4 Runner
4 Runner (sometimes stylized as 4Runner) is an American country music vocal group founded in 1993 in Nashville, Tennessee. The group initially consisted of Craig Morris (lead vocals, piano), Billy Crittenden (baritone vocals), Lee Hilliard (tenor vocals), and Jim Chapman (bass vocals). Signed to Polydor Records Nashville, the quartet released its self-titled debut album in 1995. It featured four charting singles on Hot Country Songs, the most successful being "Cain's Blood" at No. 26. Billy Simon took Crittenden's place just before a second album for A&M Records, which was not released despite producing a chart single, and the group broke up afterward. Morris, Chapman, and Hilliard reunited with third baritone singer Michael Lusk to release their next album, Getaway Car, on the Fresh label before disbanding a second time. The group reunited a second time in 2023 with a lineup consisting of Morris, Chapman, Hilliard, and Morris's son Sam. Shortly after their reunion, Hilliard left as well, with Herbie Chapman taking his place. Biography 4 Runner was founded in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1993 by Jim Chapman (bass vocals), Billy Crittenden (baritone vocals), Lee Hilliard (tenor vocals), and Craig Morris (lead vocals, piano). Crittenden was a former backing vocalist for Tanya Tucker, and Chapman is the brother-in-law of Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman. In 1994, Diamond Rio had a Top 5 country hit with "Love a Little Stronger", which Billy Crittenden co-wrote, while Morris co-wrote "If I Had Only Known", an album cut for Reba McEntire. The group recorded a demo tape which was given to songwriter Larry Shell, who then submitted it to Mercury Records' Nashville branch. When that label chose to create a new division of Polydor Records for the country genre, 4 Runner was then signed to Polydor Nashville that year. Before releasing any material of their own, they sang backing vocals on then-labelmate Amie Comeaux's late-1994 debut album Moving Out. "Cain's Blood", co-written by Michael Johnson and former Poco and Great Plains member Jack Sundrud, was issued as the lead single in early 1995. It reached a peak of No. 26 on the Billboard country music charts and No. 14 on the RPM country charts in Canada. The song also had a music video filmed at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, which was put into medium rotation on CMT. On the success of the single, the group's self-titled debut album was issued in May 1995. Four sides were cut for the album in September 1994, one of which was "Cain's Blood", and the rest of the album was then recorded between January and March 1995. Buddy Cannon, who produced the album with Shell, noted that he did not attempt to change the "vocal blend" present on the group's demo tape, and thus spent more time focusing on the musical arrangements and song selection. He also noted that the use of four-part vocal harmony made it more difficult to find suitable songs, compared to other country music groups where the vocal harmony is not as prominent. Polydor promoted the