Tony Cummings is the founding editor of the magazine ''
Cross Rhythms''.
Biography
Cummings' journalistic career started in 1963. He started a black music
fanzine originally called ''Soul'', then ''Soul Music Monthly'', and finally ''Shout''. By 1971, he was writing occasionally for ''Record Mirror''. In 1973, he joined ''Black Music'' magazine as a staff writer, eventually becoming editor. Over the next few years, he interviewed artists such as
Stevie Wonder,
Earth Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million ...
,
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
and many more. He stopped writing for the magazine in 1976, and converted to Christianity in 1980. Within a year he was married, and began to write for the Christian magazine ''Buzz''. Cummings was offered the position of assistant editorship, and interviewed people such as Rev.
Ian Paisley and
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
.
During his years with
Cross Rhythms, Cummings has interviewed multiple artists. He also mentored both
Daniel Bedingfield
Daniel John Bedingfield (born 3 December 1979) is a New Zealand-British singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the eldest brother of fellow singers Natasha Bedingfield and Nikola Rachelle. He was a judge on '' The X Factor New Z ...
and
Natasha Bedingfield
Natasha Anne Bedingfield (born 26 November 1981) is a British singer and songwriter. Bedingfield released her debut album, '' Unwritten'', in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R&B music. It enjoyed intern ...
during their formative musical careers. He has
produced albums for
Word Records
Word Records is a Christian faith-based entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Curb Records, and is a part of Word Entertainment. It is distributed by Warner Records (the former Warner Bros. Records).
History
In 1 ...
, as well as a number of charity records. Among these, was the ''Agents of Grace'' compilation, in aid of the suffering in Sudan. He has given seminars at various Christian festivals, such as
Spring Harvest
Spring Harvest is an inter-denominational evangelical conference and gathering in the United Kingdom that started in 1979.
The festival arose in the late 1970s at a time when evangelicalism was growing in the UK and there was uncertainty as to ...
and
Greenbelt Festival
Greenbelt Festival is a festival of arts, faith and justice held annually in England since 1974. Greenbelt has grown out of an evangelical Christian music festival with an audience of 1,500 young people into its current form, a more inclusive f ...
.
''Cross Rhythms'' magazine
After ''Buzz'' magazine ended in 1986, Cummings began working with ''
Cross Rhythms'' magazine in 1990. Publication of the magazine was taken over by Cornerstone House in 1991, owned by Chris Cole, who was also CEO of the radio ministry that later became named
Cross Rhythms. By 1995, the publication had a readership of about 15,000.
In December 1993, the magazine began giving away a free cassette on the cover, featuring tracks from the latest Christian artists. In February 1999, the format changed to a free CD. Around 2000, an online version of the magazine started. By 2005, it became online only, after the paper version started to run up debts. The website, of which the music news, articles and interviews play a huge part, is currently the UK's most visited Christian website.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cummings, Tony
Cross Rhythms
British male journalists
British magazine editors
English Christians
Living people
Converts to Christianity
Year of birth missing (living people)