# Virginia to Vegas

Derik John Baker, known as Virginia To Vegas, is an American-Born Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. He is based in Toronto, Ontario. He is best known for his gold and platinum-certified singles, "We Are Stars", "Lights Out", "Selfish", "Just Friends" and "Betterman", released through Wax Records and Ultra Records.

## Early life and education

Although Derik John Baker was born in the Richmond, Virginia, United States, he was raised in Guelph and Toronto, in Ontario, Canada, as well as Charleston in West Virginia, United States.
He attended high school at Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute and Bishop Macdonell Catholic High School. After high school, Derik attended Sheridan College for studies in travel and tourism.

## Career
### 2013–2014: Career beginnings and Vol. I

Virginia To Vegas was signed to an independent full service 100% Canadian music company Wax Records in July 2013, after label executive, Jamie Appleby, discovered him on YouTube. The first single "We Are Stars" was released on January 7, 2014, and entered the Canadian Singles Top 100 chart at 94 on week 5, February 1, 2014, peaked at 14 and stayed for one week. On November 10, 2014, Virginia to Vegas released his debut EP Vol. I, which includes his Platinum-certified debut single "We Are Stars".

### 2015–2016: Utopian

Virginia to Vegas released a new single, "Our Story", on May 4, 2015. On September 2, 2016, he released a new single, "Lights Out", which samples Rockwell's 1984 single, "Somebody's Watching Me". That fall, he announced that his debut studio album would be released by the end of 2016. Utopian was released on December 2, 2016 and features all four of his singles released through that date. This was when he first got signed to a U.S record company of Ultra Records.

### 2017–2019: Hartland St.

On February 24, 2017, Virginia To Vegas released a new single called "Selfish". On November 8, he released another single called "Emotions". His next single "Yesterday" was released on October 12, 2018. Finally, he released "Just Friends" on May 24, 2019. All these songs are featured on his second EP Hartland St., which was released on June 14, 2019. Hartland Street is the name of the actual street he lives on in real life. This was when he moved to, was living in, and was leaving Los Angeles at a time.

### 2020–2022: A Constant State of Improvement and Don't Wake Me, I'm Dreaming

Only months after the release of Hartland St., Virginia To Vegas released the single "Betterman" on February 14, 2020, followed by an EP titled A Constant State of Improvement on February 28, 2020, which includes the song "Betterman". On October 30, 2020, he released another EP, Don't Wake Me, I'm Dreaming, which includes the lead single "Palm Springs (The Way You Made Me Feel)", released on September 18. In September 2021, he collaborated with MacKenzie Porter on the single "This Sucks.".

## Discography
### Studio albums

| Title | Album details |
| Utopian | Released: December 2, 2016 Label: Wax Format: CD, digital download |
| Life Gets Interesting... | Released: February 17, 2023 Label: Wax Format: CD, digital download Track listing 1. "Intro"2. "Casamigos" 3. "Amnesia"4. "Outerspace"5. "No Excuses"6. "Break Up with That Guy." 7. "Over You" 8. "R.I.P." 9. "You Don't Know" 10. "Drunk" |

#### Compilation albums

| Title | Album details |
| The Greatest Hits | Released: March 8, 2024 Label: Wax Format: CD, digital download Track listing 1. "We Are Stars" (featuring Alyssa Reid)2. "Lights Out" 3. "Selfish"4. "Just Friends"5. "Betterman"6. "No Excusus" 7. "Don't Fight the Music" 8. "What Are We" 9. "Better with You" 10. "Palm Springs (The Way You Made Me Feel)"11. "Malibu" (with NOTD)12. "Time!" |

### Extended plays

| Title | EP details |
| Vol. I | Released: November 10, 2014 Label: Wax Format: Digital download Track listing 1. "Last of the Fighters"2. "We Are Stars" (featuring Alyssa Reid)3. "Make It Last"4. "Colourful"5. "Don't Fight the Music"6. "Beautiful" |
| Hartland St. | Released: June 14, 2019 Label: Wax Format: Digital download Track listing 1. "Just Friends"2. "Internet"3. "Selfish"4. "Yesterday"5. "Emotions"6. "Losing Touch" |
| A Constant State of Improvement | Released: February 28, 2020 Label: Wax Format: Digital download Track listing 1. "Intro"2. "What Are We"3. "Betterman"4. "One on One"5. "Better with You" |
| Don't Wake Me, I'm Dreaming | Released: October 30, 2020 Label: Wax Format: Digital download Track listing 1. "Intro"2. "Palm Springs (The Way You Made Me Feel)"3. "Flyby." (with Mokita)4. "Told You So"5. "Cry"6. "Sunny Days" |
| It's a Little Complicated, But I'm Okay. | Released: February 4, 2022 Label: Wax Format: Digital download Track listing 1. "Amnesia"2. "No Excuses"3. "Outerspace" |

#### Compilation extended plays

| Title | EP details |
| L.A. in the Rear View | Released: February 14, 2021 Label: Wax, Universal Music Group Format: Digital download Track listing 1. "Just Friends"2. "Betterman"3. "What Are We"4. "Told You So"5. "Better with You"6. "Sunny Days" |
| Remember That Time We | Released: May 20, 2022 Label: Wax, FP Format: Digital download Track listing 1. "Malibu" (with NOTD)2. "Flyby." (with Mokita)3. "This Sucks." (with MacKenzie Porter)4. "No Excuses"5. "Outerspace"6. "Amnesia" |

### Singles
#### As lead artist

| Single | Year | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
| Single | Year | CAN | CAN AC | CAN CHR | CAN Hot AC | Certifications | Album |
| "We Are Stars" (featuring Alyssa Reid) | 2014 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 14 | MC: Platinum | Utopian |
| "Don't Fight the Music" | 2014 | 97 | 30 | 33 | 36 | | Utopian |
| "Our Story" | 2015 | — | — | 47 | 32 | | Utopian |
| "Lights Out" | 2016 | 40 | 12 | 10 | 14 | MC: Platinum | Utopian |
| "Selfish" | 2017 | 72 | 11 | 9 | 12 | MC: Platinum | Hartland St. |
| "Emotions" | 2017 | — | — | 34 | 39 | | Hartland St. |
| "Yesterday" | 2018 | — | — | 30 | — | | Hartland St. |
| "Just Friends" | 2019 | 50 | 5 | 8 | 3 | MC: Platinum | Hartland St. |
| "Betterman" | 2020 | 48 | 8 | 15 | 6 | MC: Gold | A Constant State of Improvement |
| "Palm Springs (The Way You Made Me Feel)" | 2020 | — | — | 27 | 41 | | Don't Wake Me, I'm Dreaming |
| "Malibu" (with NOTD) | 2021 | — | — | 24 | 29 | | Remember That Time We |
| "This Sucks." (with MacKenzie Porter) | 2021 | — | — | 26 | 42 | | Remember That Time We |
| "No Excuses" | 2022 | 61 | 7 | 12 | 11 | | Life Gets Interesting... |
| "Daydreaming" (with Noelle) | 2022 | 99 | 14 | 20 | 29 | | Non-album singles |
| "Last Christmas" (featuring Tyler Shaw, Lolo, New Friends, Noelle, Shawn Hook) | 2023 | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Time!" | 2024 | — | — | 10 | 10 | | The Greatest Hits |
| "More Often Than Not" | 2024 | — | — | — | — | | Non-album single |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart. ||||||||

#### As featured artist

| Single | Year | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Single | Year | CAN | CAN AC | CAN CHR | CAN Hot AC | Album |
| "Just as Much" (Delaney Jane featuring Virginia to Vegas) | 2021 | 71 | 15 | 11 | 21 | Somewhere Else |

#### Promotional singles

| Single | Year | Album |
| "Colourful" | 2014 | Vol. I |
| "Amnesia" | 2021 | Life Gets Interesting... |
| "You Don't Know" | 2022 | Life Gets Interesting... |
| "Break Up with That Guy." | 2022 | Life Gets Interesting... |

## Awards

Virginia to Vegas performed at the 2014 Canadian Radio Music Awards where he was nominated for the Heartseeker Award. His radio success with his first three singles "We Are Stars", "Don't Fight the Music", and "Our Story" contributed to him being nominated for Pop Artist or Group of the Year at the 2015 Sirius XM Indie Awards.
"We Are Stars", "Lights Out" and "Selfish" all earned Virginia to Vegas Socan awards for pop recordings of the year.
In 2015 Virginia to Vegas was awarded at the Canadian Radio Music Awards for the Factor Breakthrough Artist of the Year.
He received a Juno Award nomination for Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2018.