Christopher Cross
(Read all about Christopher Cross after the video)
Christopher Cross (born Christopher Charles Geppert; May 3, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter from San Antonio, Texas.
His debut album earned him five Grammy Awards. He is perhaps best known for his US Top Five hit songs, "Ride Like the Wind", "Sailing", and "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)", the latter recorded by him for the film Arthur starring Dudley Moore.[1][2] "Sailing" earned three Grammys 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
Early musical 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. in 1978.[3]
The first album, and immediate success
Cross released his self-titled debut album, Christopher Cross, in 1979. The Billboard 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).
Due to the almost immediate success and popularity gained by his first
album, he was nominated for several Grammy Awards, garnering five.
The second album
Cross's second album, Another Page (1983), included the hit songs "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" (on the CD & cassette versions only, as a bonus song), "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.
Cross allowed ABC to use his song in this context; however, he has
stated that he wrote "Think of Laura" not in reference to the television
characters, but to celebrate the life of Denison University college
student Laura Carter who was killed when she was struck by a stray
bullet. Another Page sold well, getting Gold Certification. He
also co-wrote and sang the song "A Chance For Heaven" for the 1984
Summer Olympic Games.
The curse of the MTV generation
After 1984, Cross's star quickly dimmed. As music television station MTV
grew to dominate the mainstream music scene in the U.S., Cross's style
of music proved to be "a bad fit" for the network, and Cross's brand of adult contemporary music declined in popularity.[4]
Cross's next two albums, 1985's Every Turn of the World and 1988's Back of My Mind did not produce any top 40 hits or reach Gold or Platinum status.
He did, however, place the song "Swept Away" in the ABC TV Show
Growing Pains. It was used during a video montage while Kirk Cameron's
character fell in love with a local girl while vacationing with the
family in Hawaii.
The 1990s
Cross
made three more albums in the 1990s, and although some of his releases
have gained critical response, he has not been able to attract the mass
audience he once enjoyed. After his decline in fame in the mid-1980s, he
toured and opened for various acts during the 1990s.[5][6]
The 2000s
In 2002 he released his Very Best of... album, and in 2007 he completed a Christmas album, A Christopher Cross Christmas. In 2008 recorded a new acoustic album of his hits titled The Cafe Carlyle Sessions.[7][8]
The 2010s
In 2011 Cross released a new studio album titled Doctor Faith.[9]
In 2013 he released A Night in Paris, a 2-CD live album he recorded and filmed in April 2012 at the Theatre Le Trianon in Paris, France.[10]
The song "Ride Like The Wind" was featured on the Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues original movie soundtrack, released in 2013.
In September 2014 he released his latest album, Secret Ladder.[11]
Cross has continued to garner a new fan base from 2015 through the
present in his music's frequent plays on Sirius XM Radio's specialty
channel, Yacht Rock Radio.
Personal life
A self-described "Army brat", Cross is the son of a U.S. Army pediatrician stationed at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. in the mid-1950s, acting as physician for President Dwight Eisenhower's grandchildren.[12][verification needed]
Cross was married to Roseanne Harrison from 1973 until the couple
divorced in 1982. In 1988 he married Jan Bunch, divorcing in 2007 after
18 years of marriage.[13]
Cross has a son named Justin from his first marriage, and two children from his second marriage, son Rain and daughter Madison.[14]
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