The first winner of the Grammys ‘Big Four’
Billie Eilish took the Grammys by storm in 2020. With her album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, she took to the stage throughout the night to collect awards for ‘Album of the Year’, ‘Best New Artist’, ‘Song of the Year’ and ‘Record of the Year’, otherwise known as the ‘Big Four’.
The Big Four is something breakout artists everywhere aspire to as it reflects the artist’s ability, the way the public has connected with them, and what people think they will be able to achieve in the future. When Eilish won, there was the same headline everywhere, as though she was the first woman to win the Big Four; she wasn’t the first person, so everyone on that day was left asking, “What did Christopher Cross win it for?”
When you consider the legendary artists who have been before Billie Eilish and who have won Grammys, there seem to be a lot of contenders for individuals who could have won the big four before her, but only a few people will have considered Christopher Cross.
At the time, he was a mild-mannered 29-year-old who specialised in a genre of music called ‘Pop ‘n’ Roll’, which today is referred to as ‘Yacht Rock’. It was dubbed a major upset at the time when he won five Grammy Awards, but he still made history in that upset, and the result isn’t actually all that controversial.
Also nominated were recording legends Frank Sinatra and Barbara Streisand, so the primary debate surrounded which of those two would win ‘Album of the Year’. It turns out neither did, as Christopher Cross came in and swept the night, winning award after award after award.
The Grammys are supposed to award artists for outstanding contributions to music, but they are also considered to be a proper reflection of music at the time. When Billie Eilish won the Big Four in 2020, though she may not have been some people’s choice, it’s also not surprising. She has a massive fanbase and is one of the most prominent recording artists in the world at the moment, so to be awarded for that makes absolute sense.
The same can be said for Christopher Cross and his wins, which reflected how popular soft, mass-appeal adult contemporary rock had become. It also reflects the Recording Academy’s attitude at the time, which much preferred middle-of-the-road music.
His sweep certainly was a surprise, but it was also in line with attitudes at the time. The Grammys award popular music, and given he was so popular then, his winning the Big Four is not wholly unreasonable. You never know how music is going to age or how attitudes are going to change. People may look back on Billie Eilish’s win and wonder how it ever happened, but the fact is those results are very much of their time, as was Christopher Cross. This is the case regardless of how little people refer to him today compared to other recording artists at the time.
