Chris Connelly

Chris Connelly is a contributor to ABC News’ “Good Morning America,” “20/20” and “Nightline.” He is a correspondent for ESPN, where his stories appears on “Sunday NFL Countdown,” “SC Featured,” and the sports newsmagazine “E:60.” Pieces he has written and reported have won four Sports Emmys® and eight Edward R. Murrow Awards. He is also the host and interviewer for ESPN’s award-winning series “My Wish.” Since joining ABC News in September 2001, Connelly has reported on popular culture and the people who create it.

For “20/20” and other prime-time ABC broadcasts, Connelly has most recently contributed to documentary-style examinations of the lives and careers of Aretha Franklin, Prince, Phil Hartman, Carrie Fisher, George Michael and Farrah Fawcett. He has delineated events leading up to the tragic passings of actresses Rebecca Schaffer and Dorothy Stratten, and has helped to celebrate the remarkable achievements of Dolly Parton, the band Queen and the late Stan Lee. Previously, he interviewed the cast of “Mary Poppins Returns”; reported on the death of crew member Sarah Jones during the filming of the independent film “Midnight Rider”; and discussed the history of the Manson Family and the Watergate investigation. For “Nightline,” Connelly has frequently interviewed actors and filmmakers, most recently including writer-director Jordan Peele and star Lupita Nyong’o of “Us”; Brie Larson of “Captain Marvel” and “Avengers” galore; and casts and creative people from the “Star Wars” franchise – from Disney+’s “The Mandalorian” to “The Last Jedi,” including writer-director Rian Johnson and actor Mark Hamill, whom Connelly once buzzed into the editorial offices of Rolling Stone while serving as the magazine’s receptionist and switchboard operator in 1980. Connelly also makes frequent appearances on “Good Morning America,” reporting on a wide range of events in the pop-culture sphere and manifestations of the zeitgeist, while closely chronicling Academy Awards® season, including red-carpet and backstage-interview work during the build-up to Oscar® night.

Connelly spent 14 years at MTV, beginning in 1988 as a host and interviewer specializing in the movies, taking part in anarchic interviews with the likes of Jim Carrey, Sharon Stone and Keanu Reeves. He became a correspondent for MTV News, interviewing rock, pop and hip-hip performers, while covering everything from Woodstock ‘94 and ’99, and the 1996 Republican and Democratic conventions to the death of Tupac Shakur. In 2000, he was the recipient of a News Emmy nomination for writing “Where Were You at 22?,” an MTV documentary about the young lives of presidential candidates in which he served as interviewer and host. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy as a writer for the Peabody Award-winning 9/11 benefit, “America: A Tribute to Heroes,” and contributed in a similar manner to benefits for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti and Hurricane Katrina.

Connelly began his journalism career at Rolling Stone, where he covered the music scene of the early 1980s as it unfolded and wrote the magazine’s first cover stories on Madonna, Tom Cruise, Sean Penn and U2, among others. Concurrent with most of his days at MTV, he later served for nine years as an editor and writer for the late, lamented magazine about the movies, Premiere. Born and raised in New York City, he now lives in Los Angeles.