Chris (1951) Bell

American musician, guitarist, singer, and songwriter who led the power pop band Big Star through its first album #1 Record (1972) along with Alex Chilton. He also pursued a solo career throughout the mid-1970s, resulting in the posthumous I Am the Cosmos LP (1992).

Bell died on 27 December 1978, when he lost control of his Triumph TR7 sports car, sometime after 1:00 AM in Memphis. He was on his way home from a band rehearsal. The car struck a wooden light pole on the side of the road. The pole fell and killed him instantly. He was 27.

Bell's catalogue of proto-alternative rock has inspired the likes of Beck, R.E.M., Teenage Fanclub, Pixies, Primal Scream, Afghan Whigs, Pete Yorn, Wilco, The Posies, and The Replacements, all of whom have covered his music or expressed their admiration for Big Star in the press.

His life was documented in the acclaimed documentary Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me, released in 2013 by Magnolia Pictures. Bell's life, and the career of Big Star, was also documented in the 2018 book There Was a Light: The Cosmic History of Chris Bell and the Rise of Big Star. The 400-page oral-history style bio contains rare interviews with Bell, his bandmates, friends, family and notable fans.