#led zepp

Remembering Charles R. Cross 1957-2024

Sad news today that music journalist Charles R. Cross has died at 67. This one hurts. He was Seattle-based and was one of the best writers of Seattle music past and present.

Two of Cross's books about Kurt Cobain

A former editor for The Rocket, he wrote the 1998 Classic Albums book about Nirvana's Nevermind. This lead to his 2001 Kurt Cobain biography Heavier Than Heaven, which is possibly one of the best books about Cobain and best music bios ever written. No joke! Courtney Love granted Cross exclusive access for this bio and it showed. Cross re-visited Cobain again with the photo-heavy 2008 book Cobain Unseen. In 2014 he published his third Cobain book Here We Are Now: The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain.

Cross's author photo

It needs to be noted that he was the publisher of Backstreets, one of foremost Bruce Springsteen fanzines of its time (it pre-dated the internet). He wrote books about Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Heart. Seattle music was clearly a passion of his! His writing also appeared in Seattle Times, Rolling Stone, Spin and more.

Cross with former Nirvana drummer Chad Channing (who posted this photo on his social media)

I was connected to Cross on Facebook and he always had great posts about musicians he had seen live or talked to. In 2017, I emailed him and introduced myself (we had a lot of mutual friends in common) and asked for his advice about a project with a Seattle musician. Charles wrote me back and while he wasn't able to give contact info, he gave me advice and wished me good luck. I appreciated that email and that he was so approachable.