Chris Bell

Chris Bell was one of the unsung heroes of American pop music. Despite a life marked by tragedy and a career crippled by commercial indifference, the singer/songwriter's slim body of recorded work proved massively influential on the generations of indie rockers who emerged in his wake. With high school friend Alex Chilton, Bell formed Big Star, whose debut album, 1972's #1 Record, eventually earned mythic status as an underground classic (though it was deemed a commercial failure at the time of release). Crushed, Bell became suicidal and left the band. Though he continued working on music, his depression worsened; to help revitalize his career, his brother David led him to France, where a batch of demos were cut for a planned album (the songs were mixed with Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick). The completed tracks were roundly rejected however, and Bell soon dropped out of music. In 1977, the remarkable single "I Am the Cosmos" was issued on the tiny Car label; its positive reception spurred him to form a new band. But in late 1978, Bell was killed in a car crash. Over the course of the following decade, the legendary stature of Big Star continued to grow exponentially, and finally, Bell's long-unreleased demos were released as I Am the Cosmos. ~ Jason Ankeny