Big Star
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Who is Big Star?
Big Star was an American band formed in Memphis in the early 1970s. The original lineup featured Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Andy Hummel, and Jody Stephens. Though short-lived, the band helped define power pop, combining bright melodies and vocal harmonies with urgent rhythms. Despite poor record sales, Big Star gained a following among later rockers like the Replacements and R.E.M.
Chilton and Bell, inspired by British Invasion rock and Southern soul, brought depth to pop songwriting. Their debut album, #1 Record (1972), is now hailed as a masterpiece. After disappointing sales, Bell left, and Chilton led the band towards a tougher sound in Radio City (1974). By the mid-1970s, only Chilton and Stephens remained, and their third album, Third, took on a darker tone.
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When and where was Big Star formed?
Big Star, an American band that helped define power pop, was founded in Memphis, Tennessee, in the early 1970s. The original lineup featured Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Andy Hummel, and Jody Stephens. Despite initial poor record sales, Big Star's music gained recognition from bands such as R.E.M. and the Replacements. Their debut album, #1 Record, released in 1972, is now hailed as a masterpiece.
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Who were the main members of Big Star?
Big Star, an American band that helped define power pop in the early 1970s, consisted of Alex Chilton (singer/songwriter), Chris Bell (singer/songwriter), Andy Hummel (bass), and Jody Stephens (drums). Chilton and Bell formed the core of Big Star after Chilton left the Box Tops, and Hummel and Stephens made up the rhythm section. The band reunited in 1993 with new members Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of the Posies, who filled out the lineup.
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What kind of music did Big Star play?
Big Star, an American band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in the early 1970s, is known for helping to define power pop. This style blends bright melodies and boyish vocal harmonies with urgent rhythms. The band's music drew from British Invasion rock and Southern soul, bringing depth to the three-minute pop song, evident in their debut album, #1 Record. Though initially unsuccessful, Big Star gained a following among later rockers, including the Replacements, R.E.M., and Teenage Fanclub.
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Why is Big Star considered influential in rock music?
Big Star is considered influential in rock music, particularly in the power pop style, due to their bright melodies, boyish vocal harmonies, and urgent rhythms. Despite their brief existence and poor record sales in the early 1970s, subsequent generations of rockers, including the Replacements, R.E.M., the Bangles, the Posies, and Teenage Fanclub, championed them. Their debut album, #1 Record, was hailed as a masterpiece, and the cult hit "September Gurls" further solidified their reputation. Though the band eventually drifted apart, their early work has had a lasting impact on rock music.
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What are some of Big Star's most famous albums or songs?
Big Star was an American band that helped define power pop with bright melodies. The original members were Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Andy Hummel, and Jody Stephens. Although their records initially sold poorly, later generations of rockers championed them.
Big Star's debut album, #1 Record (1972), is now hailed as a masterpiece. Radio City (1974) included the cult hit "September Gurls." By the time their third album, Third (also known as Sister Lovers), was released in 1978, the band consisted of only Chilton and Stephens, and the record took on a dark, disturbing tone that reflected the group’s disintegration. In 2005, they released In Space.
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Big Star, American band that during its brief existence in the early 1970s helped define power pop, a style in which bright melodies and boyish vocal harmonies are propelled by urgent rhythms. The original members were Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Andy Hummel, and Jody Stephens.
- Alex Chilton (born December 28, 1950, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.—died March 17, 2010, New Orleans, Louisiana)
- Chris Bell (born January 12, 1951, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.—died December 27, 1978, Memphis)
- Andy Hummel (born January 26, 1951, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.—died July 19, 2010, Weatherford, Texas)
- Jody Stephens (born October 4, 1952, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.)
Founded in Memphis, Big Star was the proverbial “band ahead of its time.” Its records sold poorly but were championed by subsequent generations of rockers, including the Replacements, R.E.M., the Bangles, the Posies, and Teenage Fanclub. Chilton had tasted pop success as the teenage lead singer of the Box Tops, a blue-eyed soul group also from Memphis. Despite scoring seven hit singles with the Box Tops, the singer chafed against the limited opportunities for him as a songwriter, and the group broke up in 1970. He joined with Bell, and they briefly forged a Paul McCartney–John Lennon style songwriting partnership in Big Star, while Hummel and Stephens anchored a formidable rhythm section. Bell and Chilton were fans of both British Invasion rock and Southern soul, and they brought an unusual depth to the three-minute pop song on Big Star’s 1972 debut album, #1 Record. Although the record was subsequently hailed as a masterpiece, it initially sold so poorly that a discouraged Bell left the group. The follow-up, Radio City (1974), included a few Bell songs but was largely driven by Chilton, who pursued a slightly tougher-sounding but equally brilliant direction. Among the album’s riches was the cult hit “September Gurls.” But again the band was disappointed by negligible sales and began drifting apart.
Recording sessions for a third album were begun with producer Jim Dickinson in the mid-1970s. By this time the band consisted of only Chilton and Stephens, and the record took on a dark, disturbing tone that reflected the group’s disintegration. By the time Third (also known as Sister Lovers) was released in 1978, Chilton had begun a solo career that would cement his reputation as one of rock’s most mercurial talents. Chilton’s early solo albums (particularly the 1979 release Like Flies on Sherbert) and production work for the Cramps and for Tav Falco and Panther Burns won him new recognition with the punk generation. Bell, who was killed in a car accident in 1978, had a similar mystique; his post-Big Star solo recordings finally surfaced in 1992 to critical acclaim.
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Chilton recorded with less frequency in subsequent decades, but he was persuaded to reunite with Stephens to play a Big Star show in 1993. The band’s lineup was fleshed out by Big Star acolytes Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of the Posies. The quartet continued to tour sporadically as Big Star and even recorded a solid but unremarkable studio album, In Space (2005). A box set of Big Star’s early work was released in 2009, and the band was to be featured at the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas, in 2010. But Chilton died on the second day of the conference, and the final Big Star show instead became a tribute concert, with guest vocalists such as Evan Dando, M. Ward, and R.E.M.’s Mike Mills taking turns singing Chilton’s songs.