Big Star is the most influential band almost nobody bought records by — the secret ingredient in R.E.M., The Replacements, Teenage Fanclub, Wilco, and every jangling guitar band that followed. Alex Chilton became the cult icon, but Big Star was Chris Bell's band first: he named it, shaped its sound, and co-wrote its founding masterpiece. His story after leaving the band — one perfect solo single, then a car crash at 27 — is among the most haunting in power-pop history.
Memphis, Ardent, and the Anglophile dream
Christopher Branford Bell was born January 12, 1951, in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of a successful restaurateur. While his hometown ran on soul and rockabilly, Bell's obsession was British: the Beatles above all. He became a fixture at Ardent Studios, apprenticing under engineer John Fry and mastering the studio as an instrument — layered harmonies, chiming guitars, immaculate production.
In 1971 he joined forces with Alex Chilton, the former Box Tops singer, along with bassist Andy Hummel and drummer Jody Stephens. Bell named the band after a Memphis grocery chain: Big Star.
#1 Record
Big Star's 1972 debut, #1 Record, is now regarded as one of the founding documents of power pop — Beatlesque melody welded to American guitar crunch. Bell's fingerprints are everywhere: he co-wrote and drove songs like "Feel," "In the Street" (which reached tens of millions decades later as the theme to That '70s Show), "Try Again," and "The Ballad of El Goodo," and his production perfectionism gave the album its shimmer.
Critics raved. Nobody could buy it — Stax's distribution collapse kept the record out of stores, and the commercial failure devastated Bell most of all. Wounded by the album's fate and by tensions with Chilton, he left the band before 1972 was out, struggling with depression in the years that followed and eventually finding solace in Christianity.
"I Am the Cosmos"
Bell kept recording — in Memphis, in France, in England — chasing a solo statement. The centerpiece was "I Am the Cosmos," an aching, majestic ballad of loneliness that ranks with anything Big Star ever cut, backed with the delicate "You and Your Sister." The single crept out on the tiny Car Records label in 1978. It sold almost nothing. It is now considered one of the greatest power-pop songs ever recorded.
On December 27, 1978, driving home in the early hours in Memphis, Bell's car struck a utility pole and he was killed instantly. He was 27. Big Star's cult was still years from blooming; he never saw any of it.
Legacy
In 1992, the album he never finished was assembled and released as I Am the Cosmos, instantly canonized by the alternative generation raised on Big Star worship — This Mortal Coil had already covered "You and Your Sister," and bands from Teenage Fanclub onward carry his DNA. Today Bell is recognized as power pop's tragic co-founder: the perfectionist who built the blueprint, walked away broken, and left behind one single so beautiful it made him immortal anyway.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Chris Bell in Big Star? Bell co-founded Big Star with Alex Chilton, named the band, and co-wrote and co-produced their classic 1972 debut #1 Record before leaving the group.
How did Chris Bell die? He died in a car crash in Memphis in the early morning of December 27, 1978, at age 27, when his car struck a utility pole.
What is "I Am the Cosmos"? Bell's lone solo single, released in 1978 — now considered a power-pop masterpiece. His unfinished solo album was released under the same name in 1992.
Did Chris Bell write "In the Street" from That '70s Show? Yes — "In the Street" was co-written by Bell and Alex Chilton for #1 Record. Cheap Trick's version became the theme for That '70s Show.