| 4 Runner | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Genres | Country |
| Years active | 198x-1996, 2003 |
| Labels | Polydor Nashville, A&M, Fresh |
| Associated acts | Craig Morgan Diamond Rio |
| Past members | |
| Jim Chapman Billy Crittenden Lee Hilliard Michael Lusk Craig Morris |
|
4 Runner was an American country music vocal group founded in the late 1980s by lead singer Craig Morris, baritone Billy Crittenden, tenor Lee Hilliard, and bass Jim Chapman. Signed to Polydor Records Nashville, the quartet released its self-titled debut album in 1995, led off by the single "Cain's Blood." 4 Runner released three singles from this album, and recorded a second, unreleased album for A&M Records before disbanding. Chapman, Hilliard and Morris reunited with new baritone singer Michael Lusk to release its next album, One for the Ages, on the Fresh label.
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4 Runner began in the late 1980s, when lead singer Craig Morris (who had previously worked with Ronnie McDowell and Marie Osmond) met Billy Crittenden in Nashville, Tennessee while both singers were working as songwriters.[1] Later, Jim Chapman (the brother-in-law of contemporary Christian music artist Steven Curtis Chapman[2]) and Lee Hilliard joined as well, forming the group. The group then toured throughout the 1990s with Kenny Rogers.[3] In 1994, Diamond Rio had a Top 5 country hit with "Love a Little Stronger", which Billy Crittenden co-wrote.
4 Runner was signed a record deal with Polydor Records' Nashville division in 1995. The same year, their debut album was released, with the single "Cain's Blood" (which was co-written by country-pop artist Michael Johnson and former Poco member Jack Sundrud) serving as lead-off single.[1] The single reached a peak of #26 on the Billboard country music charts[4] and #14 on the RPM country charts in Canada. While the album's other three singles failed to make Top 40 on the country charts in the U.S., the second single ("A Heart with 4 Wheel Drive") was also a Top 20 hit in Canada, and the album sold more than 200,000 copies in the United States.[5]
Due to a restructuring of Polydor, 4 Runner was transferred to A&M Records for its second album, One for the Ages. Although its lead off single "That Was Him (This Is Now)" entered the country charts, the album itself was not released due to the closure of Polydor/A&M's Nashville unit in 1996 (the parent of both labels at the time, PolyGram, decided to consolidate all Nashville operations under the Mercury Records Nashville name).[6] 4 Runner soon disbanded, and Chapman returned to working as an art teacher.[7]
In 2002, three of the original members re-united, with Michael Lusk taking Crittenden's place as baritone vocalist.[3] They released an a cappella rendition of the Christmas song "What Child Is This" late that year with Chapman singing bass. A second album, Getaway Car, was released in 2003, producing a #59 single in "Forrest County Line". The title track was later a Top 40 country hit for The Jenkins in 2004, and a #21 Adult Contemporary hit for Hall & Oates in 2005. 4 Runner also provided background vocals on Craig Morgan's 2003 single "God, Family and Country",[8] which they also recorded on Getaway Car. This album included their own rendition of "Love a Little Stronger" as well. Shortly after Getaway Car was recorded, a single called "We Will Hope With You" was released although it was never put on an album. Craig Morris departed the group as well, with Chapman saying that the group was "in transition",[7] and 4 Runner was disbanded once more.
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | US Heat | CAN Country | ||
| 4 Runner |
|
27 | 144 | 3 | 7 |
| Getaway Car |
|
— | — | — | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | CAN Country | |||
| 1995 | "Cain's Blood" | 26 | 118 | 14 | 4 Runner |
| "A Heart with 4 Wheel Drive" | 51 | — | 18 | ||
| "Home Alone" | 65 | — | 83 | ||
| 1996 | "Ripples" | 57 | — | 82 | |
| "That Was Him (This Is Now)" | 54 | — | — | One for the Ages (unreleased) | |
| 2002 | "What Child Is This?" | — | — | * | Single only |
| 2003 | "Getaway Car" | — | — | * | Getaway Car |
| "Forrest County Line" | 59 | — | * | ||
| 2004 | "Ragged Angel" | — | — | * | |
| 2005 | "We Will Hope with You" | — | — | * | Single only |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart * denotes unknown peak positions |
|||||
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1995 | "Cain's Blood" |
| "A Heart with 4 Wheel Drive" | |
| "Home Alone" | |
| 1996 | "Ripples" |
| 2002 | "What Child Is This" |
| 2003 | "Getaway Car" |
| "Forrest County Line" | |
| 2004 | "One Ragged Angel" |