Geppert, bassist Andy Salmon, and keyboardist Rob Meurer met in San Antonio when they were still teens. Geppert and Salmon became bandmates in Flash, with Geppert on guitar. Together, they formed Christopher Cross as a band and moved to Austin, where they added drummer Tommy Taylor. There, they played covers for cash while recording demo versions of original songs at Austin's Odyssey Sound, which later became Pecan Street Studio, which they shipped to record labels.[6][7] Though they considered themselves a band, Warner Bros. signed Christopher Cross as a solo artist in early 1979.[6][7][8]
Although best known for his vocals and songwriting, Cross is also a skilled guitarist. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan invited Cross to play on their albums, but Cross declined.[9] Cross also substituted for Ritchie Blackmore during a Deep Purple concert in 1970 when Blackmore fell ill.[7][10]
Cross was the original owner of fellow Austin guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan’s legendary “Number One” 1962/1963 hybrid Fender Stratocaster. Vaughan purchased the guitar at Ray Hennig’s Heart of Texas Music in Austin in 1974, only one day after Cross had traded the guitar for a Gibson Les Paul.[11]
Later in 1981, Cross released "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)", co-written by Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen, which was the main theme for the 1981 film Arthur. The song won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1981,[17] and was nominated for three Grammys, but did not win.[18][b] In the U.S., it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and on the Hot Adult Contemporary charts in October 1981, remaining at the top of the Hot 100 for three weeks while it also was a top-ten hit in several other countries. The song became the second and last American number-one hit by Christopher Cross.[19]
Second album
Cross's second album, Another Page (1983), produced "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 Division I men's basketball tournament, while "Think of Laura" is used as a reference to characters on the soap opera General Hospital. Against his wishes ABC used 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. Cross has stated on his social media platforms that he felt it was inappropriate for ABC/General Hospital to use the song against his wishes and those of Carter's family. Another Page sold well, getting Gold certification.[20] He also co-wrote and sang the song "A Chance For Heaven" for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games.
1980s
After 1984, Cross's commercial success faded. As music television channel MTV grew to dominate the mainstream music scene in the United States, 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.[21]
He did, however, place the song "Swept Away" in the TV show Growing Pains. It was used during a video montage while Kirk Cameron's character Mike fell in love with a local girl while vacationing with the family in Hawaii.
1990s
Cross made three more albums in the 1990s, and although some of his releases gained critical response, he was not able to attract the mass audience he once enjoyed. After his decline in fame in the mid to late 1980s, he toured and opened for various acts during the 1990s.[22][23]
2000s
Cross in 2008
The year 2002 saw the release of the Very Best of... album, and in 2007 he completed a Christmas album titled A Christopher Cross Christmas. In 2008, Cross recorded a new acoustic album of his hits titled The Cafe Carlyle Sessions.[24][25]
2010s
In 2011, Cross released a new studio album titled Doctor Faith.[26]
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.[27]
In September 2014, he released Secret Ladder, followed in November 2017 by Take Me as I Am.[28]
In 2017, he played a concert in his hometown, at the Tobin Center, San Antonio, Texas.[29] In 2018, he joined with other musicians in Austin to form the band Freedonia.[30]
Since 2018, Cross has been playing in a band called Freedonia. They have two full length albums: "Freedonia" and "Firefly" and an EP titled "Bring Back The Dinosaurs".
2020s
During 2021–2022, Cross played in his 40th anniversary tour which had been rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Flamingo
One common feature of Cross's album covers is the appearance of a flamingo. According to Cross, there is no meaning behind this other than the painting chosen for his first album cover featured the bird, which has been used as a motif ever since.[32]
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.[33] He attended Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio and graduated in 1969. He was involved in football and track and field.[34]
Cross was married to Roseanne Harrison from 1973 until the couple divorced in 1982. His 1988 marriage to Jan Bunch ended in a 2007 divorce.[35] He has two children, Madison and Rain.[36][37]
On April 3, 2020, Cross confirmed through his Facebook page that he had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, and was ill, but was recovering. Cross later reported on Twitter that he had lost the use of his legs, but his doctors told him he should fully recover. Physicians told him his illness triggered an episode of Guillain–Barré syndrome that caused the nerves in his legs to stop functioning properly.[38] By October 2020, he was able to walk with a cane, but said his memory and speech had been affected.[39]
In 2021 and 2022 he played his 40th anniversary concert tour, which had originally been planned for 2020.[40]
^"Christopher Cross & Flash". Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved April 26, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ abKent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN0-646-11917-6.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)
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