Chris Chameleon

Chris Chameleon is as diverse as his name indicates. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa’s bustling metropolis, and raised in the tranquillity of rural Africa, he returned to the city after his bush schooling to pursue the first passion in his life – entertainment. After trying his hand at acting for few months he was awarded the DALRO national acting award for best actor. Forced to do military training as a conscript, he spent 5 weeks training to kill people and then managed to escape and abandon military service. He then found himself bringing joy to people via their television screens.

In the decade from 1990 until 2000, Chris performed as both lead and supporting actor in more than 30 television series, videos and motion pictures.

He then turned to music, and became the front man and bassist for the highly acclaimed monki punk trio “Boo!”. Seven years of manic touring on 4 continents saw them play over 800 performances in the U.S., Great Britain, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Italy, Croatia, Belgium, Australia, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Slovenia, Spain, Swaziland and of course South Africa.

Additionally, in 2003, Boo! won the South African Music Award for best pop album. At the end of 2004 the resignation of his two fellow monki punkers put Chris on a new path to pursue a solo career. His first album is as unexpected as could typically be expected from Chris Chameleon – a compilation of 14 compositions from 16 poems by the iconic 60’s Afrikaans poet Ingrid Jonker

Now that Chris' two months of working 7:00am to 7:00pm and then gigging in the evenings have ended, you would think that he'd have some time to relax.

Well, that is definitely not the case! Here's a snapshot of what's going on in Chameleonland: Chris currently in the studio recording "7 de Hemel" - an album based on the music he composed for his character, Liam, on the popular soapie "7 de Laan."

Simultaneously, his English album "Shine" is being mixed and mastered in the studio next door and should be complete by the end of the week.

Both albums will be available in stores after 9 June and officially launched on 9 June at the Blues Room in Johannesburg and 15 June at the Rhodes House in Cape Town.

Chris is back at the venue where his superb, best-selling DVD ‘Ek herhaal Jou” about the work of Ingrid Jonker was recorded. “Its hard to believe that one man with a guitar can mesmerize an audience like that”, one critic wrote.