Chris Stills

Who is Chris Stills?

Chris Stills is the son of American rock musician Stephen Stills and French singer-songwriter Véronique Sanson. A musician like his parents, he has played with both his father and his mother.

When Chris was a child, his mother taught him how to play the piano, and though he also played drums, it wasn't until Chris was 12 that he picked up the guitar. On the road with Crosby, Stills, & Nash one day, one of the band's guitar techs put a spare guitar in the young Stills' hands. Upon learning some simple chords and a song, Chris was hooked. His parents divorced in 1978, and at 13 he went to live with his mother in Paris. He attended the American School of Paris while there, and at 16 Chris wrote his first song, "If I Were a Mountain."

After graduating from high school in 1993, Chris moved back to the United States, Los Angeles, and worked as a roadie for his father. He lived in New York for a few years, forming a band at one point with another American School alum, Adam Cohen, son of singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen. Stills later signed with Atlantic Records, and released his solo debut album, 100 Year Thing, in January 1998.