Chris Christian (born Lon Christian Smith on February 7, 1951 is an American

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, and a

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the prod ...

executive. His songs have been recorded by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

, Hall and Oates,

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the ...

Sheena Easton Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress. Easton came into the public eye in an episode of the first British musical reality television programme '' The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to ...

The Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, blu ...

Al Jarreau Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and musician. His 1981 album '' Breakin' Away'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and R ...

The Carpenters The Carpenters (officially known as Carpenters) were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinct, soft, musical style, combining Karen's contr ...

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...

Patti Austin Patti Austin (born August 10, 1950) is an American R&B, pop, and jazz singer and songwriter. Music career Austin was born in Harlem, New York, to Gordon Austin, a jazz trombonist. She was raised in Bay Shore, New York on Long Island. Quincy ...

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles ch ...

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

the Imperials The Imperials are an American Christian music group that has been active for over 55 years. Originating as a southern gospel quartet, the innovative group would become pioneers of contemporary Christian music in the 1960s. There have been many ...

, B.J. Thomas, B W Stevenson, Marilyn McCoo, Dan Peek,

Cheryl Ladd Cheryl Ladd (born Cheryl Jean Stoppelmoor; July 12, 1951) is an American actress, singer, and author best known for her role as Kris Munroe in the ABC television series ''Charlie's Angels'', whose cast she joined in its second season in 1977 to ...

Jane Olivor Jane Olivor (born May 18, 1947) is an American singer. After releasing five albums from the late 1970s through the early 1980s, her stage fright, anxiety over her rapid success, and her husband's illness and death caused her to take a 10-year hia ...

, Sandi Patti,

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

, Ali Lohan,

Donny Osmond Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host, and former teen idol. He first gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gol ...

, and others. Christian has produced albums that have been nominated for nine and won four

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

. He has also been nominated for seven

Gospel Music Association The Gospel Music Association (GMA) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1964 for the purpose of supporting and promoting the development of all forms of gospel music. As of 2011, there are about 4,000 members worldwide. The GMA's membership c ...

Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...

as an artist, songwriter, and producer, winning five. He has also released sixteen other albums as a solo artist. Throughout his career, he has written music for many major TV sports events such as the Super Bowl, NCAA finals, The Masters, Olympics, NFL Today, US Open, and many more.

Biography

As a member of the trio of

Cotton, Lloyd & Christian Cotton, Lloyd and Christian were a soft rock trio comprising singer-songwriters Darryl Cotton from Australia, and Michael Lloyd and Chris Christian from the United States. They achieved some success in the mid-1970s. History American multi-instrum ...

, put together by

Mike Curb Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944) is an American musician, record company executive, motorsports car owner, philanthropist, and former politician. He is also the founder of Curb Records where he presently serves as the chairman. Curb also s ...

in the early 1970s, he enjoyed two hits on the ''Billboard'' adult contemporary chart on 20th Century Records. The group performed on Dick Clark's ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pr ...

'' and '' Midnight Special''. As a solo artist he performed on ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, May 10, 1965 to July 4, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 197 ...

'', '' Solid Gold'', and was a judge on ''

Star Search ''Star Search'' was an American television show that was produced by T.P.E./Rysher Entertainment from 1983 to 1995, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Al Masini. A relaunch was produced by 2929 Productions from 2003 to 2004. On both version ...

''. Christian also played guitar with

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music ...

Jerry Reed Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937 – September 1, 2008) was an American singer, guitarist, composer, and songwriter as well as an actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included " Guitar Man", "U.S. Male", " A Thi ...

, and the

Wayne Newton Carson Wayne Newton (born April 3, 1942) is an American singer and actor. One of the most popular singers in the nation from the mid-to-late 20th-century, Newton remains one of the best-known entertainers in Las Vegas. He is known by the nicknam ...

band. As a record producer, he is best known for starting Amy Grant's music career by signing her at age 16 to his production company, and calling Myrrh Records executive Stan Moser, to advise he was making an album with Grant as part of a long-term production agreement Christian had signed with Myrrh Records. Christian produced her first album and acted as executive producer for her second, handing over production duties to his college friend

Brown Bannister Elliott Brown Bannister III (born August 15, 1951) is an contemporary Christian music (CCM) producer and songwriter. Bannister released one album of his own, ''Talk to One Another'', in 1981 on NewPax Records. It was reissued on the Reunion Records ...

. He owned her songs until 1997 when they were sold to Gaylord Entertainment. He has produced

the Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, blu ...

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

, B J Thomas, Dan Peek, B W Stevenson, Debby Boone, Steve Archer, Bill Gaither, Marilyn McCoo, Eric Champion, Ali Lohan,

, and over 100 other albums. As the first artist signed to Boardwalk Records owned by

Neil Bogart Neil E. Bogart (born Neil Scott Bogatz, February 3, 1943 – May 8, 1982) was an American record executive. He was the founder of Casablanca Records, which later became Casablanca Record and Filmworks. Life and career Born Neil Scott Bogatz in ...

, with Bob Gaudio (Four Seasons) producing, he recorded "I Want You, I Need You," which peaked at No. 37 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in November 1981 and reached the No. 8 on ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary Chart. "I Want You, I Need You" was a number one song in some countries outside the US.

sings back-up on the song along with many other artists on the album including Christopher Cross, Nigel Olsson, Frankie Valli, Dann Huff, Tommy Funderburk, Bill Champlin, Paul Jackson, Amy Holland, and Robbie Patton. Other artists on Boardwalk were Ringo Starr, Joan Jett, Mike Love (Beach Boys), and Night Ranger.

Robert Kardashian Robert George Kardashian (February 22, 1944 – September 30, 2003) was an American attorney and businessman. He gained recognition as O. J. Simpson's friend and defense attorney during Simpson's 1995 murder trial. He had four children with hi ...

(the Kardashians' father) was his best friend, manager and was responsible for Chris signing with

Boardwalk Records Boardwalk Records is a record label founded by Neil Bogart in 1980, after PolyGram acquired Casablanca Records from him. History The label had hit acts with Joan Jett and Harry Chapin. Other artists on the Boardwalk label included, Invisible ...

. A second hit, a medley of the 1968

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown (music style), Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player ...

and Tammi Terrell Motown songs " Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and " You're All I Need to Get By" sung with Amy Holland, hit No. 21 on the Adult Contemporary chart and No. 88 on the Hot 100 in 1982. In 1981, Christian launched his own label Home Sweet Home Records. On that label he signed and produced albums for

White Heart White Heart, also listed as Whiteheart, was an American contemporary Christian music and pop-rock band which formed in 1982. White Heart's discography includes thirteen albums, the most recent of which was released in 1997. Original members Bill ...

, Steve Archer,

Mark Heard John Mark Heard III (December 16, 1951 – August 16, 1992) was an American record producer, folk rock singer and songwriter from Macon, Georgia. Heard released sixteen albums, and produced or performed with many artists, including: Sam Ph ...

, Dan Peek, B.J. Thomas, Eric Champion, Rick Riso, Luke Garrett, Marilyn McCoo and others. In 1992, he founded HSH Educational Media with his brother Brad. He executive produced and wrote the music for the children's series '' Gerbert'', which aired on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

and what is now

ABC Family The American cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and six different name changes) during its h ...

for over 10 years. His company continues to own and license the Gerbert shows and music. The ''Gerbert'' TV series won an ACE award for best Pre-School Show. Christian purchased The Studios at Las Colinas in 1992 with partner Steve Jarchow. Ross Perot Jr. bought Jarchow's interest in 1993. Christian and Perot purchased the acreage around the Studios Complex selling their interest in the studio and the remaining land to Fox Sports Southwest in 2003. Christian was

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

of World Digital Media Group and YMC Records, a joint venture by

Radio Shack RadioShack, formerly RadioShack Corporation, is an American retailer founded in 1921. At its peak in 1999, RadioShack operated over 8,000 worldwide stores named RadioShack or Tandy Electronics in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Austra ...

Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV ...

, and Sirius Radio, until May 2007. In 2015, he became the vice-chairman and managing partner for the WNBA's

Dallas Wings The Dallas Wings are an American basketball team based in Arlington, Texas. The Wings play in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team is owned by a group which is led by chairman Bill Cameron. Gre ...

. He was inducted into the West Texas Music Hall of Fame, as well as the Christian Music Hall of Fame in 2007. He is listed among the Distinguished Alumni of

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a private Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as ''Childers Classical Institute''. ACU is one of the largest private universities in the Southwestern United States and has one of t ...

(class of 1973). His family was a founding family of The Covenant School in Dallas.

Discography

Studio Albums

* 1976: ''Chris Christian'' * 1977: ''Chance'' * 1979: ''With Your Love'' * 1981: ''Just Sit Back'' * 1981: ''Chris Christian (Boardwalk Co.)'' * 1983: ''Love Them While We Can'' * 1984: ''Let the Music Start'' * 1987: ''Higher Ways'' * 1988: ''Thinking of You This Christmas'' * 1989: ''Focus'' * 2000: ''Harbour''

Instrumental Albums

* 1988: ''No Lyrics'' * 1990: ''Sketches''

Live Albums

* 1986: ''Live at Six Flags (with

)''

Compilation Albums

* 1980: ''The Best of Chris Christian'' * 1985: ''Mirror of Your Heart'' * 1991: ''15 Best of 15 Years'' * 1999: ''The Collection Vol. 1 1976-1981'' * 1999: ''The Collection Vol. 2 1981-1991''

Other Albums

* 1995: ''The Producer (compilation of other artists)''

References

External links

(Chris Christian Music Official Site)
* "YMC Records To Make First Appearance at the National Association of Recording Merchandisers Convention" at TheFreeLibrary.co

* "WDMG Gets Sirius With Universal Music Enterprises" on Satellite Standard Group's Blogspot pag

* "Dallas Exec Matches Up Retailers and Big-Time Recording Artists" column by Cheryl Hall from

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''The Galves ...

br>

WNBA’s Dallas Wings Introduced in DFW Metroplex

Voepel: Dallas Wings era opens with high hopes

* "WNBA's Dallas Wings already honoring local roots

* "Christian takes music experience to the WNBA

Thank you, Chris. Thank you, very much.

TEXAS READS: Abilene's Chris Christian tells his inspiring story

Abilene's own Chris Christian tells stories behind his many hit songs

How Chris Christian made his grandmother proud

CC Entertainment

(discography)

Chis Christian article
at TX Music.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, Chris 1951 births Living people Songwriters from Texas Record producers from Texas American performers of Christian music Musicians from Dallas People from Abilene, Texas American male singers American male songwriters