Chris Bender

Chris Bender was born in 1972 in Boston, Massachusetts. He grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts and later lived in Waltham.

Bender got an early start in the R&B industry, recording his first album, Baby Doll, at the age of 16. The album was done on Epic Records but Chris Bender's manager stated that the album "Didn't sell. The video was never released. The record didn't sell anything."

The failed launch of Chris Bender's career didn't faze the young musician as he signed a seven album contract with EastWest Records for $500,000. The first album under this deal, Draped, released in 1991 and featured two singles. The album's first single, "I Knew," reached #43 on the R&B charts while the second, "That's Not The Way," reached #68.

Before he was able to record a second album, Chris Bender was shot at 2:20AM on November 3, 1991 and was killed in Brocton, Massachusetts. Sitting in his Mercedes Benz in front of the apartment where his mother lived, Bender was shot more than seven times.