Early years edit

Christopher Thomas Allen was born in Tottenham, London, England, on 14 July 1952.^[2] He went to Belmont Secondary Modern School and William Forster Comprehensive.^[3] He began his music career playing in different bands, with his major early influences being Small Faces, Desmond Dekker and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.^[3]

Later he joined Stoned Rose, in Preston, Lancashire, but also decided to go to college to study psychology, a longstanding interest.^[3]

Tiger Lily and Ultravox edit

After his time at college he returned to London to apply at the Royal College of Art.^[4] Meanwhile, after answering an advertisement, the band Tiger Lily was created in 1973, with the founding members consisting of Cross (then identified as Chris St. John),^[5] singer Dennis Leigh, guitarist Stevie Shears, drummer Warren Cann, and violinist/keyboardist Billy Currie.^[3][6] After playing gigs from 1974 to 1976, in the latter year the band renamed themselves Ultravox! and signed to Island Records.^[7][8]

In 1979, after three commercially unsuccessful but influential albums – Ultravox! (1977), Ha!-Ha!-Ha! (1977) and Systems of Romance (1978) – original vocalist John Foxx and guitarist Robin Simon, who had replaced Stevie Shears a year before, left Ultravox.^[7][9][10]

Midge Ure joined Ultravox in 1979, and the band released their commercially successful Vienna album a year later.^[8] By that time Cross and Ure were close friends; they together directed music videos such as Bananarama's "Shy Boy" and "The Telephone Always Rings" by Fun Boy Three.^[11] The band then produced another few successful albums: Rage in Eden (1981), Quartet (1982), Monument (1983) and Lament (1984).^[7][12] After U-Vox, a studio album released in 1986, Cross left Ultravox in 1989 and pursued a career as a psychotherapist.^[3][7][13] Before Cross's departure, Ure had also left the band to perform as a solo artist before rejoining, but Cross noted the band "fell apart" after Ure rejoined, also stating "it was like everyone lost interest".^[3]

Ultravox revival edit

In April 2009, Ultravox embarked on the "Return to Eden" tour, which included two festivals and a Best of Ultravox CD/DVD being released by EMI.^[14][15]

The 2012 album release, Brilliant, included Cross as co-writer with Billy Currie and Midge Ure on all tracks.^[1] The album was promoted with a UK theatre tour and a series of European dates.^[15] Ultravox made their final performance in 2013, at The O2 in London.^[16]

Cross died on 25 March 2024, at the age of 71.^[17] His death was announced on 1 April by Ultravox member Midge Ure, who did not specify Cross's cause of death.^[6]

• Chris Cross discography at Discogs
• Chris Cross at IMDb