Christopher Cross

Christopher Cross is an American singer-songwriter originally from Austin, Texas, known as an influential artist in American soft rock music. He has written or co-written all his own songs, with the exception of "Nature's Way" that appears on his 'Window' album. He's most famous for singing the tunes "Arthur's Theme" from the Dudley Moore film 'Arthur', which won him the Academy Award for Best Song in 1981 (alongside co-composers Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, and Peter Allen), and the iconic yacht rock classic "Sailing". Cross released his debut album, 'Christopher Cross', in 1979, and it garnered him five Grammy Awards. He's the only artist in history to receive all of the "Big Four" Grammy Awards (for 'Best Record', 'Best Song', 'Best Album', and 'Best New Artist') in the same year. Hits from the critically acclaimed album, along with "Sailing" (a number one hit that remained within Billboard's Top 40 for over three months), include "Ride Like the Wind" (which was a #2 hit), "Never Be the Same" (going to #15), and "Say You'll Be Mine" (rising to #20). Critics such as Allmusic's Mike DeGagne have lauded Cross' " crisp and colorful" songwriting and "soothing voice". Labeled as possibly having 'peaked too early' as time went on, Cross proved the doubters wrong with another number one hit in "Arthur's Theme" (also known as "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)"). A part of the Dudley Moore film 'Arthur', the track, as stated before, won him the Academy Award for Best Song in 1981 alongside co-composers Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, and Peter Allen. Although his popularity has waxed and waned over the years since his 70s heyday, Cross has earned a reputation as one of the key artists playing what would become known as "yacht rock" alongside contemporaries such as Loggins & Messina. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.