Play chart, and marked Kristine W's return to radio, reaching No. 25 on the Billboard Hot Dance Airplay chart.

The third single, "The Wonder Of It All", was remixed by DJ Offer Nissim, DJ Escape, Gomi, Ivan Pavlin, and Mr Mig. The No. 1 success of "The Wonder Of It All" gave Kristine the all-time record for the longest string of consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play hits in the history of the chart. It reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot Dance Airplay chart.

The fourth single, "I'll Be Your Light", written by John DeNicola (who wrote the smash single "Time of My Life), and was chosen because she felt it was a musical love letter for her two small children. Peaking at number 2 at the Club Play chart, still the song was another cross-over hit for her, making it her highest charting single on that chart to date, and her first foray on that chart's top 20 airplay. The CD single was released as an enhanced CD with re-mixing software, that enabled fans to create their own re-mixes of the song. Another landmark achievemant.

2003 - present

Kristine's third studio album, Fly Again peaked at No. 12 on the Top Electronic Albums chart, her first album to register on a Billboard albums chart. Likewise, her single "Walk Away", produced by Tony Moran, gained popularity on Rhythmic format radio stations and ultimately charted at No. 1 on the Club Play chart and at No. 7 on the Dance Airplay chart, providing Kristine her tenth number-one dance single.

In remission from her battle with Leukemia, Kristine traveled by bus to her first live performance in Kansas City, MO and continued on in route to New York City to perform at a massive Pride celebration at The Pier for 25,000 people.

She toured in 2005 as part of an ensemble called "DJs Are Alive", a live performance and DJ-mixing ensemble that includes The Scumfrog, DJ Skribble, Static Revenger, and D:Fuse.

In 2005, she surpassed Madonna and Janet Jackson’s record of seven No. 1 songs in a row. The next year, Kristine W broke her own record with the release of “Wonder of It All”, her ninth consecutive No. 1. Today, Kristine surpassed Mariah Carey for third-most chart toppers, with a total of sixteen number one songs.

In 2006 Kristine continued to tour with her dancers, performing at clubs around the world.

Kristine announced in October 2007 on her official website that she was in the works of starting her own independent record label, she also began recording her fourth full length studio album, The Power of Music, and on January 1, 2008, the album's first single (a cover of the Diana Ross disco hit "The Boss") was leaked to a select group of online distributors. Three mixes, done by Paul Goodyear, Love to Infinity, and Tracy Young, were released as a special "preview" to the physical single release on February 12, 2008. It became Kristine's 11th number one hit on the Billboard Club Play chart in March 2008.

On November 11, 2008, Kristine released her first Christmas album, Hey Mr. Christmas. It includes two self-penned holiday songs, "Mr. Christmas" and "Everyday’s a Holiday", as well as several classics and a special "live and unplugged" version of her No. 1 Club Play hit "The Wonder of It All," featuring Jim Brickman. An exclusive remix of the song "Hard Candy Christmas" "The Resolution Mix" was available as a download through Kristine's online store.

"Never", the third single from The Power of Music, was released on November 24, 2008. The CD included 13 remixes from 7th Heaven, Love to Infinity, Ruff and Torte, DJ Escape/Johnny Vicious, Peter Canellis/Kamil, Nick Harvey, Brothers Behind the Light/M2, and The Perry Twins (other remixes are available through Kristine's website as part of the digital album purchase.) "Never" became Kristine's 12th number No. 1 Billboard Magazine Hot Dance Club Play hit.

Released in both digital and physical formats, "Love Is the Look" appeared March 10, 2009. The album's fourth single became part of a Valentine's Day promotion by K-Y brand and Masterbeat.com that offered three free Kristine W remixes by Ralphi Rosario through Masterbeat.com's website. Three additional (and previously unavailable) remixes of the song can also be downloaded through the artist's website; Remixers included Love to Infinity, Ralphi Rosario, Deepswing, Mr Mig, Massi & De Leon and Tod Miner. The April 25 issue of Billboard lists the track as Kristine's 13th number one Hot Dance Club Play hit.

On April 27, 2009, Kristine announced via MySpace that her album The Power of Music would be released on June 16, featuring all four number one Billboard Magazine Hot Dance Club Play hits plus a remake of her first number one dance hit "Feel What You Want."

"Be Alright", Kristine's fifth single from The Power of Music was released on June 16, 2009, featuring 14 remixes (an exclusive digital download only remix is available through Kristine W's website and iTunes.) The September 5, 2009 issue of Billboard cited it as Kristine W's 14th number one on the magazine's Hot Dance Club Play Songs chart, and she then announced that the album's sixth single and title track would be remixed by such audio engineers as The Wideboys, Tony Moran, Sweet Team, Groove Police, and Virgo Brothers (it was eventually released on December 29 as a follow-up to her long awaited double DVD set Ultimate Music Video Collection, which, issued fourteen days earlier, contained a decade of video hits.)

Billboard named Kristine W one of its Dance/Club Play Artists of the Decade (2000 - 2009), ranking at number 3 behind Madonna and Beyoncé, respectively.^[4] Kristine W also holds the world’s record for most consecutive No. 1 Billboard Club Hits.

On August 6, 2010 Kristine W launched her new website created by the team at Red Barn Muse Creative Group. In Fall, Kristine W unveiled her newest project, STRAIGHT UP WITH A TWIST: a double CD jazz album, that debuted at number 14 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Album chart, she recorded it with some of the most respected jazz musicians in the industry. Her first single from the debut jazz double CD was a Bossanova version of her first number one dance hit "Feel What You Want", which peaked at number five on the Jazz Radio Airplay. Kristine had two additional Jazz Radio hits from this album: A jazz re-mix of the two covers "What I Like About You" and "On the Radio" by Donna Summer. She toured the country promoting STRAIGHT UP WITH A TWIST in late 2010 and early 2011.

Kristine W returned to the dance floor with a vengeance of groove and flair, giving it—to quote the title hook of her infectious new single--“Everything That I Got” on her latest full length album "New & Number Ones." "Everything That I Got" was released on August 14, 2012 on Fly Again Music, Kristine's own record label. Bimbo Jones created one of four distinct remixes that was released for “Everything That I Got.” The others are by two of the album’s other producers, Subgroover (from The Netherlands) and Grammy nominated Swedish producer StoneBridge (Taio Cruz, Cher, Britney Spears); and Twisted Dee (Mary J. Blige, Britney Spears) with Joe Magic. The 16 track maxi-single is available via iTunes, Bandcamp and a physical CD is available exclusively on KristineW.com^[5] A bonus previously unreleased song: "Shower The People (Dark Funk Carano Mix)" is available on Bandcamp.com with the purchase of the full digital single.^[6] Two weeks later, Kristine released a 3-songed EP of full-length remixes.^[7] On September 25, Kristine released her latest album, "New & Number Ones," which features nine brand new songs and four new productions of her first four number one dance hits: "Feel What You Want", "One More Try", "Land of the Living", and "Loving You". The CD version^[8] features 15 tracks while the iTunes version^[9] features two additional remixes of "Feel What You Want" (Jamie J Sanchez Club Mix and Dave Saronson Club Mix). Three days after the release of "New & Number Ones," an EP was released of 'electro remixes' by Baggi Begovic that contained six remixes.^[10][11]

Currently, the first single "Everything I Got" is a staple in night clubs all around the world, and on February 1st, 2013, Kristine released NEW AND NUMBER ONES CLUB REMIXES PART ONE. PART TWO is in the works, and Kristine is currently touring while working on the release of the second single from the current NEW AND NUMBER ONES album.

Songwriting

Kristine and Patti LaBelle recorded a duet of "Land of the Living", Kristine's first hit from her first album - for LaBelle's CD release of "Classic Moments."

• Jason Walker recorded a song that was co-written by Kristine W entitled "No More." The song is featured on Jason's debut album "This is My Life" which was released in 2004 on Junior Vasquez's label, JVM Music.
• Kristine W co-wrote a song on RuPaul's third album Red Hot, titled "Just a Little In and Out."

Discography

Albums

• Perfect Beat (1994, Plain Rap Records)
• Land of the Living (1996, RCA Records)
• Stronger (2000, RCA Records)
• Fly Again (2003, Tommy Boy Entertainment)
• Hey, Mr. Christmas (2008 Fly Again Music)
• The Power of Music (2009 Fly Again Music)
• Straight Up with a Twist (2010 Fly Again Music)
• New & Number Ones (2012)
• New & Number Ones Club Hits Part One (2013)

Singles

See also

• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
• List of number-one dance hits (United States)

References

External links

Book: Kristine W

• Kristine W on Myspace
• Kristine's Reverbnation Page, reverbnation.com
• Kristine's Page on Imeem, imeem.com