Christopher Clay Austin (February 24, 1964 – March 16, 1991) was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer. Austin was signed to

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

in 1988 and charted three singles on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart. His highest-charting single, "Blues Stay Away from Me," was included on the 1989 compilation album ''New Tradition Sings the Old Tradition''. Austin also co-wrote

Ricky Skaggs Rickie Lee Skaggs (born July 18, 1954), known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, ma ...

' 1991 single " Same Ol' Love." Austin was most known for playing guitar and fiddle for

's and

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire ( ; born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music, country singer and actress. Dubbed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Sin ...

's road bands. Austin toured with McEntire until an airplane carrying Austin, six other members of McEntire's band, and her road manager crashed into a nearby mountain after taking off from an airport in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, killing all on board.

Singles

References

1964 births 1991 deaths American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters People from Boone, North Carolina Warner Records artists Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States 20th-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from North Carolina Country musicians from North Carolina 20th-century American male singers Accidental deaths in California Musicians killed in aviation accidents or incidents Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1991 {{US-country-singer-stub