“Thank You Lord” – The Cross Family

“Thank You Lord”
The Cross Family

By Robert M. Marovich

The Cross Family of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, pays homage to their father, the late Gene Cross, by keeping the family group going strong.

Their new single, “Thank You Lord,” is a rhythmic affirmation of gratitude steeped in call-and-response, a good old fashioned quartet vamp, and that you-know-it-when-you-hear-it quartet rhythm.

In 2016, upon retiring as manager and lead singer of former Song Bird recording artists the Smiling Jubilaires, Gene Cross assembled his family into a singing aggregation. Gene passed in 2018, but the group, now under the tutelage of “Lil Gene” Cross, continues the family legacy.

The team is in good hands with Lil Gene, as he has sung with the likes of Arthur Crume and the Soul Stirrers, the Blind Boys of Alabama, and Spencer Taylor Jr. and the Highway QCs. Still, the group’s forefather lives on in the single when Lil Gene sings: “My daddy used to say: ‘You’ve been better to me than I’ve been to myself.’”