advertisement
Music News

Charles Cross, Author of Books on Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix, Dies at 67

"We are sorry to share that Charles Cross has passed," reads a statement from his family. "We are all grief-stricken and trying to get through this difficult process of dealing with the next steps."

Charles Cross

Charles Cross

Charles Cross, the celebrated music writer who penned books on Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix, and editor of influential Seattle magazine The Rocket, died Friday, Aug. 9.

“We are sorry to share that Charles Cross has passed,” reads a statement from his family. “He died peacefully of natural causes in his sleep on August 9th, 2024. We are all grief-stricken and trying to get through this difficult process of dealing with the next steps.”


Cross wrote nine books including three New York Times bestsellers Heavier Than Heaven: The Biography of Kurt Cobain, which won the 2002 ASCAP Award for outstanding biography. Three years later, Cross published his 2005 bestselling Hendrix biography Room Full of Mirrors, lauded by Vibe magazine as one of the best-ever books on music.

advertisement

His works include the 2012 book with Ann and Nancy Wilson of Rock And Roll Hall of Famers Heart, Kicking & Dreaming, also a Times bestseller.

A prolific writer for magazines, Cross was founding editor of Backstreets, the Bruce Springsteen magazine, “plus a couple other short-lived leftist Northwest magazines,” he quips in his biog.

Cross climbed the ranks in the ‘80s, becoming a senior editor of The Rocket in 1982, the editor in 1986, and the publisher in the same year.

The late author’s other published works include Cobain Unseen; Here We Are Now: The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain; Backstreets: Springsteen The Man and His Music; Led Zeppelin: Heaven and Hell; Led Zeppelin: Shadows Taller Than Our Souls; and Nirvana: Nevermind.

This article was originally published by Billboard U.S.

advertisement
Oskar Graf
Frontenac News

Oskar Graf

FYI

Obituaries: Canadian Luthier Oskar Graf, Austin Music Scene Veteran Chris Gage

This week we also acknowledge the passing of Laughing Hyenas/Jesus Lizard drummer Jim Kimball and Sigue Sigue Sputnik drummer Ray Mayhew.

Oskar Graf, a renowned Canadian luthier and co-founder of the Blue Skies Music Festival, died on August 26 at the age of 81.

A 2014 profile in Frontenac News noted that "a celebrated 40-year career as one of Canada's top-notch luthiers [guitarmakers] was not the career that Oskar Graf originally planned for but he affirms that it is one that he is very grateful for. Trained in his native Germany as a cabinet maker and industrial/furniture designer, Graf, who was born in Berlin, came to Canada in 1968. He worked briefly in his trained field upon his arrival in Toronto before purchasing land not far east of Clarendon Station, where he designed and built the home and workshop that he has lived and worked in ever since.

keep readingShow less
advertisement