Christopher Cross

All Music Guide:

Christopher Cross was far and away the biggest new star of 1980, virtually defining adult contemporary radio with a series of smoothly sophisticated ballads including the chart-topping "Sailing"; seemingly as quickly as he shot to fame, however, his star descended, although he continued recording and touring for years to come. Born Christopher Geppert in San Antonio, TX on May 3, 1951, Cross first surfaced in the Austin-based cover band Flash before signing a solo contract with Warner Bros. in the autumn of 1978. His self-titled debut LP appeared two years later, with the lead single "Ride Like the Wind" rocketing to the number two spot; the massive success of the second single, "Sailing," made Cross a superstar, and in the wake of two more Top 20 hits, "Never Be the Same" and "Say You'll Be Mine," he walked off with a record-setting five Grammys in 1981, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "Sailing." He soon scored a second number one as well as an Academy Award with "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," which he co-wrote with Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, and Peter Allen for the smash Dudley Moore film comedy Arthur.

Cross' much-anticipated sophomore effort, Another Page, arrived in 1983, but except for the Top Ten entry "Think of Laura" (popularized through its constant presence on the daytime soap phenomenon General Hospital), the album failed to repeat the success of its predecessor, and somewhat amazingly, he never returned to the Top 40 again. Every Turn of the World appeared to little notice in 1985, and when 1988's Back of My Mind failed to chart altogether, Cross was dropped by Warner. His next album, Rendezvous, did not appear until five years later on BMG. Window followed in 1995, and in 1998 he signed to CMC International for Walking in Avalon, a two-disc effort split between new studio material and live recordings of his past hits. Cross returned in the spring of 2000 with The Red Room. Two years later, Rhino released the comprehensive hit collection The Very Best of Christopher Cross. Cross closed out the decade with a Christmas album in 2007 and an acoustic album called The Cafe Carlyle Sessions in 2008. Dr. Faith, his first collection of new songs in ten years, appeared in the fall of 2010.

Wikipedia:

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 US Top Ten hit songs, "Sailing", "Ride Like the Wind", and "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)", the latter he recorded for the film Arthur, which starred Dudley Moore. "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).

Career [edit]

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.

Cross released his self-titled debut album, Christopher Cross, in 1979, which garnered him five Grammy Awards. He made Grammy history by winning 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. To date, he is the only artist to have won those four awards 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.

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.

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.

Cross released a new studio album, Dr. Faith, in 2011.

Personal life [edit]

A self-described "Army brat," Cross's father was a U.S. Army pediatrician. He was stationed at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C., in the mid-1950s (when Cross was elementary school age), where he was physician for President Dwight Eisenhower's grandchildren.

Cross married his wife, Jan, in 1988. They divorced in 2007. They have two children; son, Christopher, and daughter, Madison.

Awards [edit]

Performances [edit]