About A.J. Croce
Adrian James "A.J." Croce is an American singer-songwriter. His parents are Ingrid Croce and Jim Croce.
Croce was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, on September 28, 1971, the son of singers Jim Croce, who was from an Italian Roman Catholic family, and Ingrid Croce, who is Jewish. His father died in a plane crash in September 1973, at age 30, eight days before A.J.'s second birthday. Shortly before his father's death, in the summer of 1973, the family moved to San Diego. When he was four years old, he was temporarily blinded as a result of a brain tumor syndrome /. He was hospitalized for six months and was totally blind in both eyes for six years. Croce grew up listening to Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, a lot of soul music, early rock 'n' roll, jazz, and blues. He learned how to play the piano, inspired by Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. He later regained sight in one eye. For junior high, Croce attended Hebrew school. When he was 15, in 1987, the family's house burned down.
Croce's first paying gig was at the age of 12, when he was paid $20 to perform 25–30 minutes of cover versions at a bar mitzvah party. Croce played music for a living from the age of 15. By the age of 16, Croce was performing regularly at San Diego nightclubs as a sideman and band leader.
When he was 17, while staying at the house of Arlo Guthrie, he met Mae Boren Axton, who invited him to Nashville to record with Jack Clement.
Ron Goldstein and Peter Baumann of Private Music signed Croce to his first recording contract, at age 19. He recorded two albums for Private Music: his self-titled debut, A. J. Croce, produced by T-Bone Burnett and John Simon; and That's Me in the Bar, produced by Jim Keltner, and featuring Ry Cooder and David Hidalgo.
Croce's third album, Fit to Serve, was recorded in 1998 in Memphis and produced by Jim Gaines, who produced Van Morrison, Carlos Santana, and the Steve Miller Band.
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