Charles R. Cross
Charles R. Cross (1957 – August 9, 2024) was a Seattle-based music journalist, author and editor.
Cross documented the Seattle music scene as the editor of The Rocket in Seattle from 1986–2000. He founded Backstreets Magazine, a periodical for fans of Bruce Springsteen. His 2001 biography of Kurt Cobain (Heavier Than Heaven) won the 2002 ASCAP Award for Outstanding Musical Biography.[1][2]
In 2004, while conducting research for his biography of Jimi Hendrix, Cross discovered the gravesite of Jimi Hendrix's mother, Lucille Jeter Hendrix, in an abandoned section of Greenwood Memorial Park, where Jimi Hendrix was buried. Her gravesite was lost because the standard welfare marker of her day, an inscribed brick, was buried in decades of mud. [3]
Cross died on August 9, 2024, at the age of 67.[4]
Books
- 1989 Backstreets: Springsteen, the Man and His Music, Harmony Books, New York 1989/1992. ISBN 0-517-58929-X.
- 1991 Led Zeppelin: Heaven and Hell, Harmony, 1991. ISBN 978-0-517-58308-1.
- 1998 Classic Rock Albums: Nevermind: Nirvana, Music Sales Group, 1998/2003. ISBN 978-0-8256-7286-6. Coauthored with Jim Berkenstadt
- 2001 Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain, Hyperion, 2001. ISBN 0-7868-8402-9.
- 2005 Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix, Sceptre, 2005. ISBN 0-340-82683-5.
- 2008 Cobain Unseen, Little, Brown and Company, 2008. ISBN 978-0-316-03372-5
- 2009 Led Zeppelin: Shadows Taller Than Our Souls, It Books. ISBN 978-0061809149
- 2012 Kicking & Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock & Roll, HarperCollins, New York, 2012. ISBN 978-0-06-210167-9. Coauthored with Ann and Nancy Wilson
- 2014 Here We Are Now: The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain ISBN 978-1483002910
References
- ^ "35th Annual ASCAP Deems Taylor Award Recipients". www.ascapfoundation.org. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
- ^ Martoccio, Althea Legaspi (August 12, 2024). "Charles R. Cross, Author of Acclaimed Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix Biographies, Dead at 67". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
- ^ Stout, Gene (July 29, 2005). "New Hendrix bio is a very intimate one". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
- ^ Willman, Chris (August 12, 2024). "Charles R. Cross, Music Journalist Who Wrote Heralded Kurt Cobain Biography and Edited Seattle's Alt-Weekly the Rocket, Dies at 67". Variety. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
External links
- Official Website
- Charles R. Cross discography at Discogs
- Charles R. Cross at IMDb
- About us page of Backstreets magazine