He is best known for performing "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" for the film Arthur starring Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli. The song reached number one on the Billboard charts and won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1981 (with co-composers Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen.) Cross first played with a San Antonio based cover band named Flash before signing a solo contract with Warner Bros. Cross released his self-titled debut album, Christopher Cross in 1980, which garnered him five Grammy Awards. He is the only artist to personally receive all of the "Big Four" Grammy Awards (Best Record, Song, Album, and New Artist) in the same year. Although Norah Jones' debut album Come Away with Me and song "Don't Know Why" won the same four awards in 2003, she did not personally receive the Song of the Year Grammy because it is a songwriter's award. Hits from this album included "Sailing", "Ride Like the Wind" (featuring backing vocals by Michael McDonald) and "Never Be the Same." His second album, Another Page, which came out in 1983, included the hit songs "Think of Laura", "No Time For Talk", and "All Right." "All Right" was used by CBS Sports for its highlights montage following the 1983 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, won in an upset by North Carolina State, which defeated the University of Houston in the championship game, 54-52. Although Another Page sold respectably, it did not nearly live up to the high expectations set by his debut album. Christopher Cross released his third album Every Turn of the World in 1985. However, the album failed to produce any top 40 hits, and did not sell well. He went on to make three more albums in the 90's and although some of his releases have gained critical response, he has failed to catch the mass audience he once enjoyed. Cross has toured and opened for various acts since the 90's and also released his second Greatest Hits package in 2002. Christopher has completed a new Christmas album and on November 15, 2007 it was released exclusively on iTunes. He is working on a new studio album to be released in 2008. Today, he does about 100 live performances a year. Cross performed on November 6 at Flemington Racecourse, singing Ride Like the Wind as part of the pre-race entertainment for the 2007 Melbourne Cup.
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Many people associate "Think of Laura" with the Luke and Laura plotline of the soap opera, General Hospital, which was very popular at the time, but it was actually written about a friend of Christopher's girlfriend at the time (named Laura) who had recently been killed by a stray bullet while riding in the back of a car[1].
Chris Griffin of Family Guy, is named after him, as his full name is Christopher Cross Griffin.
Cross performed the song "Sailing" alongside the pop band 'Nsync at the Fourth Annual Blockbuster Awards in 1999.
Cross also performed lead vocals on "So Far Away", a song from Alan Parsons' album On Air. When Parsons was touring in support of that album, Cross would sometimes join the band onstage to sing the song if he was available.
Cross spent much of his youth living in a home on Newbury Terrace in Terrell Hills, just outside San Antonio, Texas. That home had earlier belonged to the Cummins family and another notable San Antonian, the historian and author Light Townsend Cummins, grew up in that same house a decade earlier. It has since been demolished.
His daughter, Madison is a singer and actress. She wrote and recorded a single dedicated to poet Mattie Stepanek in 2005.
In the Seinfeld episode "The Millennium", Newman reveals that he booked Cross for his Millennium Eve party, which he has been planning since 1978.
Cross' single "Ride Like the Wind" is included in the Time Life compilation Soft Rock.
"Ride Like the Wind" was used as a video in an episode of Second City Television. Rick Moranis plays the part of Michael McDonald doing the backing vocals. He rushes to the studio and arrives just in time to sing the background vocals Such a long way to go. A video clip is available at: SCTV Ride Like the Wind Video
