“Charley was the coolest rock litterati bookworm to ever be lucky enough to know.” Music writer Charles R. Cross, author of definitive Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and Heart biographies, dead at 67

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Charles R. Cross, the acclaimed author of definitive biographies of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Heart and more has passed away, aged 67.

A writer for Rolling Stone, Spin, Creem and numerous other media outlets, Cross was perhaps best known globally for his Kurt Cobain biography Heavier Than Heaven, first published in 2001. He had documented the Seattle music scene for years as Editor of the city's music magazine The Rocket. Cross also drew praise for his insightful Hendrix biography Room Full of Mirrors and his best-selling Heart biography Kicking and Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock & Roll, co-written with the band's Ann and Nancy Wilson.

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

After graduating from the University of Washington in Seattle with a degree in creative writing, Cross began working for local free biweekly music magazine The Rocket, before being promoted to the position of Editor from 1986 to 2000. Fellow writers and musicians have paid tribute to Cross, who was perhaps the most passionate champion of his city's music scene.

“Whadda one of a kind guy,” Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson posted on Instagram. “His passion and purpose was to make it his life’s work to celebrate and chronicle the beautiful, global renaissance that started with our local Seattle music scene. Charley was the coolest rock litterati bookworm to ever be lucky enough to know. And all us cool rock people got to feel even cooler to know him and call him a friend.

“Always the cutest bespeckled nerd at the dance, we would talk for hours and hours about Heart for the book, but we couldn’t stop talking about the impact of the eruptive explosion of rock that wrastled its way out into the culture — like a prize fighter with guitars blazing and the searing war cries of singers like Kurt Eddie Chris and Ann …I truly loved Charley Cross. One of a kind class act. Rest in wit and wisdom, dear fine feathered friend.”

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Artists

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.