Christopher P. Warren (May 27, 1967 – June 12, 2016) was an American musician who performed in numerous bands, the last being New York band Bro-Kin. He is best known for being the

lead singer The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

in The DX Band (sometimes referred to as The Chris Warren Band), a group who performed entrance themes for many stars and shows of

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

over the years. They are mainly known for the songs "My Time" for

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as ...

and "Break It Down" for stable

D-Generation X D-Generation X (DX) is an American professional wrestling stable, and later a tag team, who consisted of Triple H and Shawn Michaels. The group originated in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE) in the midst of the "Attitud ...

Career

World Wrestling Federation (1997–2000)

Warren is known to professional wrestling fans as the voice behind the DX entrance music, and after this Jim Johnston (head of WWE music) became so impressed with Warren, that he offered him further vocal work. Over the course of the next four years, Warren recorded several songs for the WWF (now known as WWE). In 1998, Warren made his television debut at

WrestleMania XIV WrestleMania XIV was the 14th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; WWE as of 2002). It took place on March 29, 1998, at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts. ...

, performing a screeching version of "

America The Beautiful "America the Beautiful" is a patriotic American song. Its lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and its music was composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. The two neve ...

" and "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...

", for which he was booed, as the fans and national media in attendance considered the performance disrespectful and of poor quality. The performance was never released on home video and was edited out of the recent

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television t ...

version of the show. Warren and the band also performed the DX ring entrance music later the same night as DX came to the ring, and again five months later at the 1998 SummerSlam, which received a much more positive ovation from the fans and media. Later that year Warren recorded the vocals for

's theme "My Time". This song was featured on the platinum album '' WWF The Music, Vol. 4''. He also recorded the '' Superstars'' theme from 1997. His last appearance was a cameo on the

Run-D.M.C. Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...

"The Kings" music video, directed by David Sahadi. Warren, along with Bro-Kin, recorded an unreleased song for WWE's ''

Tough Enough II ''WWE Tough Enough'' was an American professional wrestling reality competition series that was produced by WWE, wherein participants undergo professional wrestling training and compete for a contract with WWE. There were two winners per season ...

'' which never made it onto the show.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2007–2008)

In July 2007, Warren and Bro-Kin signed an agreement with

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promo ...

(TNA), which involved use of the band's music on TNA's TV shows (such as ''

TNA Impact! ''Impact!'' (stylized as ''IMPACT!''), also known as ''IMPACT! on AXS TV'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by the American promotion Impact Wrestling (formerly known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)) tha ...

''), PPVs and DVDs worldwide. Their song "Low" was used as the theme for

No Surrender 2007 No Surrender (2007) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), which took place on September 9, 2007 at the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida. It was the third event under the No Su ...

, "Separate" for

Genesis 2007 The 2007 Genesis was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of TNA pay-per-view events, event produced by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) professional wrestling promotion, promotion, which took place on November 11, 2007, at th ...

and "For the Vein" for Final Resolution January 2008. Further cuts of other songs appeared (and continue to do so) on various TNA video packages.

Bro-Kin (2009)

On March 5, 2009, Warren announced via Bro-Kin's website that the band had released their album ''La Violencia'' on iTunes,

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

and Napster.

Return to WWE (2009)

Warren returned to

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...

headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, in August 2009 to record vocals to a new DX theme, coinciding with the return of the

stable consisting of

and Shawn Michaels, to active WWE competition. The recording session saw Warren re-united in the studio with WWE music composer Jim Johnston for the first time in over seven years.

Personal life and death

Warren was born in Huntington, Long Island, NY on May 27, 1967, to Christopher J. and Barbara Warren and lived in

Rockland County, New York Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of t ...

. Warren was employed by Local 638 NYC as a steam fitter for many years. He died unexpectedly on June 12, 2016, at the age of 49.

Discography

* '' WWF The Music, Vol. 3'' (December 29, 1998) * '' WWF The Music, Vol. 4'' (November 2, 1999) * ''

WWF Aggression ''WWF Aggression'' is a soundtrack album by WWE (then known as the World Wrestling Federation, or WWF). Released on March 21, 2000 by Priority Records, it features entrance music of WWE wrestlers re-recorded by various hip hop artists and groups. ...

'' (March 21, 2000) * '' WWE Anthology'' (November 12, 2002) * '' RAW Greatest Hits: The Music'' (December 18, 2007) * ''Bro-Kin – La Violencia'' (March 6, 2009)

Interviews

Chris Warren Radio Interview (Part 1 of 4) courtesy of The Squared Circle radio show

Chris Warren Radio Interview (Part 2 of 4) courtesy of The Squared Circle radio show

Chris Warren Radio Interview (Part 3 of 4) courtesy of The Squared Circle radio show

Chris Warren Radio Interview (Part 4 of 4) courtesy of The Squared Circle radio show

References

External links

TNA Genesis 07 Highlights Package Feat. Bro-Kin

TNA No Surrender 07 Highlights Package Feat. Bro-Kin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Chris 1967 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers American heavy metal singers Rap metal musicians American rap rock musicians Singers from New York (state) People from Huntington, New York 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers