- Christopher Cross
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For other people named Chris Cross, see Chris Cross (disambiguation).
Christopher Cross 
Christopher Cross backstage after a tribute concert to Michael McDonald in Los Angeles (February 4, 2000).Background information Birth name Christopher Charles Geppert Born May 3, 1951
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.Genres Pop rock, soft rock Occupations Singer, songwriter, musician, producer Instruments Vocals, guitar, piano Years active 1979–present Labels Warner Bros., Priority, CMC International Associated acts Michael McDonald, Burt Bacharach, Madison Cross, The Alan Parsons Project Website christophercross.com Christopher Cross (born Christopher Charles Geppert; May 3, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter from San Antonio, Texas. His debut album earned him five Grammys. He is perhaps best known for his Top Ten hit songs, "Sailing", "Ride Like the Wind", and "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)", the last of which he performed for the film Arthur starring Dudley Moore.[1][2] "Sailing" earned three Grammy Awards in 1981, while "Arthur's Theme" won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1981 (with co-composers Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen).
Contents
Career
Cross first played with a San Antonio-based cover band named Flash (not to be confused with the early 1970s English band of the same name) before signing a solo contract with Warner Bros.[3]
Cross released his self-titled debut album, Christopher Cross, in 1979, which garnered him five Grammy Awards. He is the only solo artist to win all four General Field Grammy Awards (Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist) in the same year. Hot 100 top 20 hits from this album included "Ride Like the Wind" (featuring backing vocals by Michael McDonald), "Sailing", "Never Be the Same", and "Say You'll Be Mine" (featuring backing vocals by Nicolette Larson).
Cross' second album, Another Page(1983), included the hit songs "All Right", "No Time For Talk", and "Think of Laura". "All Right" was used by CBS Sports for its highlights montage following the 1983 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, while "Think of Laura" is used as a reference to characters on the soap opera General Hospital. Although Another Page sold respectably, it did not nearly live up to the high expectations set by his debut album.
Cross' next two albums, 1985's Every Turn Of The World and 1988's Back of My Mind failed to produce any top 40 hits, and did not sell as well as his first two albums.[citation needed]
Cross made three more albums in the 1990s, and although some of his releases have gained critical response, he has failed to catch the mass audience he once enjoyed. After his decline in fame in the mid-1980s, he has toured and opened for various acts since the 1990s and released his second greatest hits package in 2002.[4][5]
Cross completed a Christmas album, A Christopher Cross Christmas, released in 2007. Cross finished recording a new acoustic album of his hits titled The Cafe Carlyle Sessions.[6][7]
Cross released a new studio album Dr. Faith in 2011.[8]
Discography
Studio albums
Year Album Label Chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)AUS
[9]GER
[10]JPN
[11][12]NLD
[13]NZ
[14]SWE
[15]UK
[16]US
[17]1979 Christopher Cross Warner Bros. 6 — 18 14 16 — 14 6 1983 Another Page 6 2 1 7 9 12 4 11 1985 Every Turn of the World — 44 27 — 34 37 — 158 1988 Back of My Mind — 45 27 — 93 49 — — 1992 Rendezvous BMG — — 96 — — — — — 1994 Window Priority — — 91 — — — — — 1998 Walking in Avalon CMC — — — — — — — — 2000 Red Room — — — — — — — — 2007 A Christopher Cross Christmas Ur — — — — — — — — 2008 The Café Carlyle Sessions Absolute — — — — — — — — 2010 Christmas Time Is Here Ear — — — — — — — — 2011 Dr. Faith — 48 — — — — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart. Compilations
- 1993:The Best of Christopher Cross (WEA)
- 1999: Greatest Hits Live (CMC)
- 2002: The Very Best of Christopher Cross (Warner Bros.)
Soundtracks
- 1981: Arthur (Motion picture soundtrack) "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)"
- 1983: General Hospital (TV series soundtrack) "Think of Laura"
- 1984: Official Music of the XXIIIrd Olympiad "A Chance For Heaven" (swimming theme)
- 1986: Nothing In Common (Motion picture soundtrack) "Loving Strangers (David's Theme)"
- 2010: 30 Rock (TV series soundtrack) "Lemon's Theme"
Singles
Year Title Label and number U.S. U.S. AC Album 1980 "Ride Like the Wind" Warner 49184 2 24 Christopher Cross "Sailing" Warner 49507 1 10 "Never Be the Same" Warner 49580 15 1 "Say You'll Be Mine" Warner 49705 20 15 "Mary Ann" Warner (Japan only) — — — 1981 "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" Warner 49787 1 1 Arthur (soundtrack) 1983 "All Right" Warner 29843 12 3 Another Page "No Time for Talk" Warner 29662 33 10 "Think of Laura" Warner 29658 9 1 1984 "A Chance for Heaven"(swimming theme from 1984 Summer Olympics) Columbia 38-04492 76 16 Official Music of the XXIIIrd Olympiad 1985 "Charm the Snake" Warner 28864 68 — Every Turn of the World "Every Turn of the World" Warner 28804 — — 1986 "Love Is Love (In Any Language)" Warner 28761 — "Loving Strangers"/"Cruzados" by Seven Summers Arista 9530 — 27 from Nothing In Common film soundtrack 1988 "Swept Away" Reprise 27673 — — Back of My Mind "I Will (Take You Forever)" (With Frances Ruffelle) Reprise 27795 — 41 Other appearances
- 1974: Electromagnets (with Eric Johnson) "Motion"
- 1982: Long Time Friends Alessi Brothers “Forever” (background vocals)
- 1985: Soul Kiss Olivia Newton-John "You Were Great, How Was I?" (background vocals)
- 1988: Brian Wilson Brian Wilson "Night Time" (background vocals)
- 1989: Christmas at My House Larry Carlton "Ringing The Bells Of Christmas"
- 1996: Venus Isle Eric Johnson "Lonely In The Night" (background vocals)
- 1996: On Air Alan Parsons "So Far Away"
- 1998: Imagination Brian Wilson (special edition "Words and Music" bonus disc) "In My Room"
- 2001: A Gathering of Friends Michael McDonald "Ride Like the Wind"
- 2001: When It All Goes South Alabama "Love Remains"
- 2004: Confidential Peter White "She's In Love"
- 2008: Soundstage: America Live in Chicago "Lonely People", "A Horse with No Name"
Awards
- Academy Award for Best Song, 1981, "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)"
- Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, 1981, "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)"
- Grammy, 1981 – Record of the Year – "Sailing"
- Grammy, 1981 – Song of the Year – "Sailing"
- Grammy, 1981 – Album of the Year – Christopher Cross
- Grammy, 1981 – Best New Artist – Christopher Cross
- Grammy, 1981 – Best Arrangement – "Sailing"
Madison Cross
Cross's daughter Madison is also interested in singing, beginning from when she sang a duet with her father at school as a little girl. From there, she began traveling with him, and sometimes performed at his shows. At the age of nine, Madison began an acting career in musical theater. In 2005, Madison Cross recorded her first single, He Was Just Like Me, dedicated to Mattie Stepanek, a young poet who died in 2004 due to muscular dystrophy. The single was put into rotation on Radio Disney.
Performances
- Cross filled in for guitarist Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple (who had fallen ill) by performing with the band in San Antonio, Texas in 1970[20]
- Cross contributed backing vocals (along with The Beach Boys' Carl Wilson) to David Lee Roth's 1985 hit "California Girls"
- Cross performed the song "Sailing" alongside the pop band 'N Sync at the Fifth Annual Blockbuster Entertainment Awards in 1999
- Cross also performed lead vocals on "So Far Away", a song from Alan Parsons' album On Air. When Parsons was touring in support of that album, Cross would sometimes join the band onstage to sing the song if he was available
- Cross spent much of his youth living in a home on Newbury Terrace in Terrell Hills, just outside San Antonio, Texas. That home had earlier belonged to the Cummins family and another notable San Antonian, the historian and author Light Townsend Cummins, grew up in that same house a decade earlier. It has since been demolished
- A small snippet of Cross's early hit "Sailing" was played in the DreamWorks film "Flushed Away"
- Cross performed his hit song "Ride Like the Wind" on the NBC show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Monday, October 5, 2009, in a "Yacht Rock" themed episode. He was joined by Michael McDonald, whom he has worked with in the past. As the credits were rolling, Cross, McDonald and The Roots, the Fallon house band, broke into "Sailing", which he also performed in an online-only performance on NBC.com
- Toured as part of the 2002 "A Walk Down Abbey Road" tour with Alan Parsons, Mark Farner, Jack Bruce, Eric Carmen, and Todd Rundgren
- Performed as part of the 2003 "A Walk Down Abbey Road" show, which consisted of two performances at the Atantic City Hilton on August 8–9, with Alan Parsons, Todd Rundgren, Joey Molland and Denny Laine
References
- ^ "New York Times". Movies.nytimes.com. 2007-01-18. http://movies.nytimes.com/person/15908/Christopher-Cross. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (2008-04-17). "New York Times". Nytimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/arts/music/17cros.html. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
- ^ Christopher Cross & Flash
- ^ "Classicbands.com". Classicbands.com. http://www.classicbands.com/ChristopherCrossInterview.html. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
- ^ "Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. 1998-05-10. http://articles.latimes.com/1998/may/10/entertainment/ca-48215. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
- ^ "Westcoastmusic". Noted.blogs.com. 2008-10-02. http://noted.blogs.com/westcoastmusic/2008/10/interview-with.html. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
- ^ "Insidemusicast.com". Insidemusicast.com. 2009-05-04. http://www.insidemusicast.com/musicasts/2009/5/4/christopher-cross.html. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
- ^ "Christopher Cross Website – Doctor Faith Release". Christophercross.com. http://www.christophercross.com/ccDrFaith.html. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.Note: This reference gives Australian albums and singles information. It is used for chart peak positions as the early albums were released before ARIA regulated the Australian charts itself (1989)
- ^ "Album Search: Christopher Cross" (in German). Media Control. http://www.charts.de/search.asp?search=Christopher+Cross&x=0&y=0&cat=a&country=de. Retrieved 2011-05-20.
- ^ Okamoto, Satoshi (2006). Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. ISBN 4871310779.
- ^ "クリストファー・クロスのCDアルバムランキング-ORICON STYLE" (in Japanese). oricon.co.jp. Original Confidence. http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/62620/ranking/cd_album/. Retrieved 2011-08-08.Note: Reference indicates chart positions from 1988 onwards, and part of the information are currently unavailable
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl Christopher Cross discography". Hung Medien. MegaCharts. http://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Christopher+Cross. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
- ^ "chart.org.nz Christopher Cross discography". Hung Medien. RIANZ. http://charts.org.nz/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Christopher+Cross. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
- ^ "swedishcharts.com - Discography Christopher Cross". http://swedishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Christopher+Cross. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
- ^ "Chart Stats - Christopher Cross". http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=3290. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
- ^ "allmusic ((( Christopher Cross > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Billboard 200. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p3997/charts-awards/billboard-albums. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- ^ a b RIAA - Gold & Platinum "(Searching results by artist "Christopher Cross")". http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Christopher+Cross%22 RIAA - Gold & Platinum. Retrieved 2011-08-09.
- ^ a b "Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx. Retrieved August 19, 2010. Note: User needs to enter "Chrsitopher Cross" in the "Search" field, "Artist" in the "Search by" field, "Album" in the "Format" field and click the "Go" button.
- ^ "Deep Purple – San Antonio, Texas – August 28, 1970". Purple.de. 1970-08-28. http://www.purple.de/dirk/purple/tours/1970/70-08-28.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
External links
- Official website
- Christopher Cross at the Internet Movie Database
- Christopher Cross at Allmusic
- Living Legends – Christopher Cross Interview Series
- Elixir Strings Interview
Albums Christopher Cross • Another Page • Every Turn Of The World • Back Of My MindSingles "Ride Like the Wind" • "Sailing" • "Spinning" • "Ride Like the Wind - Remixes 2001" • "Think of Laura"Related articles Discography • Warner Music GroupAcademy Award for Best Original Song (1981–1990) "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" • Music and lyrics: Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, Christopher Cross and Peter Allen (1981) · "Up Where We Belong" • Music: Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie • Lyrics: Will Jennings (1982) · "Flashdance... What a Feeling" • Music: Giorgio Moroder • Lyrics: Keith Forsey and Irene Cara (1983) · "I Just Called to Say I Love You" • Music and lyrics: Stevie Wonder (1984) · "Say You, Say Me" • Music and lyrics: Lionel Richie (1985) · "Take My Breath Away" • Music: Giorgio Moroder • Lyrics: Tom Whitlock (1986) · "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" • Music: Franke Previte, John DeNicola and Donald Markowitz • Lyrics: Franke Previte (1987) · "Let the River Run" • Music and lyrics: Carly Simon (1988) · "Under the Sea" • Music: Alan Menken • Lyrics: Howard Ashman (1989) · "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)" • Music and Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim (1990)
Complete list · (1934–1940) · (1941–1950) · (1951–1960) · (1961–1970) · (1971–1980) · (1981–1990) · (1991–2000) · (2001–2010) Grammy Award for Album of the Year (1980s) Year Album Artist(s) Producer(s) 1980 1981 Christopher Cross Christopher Cross Michael Omartian 1982 1983 1984 1985 Can't Slow Down Lionel Richie James Anthony Carmichael, Lionel Richie 1986 1987 1988 1989 Complete list · (1960s) · (1970s) · (1980s) · (1990s) · (2000s) · (2010s) Grammy Award for Best New Artist 1950s Bobby Darin (1959)
1960s No award given (1960) · Bob Newhart (1961) · Peter Nero (1962) · Robert Goulet (1963) · The Swingle Singers (1964) · The Beatles (1965) · Tom Jones (1966) · No award given (1967) · Bobbie Gentry (1968) · José Feliciano (1969)
1970s Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (1970) · The Carpenters (1971) · Carly Simon (1972) · America (1973) · Bette Midler (1974) · Marvin Hamlisch (1975) · Natalie Cole (1976) · Starland Vocal Band (1977) · Debby Boone (1978) · A Taste of Honey (1979)
1980s Rickie Lee Jones (1980) · Christopher Cross (1981) · Sheena Easton (1982) · Men at Work (1983) · Culture Club (1984) · Cyndi Lauper (1985) · Sade (1986) · Bruce Hornsby and the Range (1987) · Jody Watley (1988) · Tracy Chapman (1989)
1990s Milli Vanilli (1990) · Mariah Carey (1991) · Marc Cohn (1992) · Arrested Development (1993) · Toni Braxton (1994) · Sheryl Crow (1995) · Hootie & the Blowfish (1996) · LeAnn Rimes (1997) · Paula Cole (1998) · Lauryn Hill (1999)
2000s Christina Aguilera (2000) · Shelby Lynne (2001) · Alicia Keys (2002) · Norah Jones (2003) · Evanescence (2004) · Maroon 5 (2005) · John Legend (2006) · Carrie Underwood (2007) · Amy Winehouse (2008) · Adele (2009)
2010s Zac Brown Band (2010) · Esperanza Spalding (2011)
Grammy Award for Record of the Year (1980s) "What a Fool Believes"* performed by The Doobie Brothers (Jeffrey Baxter, John Hartman, Keith Knudsen, Michael McDonald, Tiran Porter, Patrick Simmons)
· produced by Ted Templeman (1980)"Sailing"* performed by Christopher Cross
· produced by Michael Omartian (1981)"Bette Davis Eyes"* performed by Kim Carnes
· produced by Val Garay (1982)"Rosanna" performed by Toto (Bobby Kimball, Steve Lukather, David Paich, Jeff Porcaro, David Hungate, Steve Porcaro)
· produced by Toto (1983)"Beat It" performed by Michael Jackson
· produced by Michael Jackson & Quincy Jones (1984)"What's Love Got to Do with It"* performed by Tina Turner
· produced by Terry Britten (1985)"We Are the World"* performed by USA for Africa
· produced by Quincy Jones (1986)"Higher Love" performed by Steve Winwood
· produced by Russ Titelman & Steve Winwood (1987)"Graceland" performed by Paul Simon
· produced by Paul Simon (1988)"Don't Worry, Be Happy"* performed by Bobby McFerrin
· produced by Linda Goldstein (1989)- Complete list
- (1960s)
- (1970s)
- (1980s)
- (1990s)
- (2000s)
- (2010s)
Grammy Award for Song of the Year (1980s) Kenny Loggins & Michael McDonald - "What a Fool Believes" (1980) · Christopher Cross - "Sailing" (1981) · Donna Weiss & Jackie DeShannon - "Bette Davis Eyes" (1982) · Johnny Christopher, Mark James & Wayne Carson - "Always on My Mind" (1983) · Sting - "Every Breath You Take" (1984) · Graham Lyle & Terry Britten - "What's Love Got to Do with It" (1985) · Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie - "We Are the World" (1986) · Burt Bacharach & Carole Bayer Sager - "That's What Friends Are For" (1987) · James Horner, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil - "Somewhere Out There" (1988) · Bobby McFerrin - "Don't Worry, Be Happy" (1989)
Complete list · (1960s) · (1970s) · (1980s) · (1990s) · (2000s) · (2010s) Categories:- 1951 births
- Living people
- Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters
- People from San Antonio, Texas
- Grammy Award winners
- Musicians from Texas
- Alamo Heights High School alumni
- Warner Bros. Records artists
- Reprise Records artists
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