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Biography
Infobox musical artist| name = Chris Gaines || image = ChrisGainsAlbum.PNG| background = solo_singer| origin = Brisbane, Australia (fictitiously) || genre = Alternative rock Rock music|Rock | years_active = 1999| label = Capitol Records|Capitol | associated_acts = Garth Brooks Chris Gaines (born August 10, 1967 (fictitiously)Heather MacLachlan, The Greatest Rock Star Who Never Was: Garth Brooks, Chris Gaines, and Modern America (2008)) is a fictional alternative rock persona created as an alter ego for Garth Brooks to explore rock and roll styles far removed from his success as a country music|country singer.
Initially, Brooks planned to feature the Gaines persona in The Lamb , a motion picture which, ultimately, never materialized. In 1999, Brooks released one album as Gaines; the album produced three charting Billboard (magazine)|Billboard singles, including the Top 5 pop hit "Lost in You."
History
In 1999, Brooks and his production company Red Strokes Entertainment, with Paramount Pictures, began to develop a movie in which Brooks would star. The Lamb was to have revolved around Chris Gaines, a fictional rock singer and his emotionally conflicted life as a musician in the public eye. To create buzz for the project, Brooks took on the identity of Gaines in the October 1999 album Greatest Hits (Chris Gaines album)|Garth Brooks in ... The Life of Chris Gaines , which was intended as a 'pre-soundtrack' to the film. Brooks also subsequently appeared as Gaines in a television "mockumentary" for the VH1 series Behind The Music and as the musical guest on an episode of Saturday Night Live , which he hosted as himself.
Brooks' promotion of the album and the film did not seem to stir much excitement and the lack of success of the Chris Gaines experiment became fairly evident mere weeks after the album was released. The album received mixed reviews, and fan response was often bewilderment. Although the album made it to #2 on the pop album chart, expectations had been higher and retail stores began heavily discounting their oversupply. Less than expected sales of the album (more than two million) and no further developments in the production of the film as a result brought the project to an indefinite hiatus in February 2001 and Gaines quickly faded into obscurity.
Despite the less than spectacular response to the Chris Gaines project, Brooks gained his first - and only - US Top 40 pop single in "Lost in You", the first single from the album. Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic speculated that the alternate persona and elaborate marketing scheme backfired, writing, "When Brooks' new persona and his album were revealed to the public, they were unforgiving - they didn't think he was playing a role, they simply thought he'd lost his mind."cite web|author=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|url=Allmusic|class=album|id=r401931|pure_url=yes |title=In the Life of Chris Gaines|publisher=allmusic |date=1999-09-28 |accessdate=2010-09-03 However, Erlewine gave the album a 3-out-of-5 stars rating and in the same review later writes "Judged as Brooks' first pop album, it's pretty good, and if it had been released that way, it likely would have been embraced by a wide audience."
Discography
Studio albums
Title
Details
Peak chart positions
Certifications ( List of best selling music artists
Canadian Recording Industry Association|CAN : Platinumcite web|url= http://www.cria.ca/goldplat.php|title=Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Gold & Platinum|publisher= Canadian Recording Industry Association |accessdate=April 15, 2011
Recording Industry Association of America|US : 2× Platinumcite web|url= http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php? table=SEARCH_RESULTS& artist=Garth%20Brooks& title=Chris%20Gaines& format=ALBUM& go=Search& perPage=50|title=RIAA - Gold & Platinum - April 15, 2011: In the Life of Chris Gaines certified awards|publisher= Recording Industry Association of America |accessdate=April 15, 2011
Singles
Year
Single
Peak chart positions
Certifications ( List of best selling music artists
Album
US cite web
US AC cite web
US Country cite web
CAN cite web
CAN AC cite web
CAN Country cite web
UK cite web
1999
5
9
62
2
1
55
70
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Recording Industry Association of America|US : Goldcite web|url= http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php? table=SEARCH_RESULTS& artist=Garth%20Brooks& title=Lost%20in%20You& format=SINGLE& go=Search& perPage=50|title=RIAA - Gold & Platinum - April 15, 2011: "Lost in You" certified awards|publisher= Recording Industry Association of America |accessdate=April 15, 2011
In the Life of Chris Gaines
"It Don't Matter to the Sun"
Right Now "
"That's the Way I Remember It"
"—" denotes releases that did not chart
;Notes
A #ref_A| ^ "It Don't Matter to the Sun" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100 but peaked on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart at number thirteen.cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|title=Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008|publisher=Record Research, Inc|year=2008|page=62|isbn=0-89820-177-2
References
reflist
External links
http://www.myspace.com/chrisgainesofficial Official Chris Gaines Myspace
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2007-11-06-brooks_postcard_N.htm USA Today: Kansas City crowd welcomes Brooks back to the stage
Garth Brooks DEFAULTSORT:Gaines, Chris Category:Alter egos Category:Fictional rock musicians Category:Recorded music characters Category:Fictional Australian people Category:Pseudonymous musicians
de:Chris Gaines pt:Chris Gaines
Copyright Citations
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