Charles Cross, Author of Books on Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix, Dies at 67

Charles Cross, the celebrated music writer who penned books on Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix, and editor of influential Seattle magazine The Rocket, died Friday, Aug. 9.

“We are sorry to share that Charles Cross has passed,” reads a statement from his family. “He died peacefully of natural causes in his sleep on August 9th, 2024. We are all grief-stricken and trying to get through this difficult process of dealing with the next steps.”

Cross wrote nine books including three New York Times bestsellers Heavier Than Heaven: The Biography of Kurt Cobain, which won the 2002 ASCAP Award for outstanding biography. Three years later, Cross published his 2005 bestselling Hendrix biography Room Full of Mirrors, lauded by Vibe magazine as one of the best-ever books on music.

His works include the 2012 book with Ann and Nancy Wilson of Rock And Roll Hall of Famers Heart, Kicking & Dreaming, also a Times bestseller.

A prolific writer for magazines, Cross was founding editor of Backstreets, the Bruce Springsteen magazine, “plus a couple other short-lived leftist Northwest magazines,” he quips in his biog.

Cross climbed the ranks in the ‘80s, becoming a senior editor of The Rocket in 1982, the editor in 1986, and the publisher in the same year.

The late author’s other published works include Cobain Unseen; Here We Are Now: The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain; Backstreets: Springsteen The Man and His Music; Led Zeppelin: Heaven and Hell; Led Zeppelin: Shadows Taller Than Our Souls; and Nirvana: Nevermind.