Chicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock band formed in Chicago in 1967. The group began calling themselves the Chicago Transit Authority (after the city's mass transit agency[1]) in 1968, then shortened the name in 1969. Self-described as a "rock and roll band with horns," their songs often also combine elements of classical music, jazz, R&B, and pop music.
Chicago
- The Big Thing (1967–1968)
- The Chicago Transit Authority (1968–1969)
1967–present
- Columbia
- Warner Bros.
- Full Moon
- Rhino
- Reprise
- Chicago Records/Chicago Records II
- Frontiers Records
- Robert Lamm
- Lee Loughnane
- James Pankow
- Walfredo Reyes Jr.
- Ray Herrmann
- Neil Donell
- Ramon Yslas
- Tony Obrohta
- Loren Gold
- Eric Baines
Growing out of several bands from the Chicago area in the late 1960s, the line-up consisted of Peter Cetera on bass, Terry Kath on guitar, Robert Lamm on keyboards,
Lee Loughnane on trumpet, James Pankow on trombone, Walter Parazaider on woodwinds, and Danny Seraphine on drums. Cetera, Kath, and Lamm shared lead vocal duties. Laudir de Oliveira joined the band as a percussionist and second drummer in 1974. Kath died in 1978, and was replaced by several guitarists in succession. Bill Champlin joined in 1981, providing vocals, keyboards, and rhythm guitar. Cetera left the band in 1985 and was replaced by Jason Scheff. Seraphine left in 1990 and was replaced by Tris Imboden. Although the band's lineup has been more fluid since 2009, Lamm, Loughnane, and Pankow have remained constant members. Parazaider "officially retired" in 2017, but is still a band member.[2][3][4][5][6] In 2021 he revealed he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.[7]
In September 2008, Billboard ranked Chicago at number thirteen in a list of the top 100 artists of all time for Hot 100 singles chart success, and ranked them at number fifteen on that same list in October 2015.[8][9][10] Billboard also ranked Chicago ninth on the list of the 100 greatest artists of all time in terms of Billboard 200 album chart success in October 2015.[11] Chicago is one of the longest-running and most successful rock groups, and one of the world's best-selling groups of all time, having sold more than 100 million records.[12][13] In 1971, Chicago was the first rock act to sell out Carnegie Hall for a week.[14] Chicago is also considered a pioneer in rock music marketing, featuring a recognizable logo on album covers, and sequentially naming their albums using roman numerals.[15]
In terms of chart success, Chicago is one of the most successful American bands in RIAA and Billboard history (second only to the Beach Boys), and are one of the most successful popular music acts of all time.[12] To date, Chicago has sold over 40 million units in the U.S., with 23 gold, 18 platinum, and eight multi-platinum albums.[16][17][18] They had five consecutive number-one albums on the Billboard 200,[19] 20 top-ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100,[20] and in 1974 the group had seven albums, its entire catalog at the time, on the Billboard 200 simultaneously.[21] The group has received ten Grammy Award nominations, winning one for the song "If You Leave Me Now".[22] The group's first album, Chicago Transit Authority, released in 1969, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.[23] The original line-up of Chicago was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.[24] In 2017, Cetera, Lamm, and Pankow were elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[25][26] Chicago received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award on October 16, 2020.[27][28]
Approaches to music
Style
During his discussion of the formation of the band, original drummer Danny Seraphine says he wanted to form a group of talented, skilled musicians, with a horn section, "that could play an inventive mix of rock and jazz."[29]: 47–49 Walter Parazaider told writer, Paul Elliott, "My idea was to make horns an integral part of a rock band."[209] According to James Pankow, Chicago set out to be "basically" a rock and roll band with a horn section.[210] Robert Lamm credits Walter Parazaider and Terry Kath for having the vision of "a rock band with expanded instrumentation."[211] Peter Robb wrote, "The guys had all been influenced by show bands that would come into Chicago playing a variety of music. Those bands always had tenor sax, trumpet and trombone, Loughnane said."[212]
On the occasion of the band's 50th anniversary, Bobby Olivier, writing for Billboard, described its style as "chameleonic ... shifting from esoteric jazz-rock, funk and soul to ... adult contemporary ...".[213] In a piece for Ultimate Classic Rock, writer Jeff Giles details the band's journey from being a "progressive-leaning rock band with horns" in its earlier years to "an adult contemporary act" by the end of the 1980s "in order to stay commercially relevant."[91]
In a 2021 interview published in Prog, Robert Lamm asserts that Chicago is and always has been a progressive rock band and that they were particularly influenced by Yes and King Crimson to write and record their lengthier tracks. In his view, the hit songs on their albums satisfied the record companies and allowed the band more freedom on the rest of the recorded material. As musicians, the group has always "felt blessed enough to try anything at any time."[214]
Chicago was deeply influenced by jazz, which culminated on their seventh album.[214] Trumpeter Lee Loughnane holds that the term "jazz rock" was invented because of Chicago's music.[215] When asked why the band didn't continue in its "jazzy improv" direction, Loughnane voiced his opinion that how the songwriters wrote was "materially affected" by changes in payment of royalties by the record companies and by the relatively short airplay time allowed for a song on the radio.[216]
Songwriting
James Pankow has described the group's songwriting process as "organic", where one person comes up with a song and the other members come up with ideas for their parts. Pankow, one of the songwriters for the group, also has typically been arranger for the horn section.[210] Robert Lamm, another of the group's songwriters, sees the group members' contributions to individual songs more as arranging than co-writing, and says his songs were "enhanced" in the process.[217]
Horn section
According to the Daily Press, Chicago's horn section was "the foundation of the sound that launched the band to stardom in the 1970s."[218] Horns arranger James Pankow, speaking in 2017, said that when the band was being formed, they discussed how to make the horns a "main character in a song". He said the horns are a big part of the band's "signature" and that he "took a melodic lead-voice approach to our horns, where the horn section becomes another lead vocal and interweaves in and around the actual vocals and becomes a part of the story of the song."[210] In a separate interview that same year, Lee Loughnane echoed Pankow's remarks.[215]
Philanthropy
Chicago has supported numerous charitable causes throughout the years.
In the 2010s the group had an ongoing partnership with the American Cancer Society. Fans were given the opportunity to bid to sing their song "If You Leave Me Now" with them on stage during their live performances. The proceeds went to the American Cancer Society to fund the Society's efforts to fight breast cancer.[219][220][221][222]
The group gave a benefit performance for Musicians on Call, on Sunday April 23, 2023, held at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square in New York City.[223] Musicians on Call is a nonprofit organization that brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients, families and caregivers in healthcare settings.[224] The group donated an autographed guitar to the event's live auction and the $6,000 winning bid was made by singer Dionne Warwick.[225] Chicago also did benefit performances for Musicians on Call in 2011,[226] 2012,[227] and 2022.[228]
Legacy
Chicago's music has been used in the soundtracks of movies, television programs and commercials. Cetera's composition from the 1976 album Chicago X, "If You Leave Me Now", has appeared in the movies, Three Kings (1999),[229] Shaun of the Dead (2004),[230] A Lot like Love (2005),[231] Happy Feet (2006),[232] and Daddy's Home 2 (2017); the television series Sex and the City[233] and South Park;[234] and a television commercial that aired during the 2000 Super Bowl.[235] Robert Lamm's song from the 1970 album Chicago II, "25 or 6 to 4", was used in the 2017 film I, Tonya,[236][237] and on the animated TV series King of the Hill.[238][239] "You're the Inspiration" was used for the soundtracks of the movies, A Hologram for the King (2016),[240] and Deadpool (2016);[241] a 2017 Super Bowl commercial;[242] and the television series, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia[243] and Criminal Minds.[244] The song "Hearts In Trouble" was on the soundtrack to the 1990 film Days of Thunder.[245]
Other recording artists have covered Chicago's music. According to the website SecondHandSongs, "If You Leave Me Now" has been covered by over 90 recording artists from around the world, "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" by over 30, "Colour My World" by over 24, and "You're the Inspiration" by over 18.[246] In 2019, a reimagined hip-hop version of "25 or 6 to 4" by indie rapper realnamejames was featured in recruitment for the U.S. Army's "What's Your Warrior" marketing campaign.[247][248][249]
Chicago's music has long been a staple of marching bands in the U.S. "25 or 6 to 4" was named as the number one marching band song by Kevin Coffey of the Omaha World-Herald,[250] and as performed by the Jackson State University marching band, ranked number seven of the "Top 20 Cover Songs of 2018 by HBCU Bands".[251] The band performed "Saturday in the Park" and "25 or 6 to 4" with the Notre Dame Marching Band on the football field during halftime on October 21, 2017.[252][253] They performed again at a game against Bowling Green State University on October 5, 2019.[254]
Billboard awards
Playboy awards
Other honors