Chicago (band)

Chicago
Chicago in spring 2004 (from left): Keith Howland, James Pankow, Bill Champlin, Walt Parazaider, Tris Imboden, Lee Loughnane, Robert Lamm (hidden) and Jason Scheff.
General information
origin	Chicago , United States
Genre (s)	Jazz rock , pop rock , soft rock
founding	1967
Website	chicagotheband.com
Founding members
Bass , vocals	Peter Cetera (until 1985)
Guitar , vocals	Terry Kath († 1978)
Keyboard , vocals	Robert Lamb
Trumpet , singing	Lee Loughnane
Trombone , singing	James Pankow
Woodwind instruments , vocals	Walter Parazaider
Drums	Daniel Seraphine (until 1990)
Current occupation
singing	Neil Donell (since 2018)
Guitar, vocals	Keith Howland (since 1995)
Keyboard, vocals	Robert Lamb
Trumpet, singing	Lee Loughnane
Trombone, singing	James Pankow
Woodwind instruments, vocals	Walter Parazaider
Drums	Walfredo Reyes Jr. (since 2012)
Keyboard, guitar, vocals	Lou Pardini (since 2009)
Percussion	Daniel de los Reyes (since 2018)
Woodwind instruments	Ray Herrmann (since 2016)
bass	Brett Simons (since 2018)
former members
Percussion	Laudir De Oliveira (1974-1980)
guitar	Donnie Dacus (1978-1980)
guitar	Chris Pinnick (1980-1984)
guitar	Dawayne Bailey (1986-1995)
Keyboard, guitar, vocals	Bill Champlin (1981-2009)
Percussion	Drew Hester (2009-2012)
Drums	Tris Imboden (1990-2018)
Bass, vocals	Jason Scheff (1986-2016)
Bass, vocals	Jeff Coffey (2016-2018)

Chicago is an American rock band formed in Chicago in 1967 .

Chicago was one of the first bands to integrate a wind section, adding a jazzy timbre to the basic rock sound . Another special feature of the band is the fact that all band members compose and thus individual musical preferences can flow into the overall sound. During the 1970s and 1980s, Chicago had a number of hits including I'm a Man (1970), 25 or 6 to 4 (1970), Saturday in the Park (1972), Feelin 'Stronger Every Day (1973), If You Leave Me Now (1976), Hard to Say I'm Sorry (1982) and You're the Inspiration (1984).

According to the sources, the band has sold around 48 million records worldwide to date. The most successful release from Chicago is the album Chicago 17 with around 6.1 million units sold.

history

After initial success in Chicago under the original name The Big Thing , the group went to Los Angeles in 1968 and released their debut album in the form of a double LP in 1969 under the name Chicago Transit Authority ( CTA for short ) . Under pressure from the transport company of the same name , the band soon called themselves just Chicago . In the song Someday from the same album, they deal with the events that led to the charges against the Chicago Seven .

The second album (also a double LP) brought Chicago the breakthrough in 1970. Two top ten hits were released from Chicago II : Make Me Smile and Color My World . After that, an average of two albums per year were released, each with the band name and a Roman numeral as the title (e.g. Chicago III or Chicago IV )

In the second half of the 1970s, the band moved away from jazz rock towards ballads. Chicago X (1976) contained the group's most commercially successful hit, If You Leave Me Now , which was in the British singles chart for sixteen weeks from the fall of 1976.

When guitarist Terry Kath died in January 1978 , the band almost broke up. The Roman numerals in the titles of the albums have been replaced by Arabic numerals. The LP Chicago 16 , released in mid-1982 and produced by David Foster , became the band's best-selling album in Germany. It received gold in 1987 .

In 1985 the singer Peter Cetera left the band and was later successful as a solo artist. During the late 1980s, the band brought the renowned guitarist Steve Lukather into the studio for some pieces (such as the hit "Stay the Night") .

Success declined in the 1990s, but the band received a star on the Walk of Fame in 1992 . An album recorded in 1993 was initially not released by Warner, which led to a break with the record company. It wasn't until 15 years later that it was released in 2008 under the name Stone of Sisyphus on the Rhino label .

After seeing the band at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas for several weeks in March and May , they toured the United States in July 2006 with Huey Lewis & the News .

In 2009, Bill Champlin left the band after 28 years and was replaced by Lou Pardini.

In the film Clear History , the band was the subject of a minor strand and appeared as an actor themselves.

On October 25, 2016, the official Chicago Facebook page announced that Jason Scheff has left the band after 30 years and will be replaced by Jeff Coffey.

Ray Herrmann (woodwind instruments) has been an official band member since the end of 2016. Herrmann previously worked as a representative for Walter Parazaider for Chicago.

In 2018 there were some changes in the line-up. Jeff Coffey left Chicago due to family reasons and was replaced by singer Neil Donell, who was previously a singer in the Chicago tribute band "Brass Transit". Brett Simons became the new bass player. After 28 years, drummer Tris Imboden also said goodbye, also to spend more time with the family. The previous percussionist Walfredo Reyes Jr. took over Imbodens part as drummer, his brother Daniel de los Reyes in turn became the new percussionist.

Discography

Official albums

Chicago live (2004)

• 1969: Chicago Transit Authority
• 1970: Chicago (also called Chicago II )
• 1971: Chicago III
• 1971: At Carnegie Hall (Chicago IV)
• 1972: Chicago V
• 1973: Chicago VI
• 1974: Chicago VII
• 1975: Chicago VIII
• 1975: Chicago IX: Chicago's Greatest Hits
• 1976: Chicago X
• 1977: Chicago XI
• 1978: Hot Streets
• 1979: Chicago 13
• 1980: Chicago XIV
• 1981: Greatest Hits, Volume II
• 1982: Chicago 16
• 1984: Chicago 17
• 1986: Chicago 18
• 1988: Chicago 19
• 1989: Chicago Greatest Hits 1982-1989
• 1991: Twenty 1
• 1995: Night and Day: Big-Band
• 1997: The Heart of Chicago 1967-1997
• 1998: The Heart of Chicago 1967-1998
• 1998: Chicago XXV: The Christmas Album
• 1999: Chicago XXVI: Live in Concert
• 2002: The Very Best of: Only the Beginning
• 2003: The Box
• 2005: Love Songs
• 2006: Chicago XXX
• 2007: The Best of Chicago: 40th Anniversary Edition
• 2008: Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus
• 2011: Chicago XXXIII: O Christmas Three
• 2011: Chicago XXXIV: Live in '75
• 2013: Chicago XXXV: The Nashville Sessions
• 2014: Chicago XXXVI: Now
• 2015: Terry's last stand (Live)
• 2018: Chicago: VI Decades Live (This is What We Do)
• 2019: Chicago Christmas (2019)

Unofficial publications

• 1983: If You Leave Me Now
• 1985: Take Me Back to Chicago

Unnumbered publications

After the band changed their record label, a box set was released on Columbia Records. It's an official Chicago album, but not part of the numbered discography:

• 1991: Group Portrait

Chart placements

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1969	Chicago Transit Authority	-	-	-	UK9 (14 weeks) UK	US17th × 2 Double platinum (171 weeks)US
1970	Chicago II	DE20 (3 weeks) DE	-	-	UK6 (27 weeks) UK	US4th platinum (134 weeks)US
1971	Chicago III	DE17 (1 week) DE	-	-	UK9 (5 weeks) UK	US2 platinum (63 weeks)US
	Chicago at Carnegie Hall	-	-	-	-	US3 platinum (46 weeks)US	recorded in April 1971
1972	Chicago V	-	-	-	UK24 (2 weeks) UK	US1 × 2 Double platinum (51 weeks)US
1973	Chicago VI	-	-	-	-	US1 × 2 Double platinum (73 weeks)US
1974	Chicago VII	-	-	-	-	US1 platinum (69 weeks)US
1975	Chicago VIII	-	-	-	-	US1 platinum (29 weeks)US
	Chicago IX - Chicago's Greatest Hits	-	-	-	-	US1 × 5 Quintuple platinum (72 weeks)US
1976	Chicago X	DE5 (11 weeks) DE	AT18 (12 weeks) AT	-	UK21st silver (11 weeks)UK	US3 × 2 Double platinum (44 weeks)US
1977	Chicago XI	DE39 (1 week) DE	AT9 (8 weeks) AT	-	-	US6th platinum (20 weeks)US
1978	Hot streets	-	-	-	-	US12 platinum (29 weeks)US
1979	Chicago 13	-	-	-	-	US21st gold (10 weeks)US
1980	Chicago XIV	-	-	-	-	US71 (9 weeks) US
1981	Chicago - Greatest Hits, Volume II	-	-	-	-	US171 (5 weeks) US
1982	Chicago 16	DE11 gold (36 weeks)DE	AT19 (4 weeks) AT	-	UK44 (9 weeks) UK	US9 platinum (38 weeks)US
	Love Songs [1982]	-	-	-	UK42 (8 weeks) UK	-	UK release, not identical to 2005 compilation
1983	The Feeling of Chicago - A Collection of Their Greatest Hits	DE8 (11 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-
1984	Chicago 17th	DE12 (21 weeks) DE	-	CH6th gold (18 weeks)CH	UK24 gold (20 weeks)UK	US4th × 6 Six-fold platinum (72 weeks)US	last album with singer Peter Cetera
1986	Chicago 18	DE49 (6 weeks) DE	-	CH18 (4 weeks) CH	-	US35 gold (45 weeks)US
1988	19th	DE42 (7 weeks) DE	-	CH22 (4 weeks) CH	-	US37 platinum (42 weeks)US
1989	Greatest Hits 1982–1989	-	-	-	UK6th platinum (26 weeks)UK	US37 × 5 Quintuple platinum (25 weeks)US	UK title: The Heart of Chicago
1991	Twenty 1	DE66 (8 weeks) DE	-	CH27CH	-	US66 (11 weeks) US
1995	Night & Day	-	-	-	-	US90 (7 weeks) US
1996	The very best of	DE52 (10 weeks) DE	AT49 (1 week) AT	-	UK- silver UK	-
1997	The Heart of Chicago 1967-1997	DE47 (3n weeks) DE	-	-	UK21st gold (5 weeks)UK	US55 gold (27 weeks)US
1998	The Heart of Chicago 1967–1998 Volume II	-	-	-	-	US154 (2 weeks) US
	Chicago 25	-	-	-	-	US47 gold (7 weeks)US	Christmas album
2002	The Chicago Story - Complete Greatest Hits	DE25th gold (8 weeks)DE	AT4 (11 weeks) AT	CH29 (7 weeks) CH	UK11 gold (8 weeks)UK	US20th × 2 Double platinum (30 weeks)US	US title: The Very Best Of: Only the Beginning
2003	Chicago Christmas: What's It Gonna Be, Santa?	-	-	-	-	US102 (5 weeks) US	Christmas album
2005	Love Songs [2005]	-	-	CH56 (3 weeks) CH	-	US57 (4 weeks) US	not identical to the UK compilation from 1982
2006	Chicago XXX	-	-	-	-	US41 (2 weeks) US
2007	The Best of Chicago: 40th Anniversary Edition	-	-	-	-	US100 gold (7 weeks)US
2008	Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus	-	-	-	-	US122 (2 weeks) US
2011	O Christmas Three	-	-	-	-	US170 (1 week) US
2014	Now: Chicago XXXVI	DE56 (2 weeks) DE	-	CH100 (1 week) CH	-	US82 (1 week) US
2018	Chicago: VI Decades Live (This is What We Do)	DE66 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	-

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1969	Questions 67 and 68 [1969] Chicago Transit Authority	-	-	-	-	US71 (3 weeks) US	was re-released in a shortened version in 1971
1970	I'm a Man Chicago Transit Authority	DE10 (5 weeks) DE	AT21 (4 weeks) AT	-	UK8 (11 weeks) UK	US49 (10 weeks) US	in the USA only in 1971 as the B-side of the republication of Questions 67 and 68 in the charts
	Make Me Smile Chicago II	-	-	-	-	US9 (14 weeks) US
	25 or 6 to 4 Chicago II	DE22 (2 weeks) DE	-	-	UK7 (13 weeks) UK	US4 (12 weeks) US
	Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? Chicago Transit Authority	-	-	-	-	US7 (13 weeks) US
1971	Free Chicago III	DE49 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	US20 (9 weeks) US
	Lowdown Chicago III	-	-	-	-	US35 (8 weeks) US
	Beginnings Chicago Transit Authority	-	-	-	-	US7 (13 weeks) US	first published in 1969
	Questions 67 and 68 [1971] Chicago Transit Authority	-	-	-	-	US24 (10 weeks) US	the long version was already in the charts in 1969
1972	Saturday in the Park Chicago V	-	-	-	-	US3 gold (12 weeks)US
	Dialogue (Part I & II) Chicago V	-	-	-	-	US24 (10 weeks) US
1973	Feelin 'Stronger Every Day Chicago VI	-	-	-	-	US10 (16 weeks) US
	Just You 'n' Me Chicago VI	-	-	-	-	US4th gold (19 weeks)US
1974	(I've Been) Searchin 'So Long Chicago VII	-	-	-	-	US9 (15 weeks) US
	Call on Me Chicago VII	-	-	-	-	US6 (15 weeks) US
	Wishing You Were Here Chicago VII	-	-	-	-	US11 (15 weeks) US	three of the five Beach Boys contributed the background vocals ( Carl and Dennis Wilson and Alan Jardine )
1975	Harry Truman Chicago VIII	-	-	-	-	US13 (9 weeks) US
	Old Days Chicago VIII	-	-	-	-	US5 (11 weeks) US
	Brand New Love Affair (Part I & II) Chicago VIII	-	-	-	-	US61 (5 weeks) US
1976	Another Rainy Day in New York City Chicago X	-	-	-	-	US32 (9 weeks) US
	If You Leave Me Now Chicago X	DE3 (26 weeks) DE	AT3 (20 weeks) AT	CH3 (14 weeks) CH	UK1 gold (16 weeks)UK	US1 platinum (21 weeks)US	Grammy (pop performance, group)
1977	You Are on My Mind Chicago X	-	-	-	-	US49 (7 weeks) US
	Baby, What a Big Surprise Chicago XI	DE49 (1 week) DE	AT9 (12 weeks) AT	-	UK41 (3 weeks) UK	US4 (17 weeks) US
1978	Little One Chicago XI	-	-	-	-	US44 (9 weeks) US
	Take Me Back to Chicago Chicago XI	-	-	-	-	US63 (5 weeks) US
	Alive Again Hot Streets	-	-	-	-	US14 (13 weeks) US
	No Tell Lover Hot Streets	-	-	-	-	US14 (15 weeks) US
1979	Gone Long Gone Hot Streets	-	-	-	-	US73 (3 weeks) US
	Must Have Been Crazy Chicago 13	-	-	-	-	US83 (5 weeks) US
1980	Thunder and Lightning Chicago XIV	-	-	-	-	US56 (9 weeks) US
1982	Hard to Say I'm Sorry Chicago 16	DE6 (27 weeks) DE	AT5 (16 weeks) AT	CH1 (12 weeks) CH	UK4th silver (15 weeks)UK	US1 gold (24 weeks)US	Film: Summer Lovers ; with Daryl Hannah
	Love Me Tomorrow Chicago 16	DE51 (9 weeks) DE	-	-	-	US22 (15 weeks) US
1983	What You're Missing Chicago 16	-	-	-	-	US81 (5 weeks) US
1984	Stay the Night Chicago 17	DE21 (15 weeks) DE	-	CH9 (12 weeks) CH	-	US16 (17 weeks) US
	Hard Habit to Break Chicago 17	-	-	-	UK8 (13 weeks) UK	US3 (25 weeks) US	Grammy (arrangement)
	You're the Inspiration Chicago 17	-	-	-	UK14 (11 weeks) UK	US3 (22 weeks) US
1985	Along Comes a Woman Chicago 17	-	-	-	UK96 (2 weeks) UK	US14 (16 weeks) US
1986	Will you still love me? Chicago 18	-	-	-	-	US3 (23 weeks) US
1987	If She Would Have Been Faithful… Chicago 18	-	-	-	-	US17 (19 weeks) US
	Niagara Falls Chicago 18	-	-	-	-	US91 (3 weeks) US
1988	I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love Chicago 19	-	-	-	-	US3 (21 weeks) US
	Look Away Chicago 19th	-	-	-	UK77 (2 weeks) UK	US1 gold (24 weeks)US
1989	You're Not Alone Chicago 19th	-	-	-	-	US10 (17 weeks) US
	We Can Last Forever Chicago 19th	-	-	-	-	US55 (12 weeks) US
	What Kind of Man Would I Be? Chicago 19 / Greatest Hits 1982-1989	-	-	-	-	US5 (18 weeks) US
1990	Hearts in Trouble Days of Thunder OST	-	-	-	-	US75 (5 weeks) US	Movie: Days of Thunder
1991	Chasin 'the Wind Twenty 1	-	-	-	-	US39 (11 weeks) US

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Video albums

• 2005: Live At The Greek Theater (US:platinum)
• 2009: Live In Concert (US:gold)

statistics

Chart evaluation

DE  AT  CH  UK  US Number one albums DE-DE AT-AT CH-CH UK-UK US5US Top 10 albums DE2DE AT2AT CH1CH UK4thUK US12US Albums in the charts DE15thDE AT5AT CH7thCH UK11UK US33US

DE  AT  CH  UK  US Number one singles DE-DE AT-AT CH1CH UK-UK US3US Top 10 singles DE3DE AT3AT CH3CH UK5UK US20thUS Singles in the charts DE8thDE AT4thAT CH3CH UK9UK US46US

Awards for music sales

→ Main article : Chicago (band) / Music Sales Awards

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Australia (ARIA)	-	2 × gold2	-	70,000	aria.com.au
Brazil (PMB)	-	gold1	-	50,000	pro-musicabr.org.br
Germany (BVMI)	-	2 × gold2	-	500,000	musikindustrie.de
Finland (IFPI)	-	gold1	-	25,327	ifpi.fi
France (SNEP)	-	gold1	-	100,000	infodisc.fr
Japan (RIAJ)	-	2 × gold2	platinum1	400,000	riaj.or.jp JP2
Canada (MC)	-	12 × gold12	14 × platinum14th	1,865,000	musiccanada.com
Netherlands (NVPI)	-	-	platinum1	100,000	nvpi.nl
Sweden (IFPI)	-	-	platinum1	60,000	sverigetopplistan.se
Switzerland (IFPI)	-	gold1	-	25,000	Individual evidence
Spain (Promusicae)	-	-	platinum1	100,000	mediafire.com
United States (RIAA)	-	10 × gold10	38 × platinum38	44,150,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	3 × silver3	4 × gold4th	platinum1	1,460,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	3 × silver3	36 × gold36	57 × platinum57

Further awards

• 1977, Grammy
• 1977, American Music Awards
• 1985, Grammy
• 1986, American Music Awards
• 1992, Hollywood Walk of Fame
• 2016, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

swell

1. ↑ Barry Graves, Bernward Halbscheffel, Siegfried Schmidt-Joos: Rock-Lexikon, p. 185, Rororo, 1998, ISBN 3-499-61588-6 .
2. ↑ Brown, Tony, The Complete Book Of The British Charts, Singles And Albums . London, 2000. ISBN 0711976708
3. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
4. ↑ ^{a b} US singles: Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2006. Billboard Books, New York 2007, ISBN 0-89820-172-1 . / US albums: The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
5. ^ American Music Awards - Winners Database
6. ^ American Music Awards - Winners Database
7. ↑ Hollywood Walk of Fame
8. ^ The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

Web links

Commons : Chicago  - Collection of Images

• Official website (English)
• Fansite
• Chicago at Allmusic (English)
• Chicago at Discogs (English)
• Chicago at laut.de