Christopher Branford Bell was an American musician and singer-songwriter. Along with Alex Chilton, he led the power pop band Big Star through its first album #1 Record. He also pursued a solo career throughout the mid-1970s, resulting in the posthumous I Am the Cosmos LP.
AllMusic Guide praised Bell as "one of the unsung heroes of American pop music" and noted his lasting impression, saying: "Despite a life marked by tragedy and a career crippled by commercial indifference, the singer/songwriter's slim body of recorded work proved massively influential on the generations of indie rockers who emerged in his wake."
Bell's catalog of proto-alternative rock has inspired the likes of Elliott Smith, 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 documented in the 2018 book There Was a Light: The Cosmic History of Chris Bell and the Rise of Big Star.