John Buckner Crawford (born January 17, 1960[1]) is an American singer-songwriter noted for co-founding the pop group Berlin, which had several hit songs in the 1980s.
While recovering, he picked up a guitar and began taking lessons in nearby Fullerton, California, where his teacher put him in touch with future Berlin band members Dan Van Patten, Chris Velasco, and Tyson Cobb.
He also worked as a vocalist for Fahrenheit, a synthesizer pop quartet in the style of Depeche Mode and Ultravox, also playing occasional bass and acoustic guitar.
[citation needed] With Crawford on bass and vocals, The Big F's self-titled debut album for Elektra in 1988 represented an experiment in anti-commercialism, with dark themes and an aggressive, hard rock sound.
Mark Christian joined the trio as guitarist, and they contributed a cover version of the MC5 song "Kick Out the Jams" to the 1990 Elektra compilation Rubáiyát.
[6] Following a short-lived attempt at reuniting Berlin with Nunn, Crawford took a step away from the music industry to focus on his family and sort out the aftermath of his success.
In the early 1990s, Crawford took a leap of faith and became a born-again Christian, an act that he credits with saving not only his soul but his marriage to Jacquelyn, with whom he had three children, Paul, Sydney, and Samantha.
The resulting self-released album, Surrender, represents 12 tracks of Crawford's songwriting and vocals, emphasizing his newfound faith, along with his precise guitar and bass playing and drum programming.
Surrender features guest appearances by former Big F bandmate Mark Christian and was co-produced by former Stacey Q bandleader Jon St. James.