08/13/2024
Here at Backstreets, we’re devastated by the loss of our founding father, Charles R. Cross.
Charley single-handedly launched Backstreets in 1980, served as its Editor-in-Chief through the late ’90s, and remained an active contributor, advisor, fellow traveler, and guiding light until the end. For decades, Charley’s original vision, his honesty and open heart, and his commitment to intelligent music journalism coexisting with unapologetic fandom inspired everyone who worked here and thousands of readers.
If you read Backstreets Magazine in the early days, you probably felt like you knew Charley personally, as he shared his feelings in “On the Backstreets” editorials, wearing his heart on his sleeve. That’s the guy he was — unafraid to speak his mind, cynical at times like any of us, but deeply kind and never afraid of sentimentality, particularly when it came to expressing love for his friends, how deeply touched he was by the music, and his convictions about a better world.
Charley passed away on Friday — as best anyone can tell, peacefully in his sleep — from a heart attack no one saw coming. He’d been in good health, feeling in the middle of life rather than anywhere near the end of it, and excited by so many things, including the memoir he had in the works, a new girlfriend (a subject he’d never shy away from gushing about in “On the Backstreets”), and, as ever, spending time with his son Ashland.
A prolific and highly respected music journalist, Charley forged a distinguished career beyond Backstreets. He owned and edited The Rocket, Seattle’s alternative paper that was crucial to the regional music scene — before, during, and following the “grunge” explosion of the early ’90s. Throughout that decade, Backstreets and The Rocket lived under one roof.
Charley stepped away from Backstreets in order to concentrate on the books he wanted to write, beginning with the story of Kurt Cobain. Heavier Than Heaven became a best seller and was roundly praised, as were his subsequent books on local music legends Jimi Hendrix and Heart. As a freelance writer for outlets like the Seattle Times, he continued to pay attention to and chronicle the culture of the city at large, not just its music.
For us, though, and for Bruce Springsteen fans around the world, it’s his work with Backstreets that stands out as groundbreaking and most meaningful: his nose-to-tail creation of a “fanzine” that was taken seriously and thrived for decades, his commitment to chronicling the work of a culturally significant artist a couple of decades before websites did it, and, most importantly, the fostering of a community of like-minded souls.
On that count, Charley’s work unified a global fan base in spirit, in shared knowledge, and in real-world relationships. When it came to Backstreets, that’s what he was proudest of: the connections — tape-trading partners, deep friendships, even marriages — that sprang from what he created, the countless fellow fans his efforts brought together from around the world.
Among the Backstreets crew, we were great beneficiaries of the same. Not only were we beyond lucky to have a friend like Charley, but thanks to his efforts we managed to connect with so many others who today mean the world to us, who now share in our grief but more importantly have become lifelong friends. And the fact that we are nowhere near alone in being able to say that may well be Charley’s proudest professional legacy.
— Chris, Erik, and Jonathan
photographs of Charles R. Cross by David DuBois, January 2024
