Christopher Barron Gross

Christopher Barron Gross, best known as Chris Barron (born February 5, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the Spin Doctors.

Early life and education Barron was born February 5, 1968, in Honolulu, where his father Ken Gross, an automotive journalist, was stationed during the Vietnam War. Barron had one brother, Jeremy (1970-2024), who was a guitar tech for the Spin Doctors. He has described his family as “this great big Jewish family”, with his ancestors coming from Russia. His uncle was Lennie Sogoloff, who owned the jazz club Lennie’s on the Turnpike in Peabody, Massachusetts. Barron spent his childhood in the Bronx and Rye, New York, and later moved to Australia for over three years when he was eight years old. As a child, Barron was interested in music and took guitar lessons. He studied music theory as an elective course in middle school.

When his family returned to the United States mainland, Barron attended Princeton High School in Princeton, New Jersey, the same school as John Popper, and the two became close friends. Barron and Popper would jam together after school.

He attended Bennington College in Vermont for one year. There, he was a member of two local bands: Dead Alcoholics With Boners and the Funbunnies. After leaving Bennington, Barron returned to Princeton, got a job at a restaurant, and immersed himself in music. During this time, he wrote "Jimmy Olsen's Blues" and "Two Princes".

On May 17, 1999, just two weeks before the release of the band's album Here Comes the Bride, Barron woke up unable to talk. He lost his voice due to a rare acute form of vocal cord paralysis that severely affected his ability to talk, let alone sing. He was told he had a 50-50 chance of ever talking or singing normally again.

Barron's voice came back in early 2000 (first comeback [solo] shows in March 2000), at which point he began performing with his band and the Give Daddy Five. Barron undertook what he calls "a journeyman songwriting experience," composing tunes with Blues Traveler's John Popper and with former BMI executive Jeff Cohen. A solo album called Shag was released in 1998, featuring diverse influences, including rock, jazz, country, and funk.

In 2009, he put out a solo album called Pancho and the Kid, and a year later he released an EP called Songs from the Summer of Sangria.

In 2012, Barron took part in the Norwegian selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, with The Canoes.

In 2017, Barron released Angels and One Armed Jugglers to positive reviews.

Personal life

Barron met Laura Benanti in the early 2000s. They married on July 25, 2005, but by the end of the year were going through what Benanti has called a "terrible divorce." They were divorced in 2006. He then married actress Lindsay Nicole Chambers, the lead in the Broadway tour of Kinky Boots on February 14, 2012.

Discography Shag – 1998 "We're All New Yorkers Now" – 2001 (9/11 memorial CD single) Pancho and the Kid – 2006 Songs from the Summer Sangria – 2010 (Chris Barron and the Time Bandits) Angels and One Armed Jugglers – 2017