Chris Gaines

Chris Gaines is a one-off fictional rock persona created as a movie character for Garth Brooks to explore musical styles far removed from his success as a country singer.

For the gridiron football player, see Chris Gaines (gridiron football).
Chris Gaines
OriginBrisbane, Australia (fictitiously)
GenresAlternative rock
Years active1999
LabelsCapitol

Initially, Brooks planned to feature the Gaines persona in The Lamb, a motion picture that never materialized. In 1999, Brooks released one album as Gaines; the album produced two charting 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 film 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 Garth Brooks in...the Life of Chris Gaines, which was intended as a "pre-soundtrack" to the film. The project – a departure from Brooks' usual material – was intended to represent the "greatest hits" of Gaines' entire career, spanning several decades of supposed recordings. Although Brooks himself developed the Gaines character and backstory, he did not write any of the songs on the album.

To promote the album's release, Brooks 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.

The album – and Brooks' promotion of it – received a lukewarm reception. The album received mixed reviews, and Brooks' fans responded with general confusion as to the purpose of the project. Although the album made it to No. 2 on the Billboard 200, 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 the Gaines character quickly faded into obscurity.

Despite the less than spectacular response to the project, Brooks gained his first – and, to date, only – Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 single with "Lost in You", the first single from the album (Brooks had previously prevented his songs from appearing on the chart by refusing to release them to pop music radio stations).[1] 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."[2] However, Erlewine gave the album a 3-out-of-5 stars rating and in the same review later wrote: "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."

In March 2021, Brooks announced that The Life of Chris Gaines was to be rereleased on multiple platforms, including digital and vinyl, adding that previously unreleased songs were also forthcoming.[3]

Discography

Studio albums
Title Details Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales threshold)
US
[4]		 CAN
[5]		 CAN Country
[6]		 GER
[7]		 NOR
[8]
Garth Brooks in...the Life of Chris Gaines 2 5 2 72 13

Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales threshold)		 Album
US
[11]		 US AC
[12]		 US Country
[13]		 CAN
[14]		 CAN AC
[15]		 CAN Country
[16]		 UK
[17]
1999 "Lost in You" 5 9 62 2 1 55 70 In the Life of Chris Gaines
"It Don't Matter to the Sun" —[A] — 24 — — 23 —
"Right Now" — — — — — — —
2000 "That's the Way I Remember It" — 26 — — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart
Notes

Music videos
Year Title Director
1999 "Lost in You" Jon Small
"Right Now"

References
  1. Breihan, Tom. "The Number Ones: Lonestar's "Amazed"". Stereogum. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  2. Stephen Thomas Erlewine (1999-09-28). "In the Life of Chris Gaines". allmusic. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
  3. Bull, 98 9 The (2021-03-16). "Garth Brooks has been writing with Ashley McBryde, will resurrect Chris Gaines". The All-New 98.9 The Bull. Retrieved 2021-03-17.
  4. "Garth Brooks Album & Song Chart History - Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  5. "Garth Brooks Album & Song Chart History - Canadian Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  6. "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada: Country Albums/CDs". RPM. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  7. "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts - German Albums". Hung Medien. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
  8. "norwegiancharts.com - Norwegian charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  9. "Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Gold & Platinum". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on October 19, 2010. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  10. "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - April 15, 2011: In the Life of Chris Gaines certified awards". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  11. "Garth Brooks Album & Song Chart History - Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  12. "Garth Brooks Album & Song Chart History - Adult Contemporary". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  13. "Garth Brooks Album & Song Chart History - Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  14. "Garth Brooks : Allmusic : Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  15. "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada - Adult Contemporary". RPM. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  16. "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada - Country Singles". RPM. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  17. "The Official Charts Company - Garth Brooks". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  18. "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - April 15, 2011: "Lost in You" certified awards". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  19. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
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