A double bill featuring two of music’s most iconic voices! Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Justin Hayward is best-known as the long-time vocalist, lead guitarist and composer for The Moody Blues. Five-time Grammy winner Christopher Cross has sold over 10 million albums and his top ten hits include such classics as “Sailing” and “Ride Like the Wind.”
JUSTIN HAYWARD
Having chalked up over fifty years at the peak of the music and entertainment industry, Justin Hayward’s voice has been heard the world over. Known principally as the vocalist, lead guitarist and composer for the Moody Blues, his is an enduring talent that has helped to define the times in which he worked. Over the years the band has sold more than fifty-five million albums and received numerous awards. In 2018, along with the other members of The Moody Blues, Justin was inducted into the legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Born and brought up in Swindon in the UK, Justin’s interest in music started early when he was five years old and his grandfather bequeathed him his large collection of 78 rpm recordings. “It opened a world of imagination to me,” says Justin. Having taught himself to play the ukulele, he soon progressed to guitar and by his early teens he was playing in local groups. Upon leaving school at 17 he answered an advertisement in Melody Maker newspaper and successfully auditioned for UK Rock and Roll hero Marty Wilde. “I got the job playing guitar for Marty – it was a dream come true for me”. Justin credits Marty with encouraging him to become a songwriter; he made several recordings with Marty’s ‘Wilde Three’ and also appeared with them at the London Palladium. They remain close friends to this day: “Marty is still my hero”.
Having started the ball rolling as a songwriter in his own right with a couple of solo singles, he joined the Moody Blues in the summer of 1966. Hitting his stride immediately with the single ‘Fly Me High’, he followed it up with the classic hit songs ‘Nights in White Satin’ and ‘Tuesday Afternoon’ from the seminal album ‘Days of Future Passed’. This album went on to become a favourite of the NASA astronauts and was taken aboard the Atlantis shuttle space craft by Chief astronaut “Hoot” Gibson on many missions.
This purple patch showed no sign of abating as Justin created other classic, era and genre-defining hits ‘Question’, ‘The Voice’, ‘The Story In Your Eyes’, ‘I Know You’re Out There Somewhere’ and ‘Your Wildest Dreams’. These laid the foundation for the incredible success story of the Moody Blues – as well as his solo work – which continues to this day.
In 2022 Justin revived his role as ‘the journalist’ in the touring production of Jeff Wayne’s ‘War of The Worlds’ and in 2023 he co-headlined an extensive tour of the USA with Christopher Cross. Justin’s latest single is ‘Living for Love’.
CHRISTOPHER CROSS
Christopher Cross burst onto the music scene with his 1980 self-titled debut album, winning five Grammy Awards, including—for the first time in Grammy history—the “Big Four” most prestigious awards: Record of the Year (for the single “Sailing”), Album of the Year, Song of the Year (also “Sailing”), and Best New Artist.
In a career spanning more than four decades, Cross has sold over 10 million albums. His music has garnered five Grammys, an Oscar, a Golden Globe, an Emmy nomination and five Top 10 singles.
Within a year of the first album’s release, Cross joined music royalty Burt Bacharach to write “Arthur’s Theme,” for the movie Arthur, which won an Academy Award for Best Song. With his 1983 release, Another Page, Cross was again in the Top 10 with the singles “All Right” and “Think of Laura.” His song, “Swept Away,” composed for the hit television series, Growing Pains, was nominated for an Emmy.
Cross started his own label and, since 2007, has released 8 albums of new material, including A Christopher Cross Christmas and The Café Carlyle Sessions, jazz treatments of hits and favorites born out of a residency at the famous Hotel Carlyle in New York City. Take Me as I Am, released in 2018, features richly-crafted melodies and elegant guitar work. The latest project for Christopher Cross Records is aptly titled The Complete Works. Released in 2020, it celebrates his 40th anniversary as a recording artist and is a collection of all 12 previously-released CDs, one CD of singles and bonus tracks, and a pink vinyl containing one track from each album chosen by Christopher.
Even though the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the 40th Anniversary tour, starting in 2021, he is once again performing the carefully-crafted songs and music his fans enjoy, starting with “Sailing” and “Ride Like the Wind” from his Grammy-winning debut album and continuing through the decades of his ever-changing but always excellent material. More 40th Anniversary concert dates will be announced soon. Dates can be found on the tour section of his website, www.christophercross.com.
All in all, it’s been quite a ride, one that has taken Cross from his early days in Texas where he once served as a drum tech for Ginger Baker, bought gear from Jimmy Page, and played lead guitar for Deep Purple on a night when Ritchie Blackmore fell ill, to this place as a respected singer-songwriter-guitar player who continues to share his original music with the world.
The Makin Waves Song of the Week is "ICE SS" by the Central Jersey punk act Sally Draper.
