Chicago is an American rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1967. 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.
Growing out of several bands from the Chicago area in the late 1960s, the original 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. The group initially called themselves the Big Thing, then changed to the Chicago Transit Authority in 1968, and finally shortened the name to Chicago in 1969.
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. In 2021, he revealed he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He died in 2026. In 2025, Lamm and Pankow went on hiatus from touring amidst health problems. In April, 2026, Loughnane confirmed that while Lamm and Pankow are not touring because of health concerns, they have not retired and remain members of the band.
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. 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. 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. In 1971, Chicago was the first rock act to sell out Carnegie Hall for a week. 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.
In terms of chart success, Chicago is one of the most successful American bands in Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Billboard history (second only to the Beach Boys), and are one of the most successful popular music acts of all time. To date, Chicago has sold over 40 million units in the U.S., with 23 gold, 18 platinum, and eight multi-platinum albums. They had five consecutive number-one albums on the Billboard 200, 20 top-ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100, and in 1974 the group had seven albums, its entire catalog at the time, on the Billboard 200 simultaneously. The group has received ten Grammy Award nominations, winning one for the song "If You Leave Me Now". The group's first album, Chicago Transit Authority, released in 1969, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014. The original line-up of Chicago was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. In 2017, Cetera, Lamm, and Pankow were elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Chicago received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award on October 16, 2020.
Contents
History
The Big Thing
The group now known as Chicago began on February 15, 1967, at a meeting involving saxophonist Walter Parazaider, guitarist Terry Kath, drummer Danny Seraphine, trombonist James Pankow, trumpet player Lee Loughnane, and keyboardist/singer Robert Lamm. Kath, Parazaider, and Seraphine had played together previously in two other groups—Jimmy Ford and the Executives, and the Missing Links. Parazaider had met Pankow and Loughnane when they were all students at DePaul University. Lamm, a student at Roosevelt University, was recruited from his group, Bobby Charles and the Wanderers. The group of six called themselves the Big Thing, and like most other groups playing in Chicago nightclubs, played Top 40 hits. Realizing the need for both a tenor to complement baritones Lamm and Kath, and a bass player because Lamm's use of organ bass pedals did not provide "adequate bass sound", local tenor and bassist Peter Cetera was invited to join the Big Thing in late 1967.
Chicago Transit Authority and early success
While gaining some success as a cover band, the group began working on original songs. In June 1968, at manager James William Guercio's request, the Big Thing moved to Los Angeles, California, where they signed with Columbia Records and changed their name to Chicago Transit Authority. While performing on a regular basis at the Whisky a Go Go nightclub in West Hollywood, the band got exposure to more famous musical artists of the time, subsequently opening for Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. Group biographer William James Ruhlmann recorded Walt Parazaider as saying that Jimi Hendrix once told him: "'Jeez, your horn players are like one set of lungs and your guitar player is better than me.'"
Their first record (April 1969), Chicago Transit Authority, is a double album, a rarity for a band's initial studio release. The album made it to No. 17 on the Billboard 200 album chart, sold over one million copies by 1970, and was awarded a platinum disc. The album included a number of pop-rock songs – "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Beginnings", "Questions 67 and 68", and "I'm a Man" – which were later released as singles. For this inaugural recording effort the group was nominated for a Grammy Award for 1969 Best New Artist of the Year. In 2025, the Library of Congress selected Chicago Transit Authority for inclusion as an album in the National Recording Registry.
According to Cetera, the band was booked to perform at Woodstock in 1969, but promoter Bill Graham, with whom they had a contract, exercised his right to reschedule them to play at the Fillmore West on a date of his choosing, and he scheduled them for the Woodstock dates. Santana, which Graham also managed, took Chicago's place at Woodstock, and that performance is considered to be Santana's "breakthrough" gig. A year later, when he needed to replace headliner Joe Cocker, and then Cocker's intended replacement, Jimi Hendrix, Graham booked Chicago to perform at Tanglewood, which has been called a "pinnacle" performance by Concert Vault.
After the release of their first album, the band's name was shortened to Chicago to avoid legal action being threatened by the actual mass-transit company of the same name.
1970s: Chicago
In 1970, less than a year after its first album, the band released a second album, titled Chicago (retroactively known as Chicago II), which is another double-LP. The album's centerpiece track is a seven-part, 13-minute suite composed by Pankow called "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon". The suite yielded two top ten hits: "Make Me Smile" (No. 9 U.S.) and "Colour My World", both sung by Kath. Among the other tracks on the album: Lamm's dynamic but cryptic "25 or 6 to 4" (Chicago's first Top 5 hit), which is a reference to a songwriter trying to write at 25 or 26 minutes before 4 o'clock in the morning, and was sung by Cetera with Kath on guitar; the lengthy war-protest song "It Better End Soon"; and, at the end, Cetera's 1969 Moon landing-inspired "Where Do We Go from Here?" The double-LP album's inner cover includes the playlist, the entire lyrics to "It Better End Soon", and two declarations: "This endeavor should be experienced sequentially", and, "With this album, we dedicate ourselves, our futures and our energies to the people of the revolution. And the revolution in all of its forms." The album was a commercial success, rising to number four on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1970, and platinum in 1991. The band was nominated for two Grammy Awards as a result of this album, Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus.
Chicago III, another double LP, was released in 1971 and charted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Two singles were released from it: "Free" from Lamm's "Travel Suite", which charted at No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100; and "Lowdown", written by Cetera and Seraphine, which made it to No. 35. The album was certified gold by the RIAA in February 1971, and platinum in November 1986.
The band released LPs at a rate of at least one album per year from their third album in 1971 on through the 1970s. During this period, the group's album titles primarily consisted of the band's name followed by a Roman numeral, indicating the album's sequence in their canon. The exceptions to this scheme were the band's fourth album, a live boxed set entitled Chicago at Carnegie Hall, their twelfth album Hot Streets, and the Arabic-numbered Chicago 13. While the live album itself did not bear a number, the four discs within the set were numbered Volumes I through IV.
In 1971, the band released Chicago at Carnegie Hall Volumes I, II, III, and IV, a quadruple LP, consisting of live performances, mostly of music from their first three albums, from a week-long run at Carnegie Hall. Chicago was the first rock act to sell out a week at Carnegie Hall and the live recording was made to chronicle that milestone. Along with the four vinyl discs, the packaging contained some strident political messaging about how "We [youth] can change the System", including wall posters and voter registration information. The album went gold "out of the box" and on to multi-platinum status. William James Ruhlmann says Chicago at Carnegie Hall was "perhaps" the best-selling box set by a rock act and held that record for 15 years. In recognition of setting Carnegie Hall records and the ensuing four-LP live recordings, the group was awarded a Billboard 1972 Trendsetter Award. Drummer Danny Seraphine attributes the fact that none of Chicago's first four albums were issued on single LPs to the productive creativity of this period and the length of the jazz-rock pieces.
1980s: changing sound
Chicago XIV (1980), produced by Tom Dowd, relegated the horn section to the background on a number of tracks, and the album's two singles failed to make the Top 40. Chris Pinnick joined the band to play guitar and remained through 1985, and the band were also augmented by saxophone player Marty Grebb on the subsequent tour. Marty Grebb had formerly been with the Buckinghams, and before that had been Cetera's bandmate in a local Chicago area cover band called the Exceptions. The album peaked at No. 71 on the Billboard 200, and failed to reach gold certification by the RIAA. Believing the band to no longer be commercially viable, Columbia Records dropped them from its roster in 1981 and released a second greatest hits volume (counted as Chicago XV in the album chronology) later that year to fulfill its contractual obligation.
In late 1981, the band had new management, a new producer (David Foster), a new label (Warner Bros. Records), and the addition of keyboardist, guitarist, and singer Bill Champlin (Sons of Champlin). Percussionist Laudir de Oliveira and Marty Grebb departed from the band. During Foster's stewardship, less of an emphasis was placed on the band's horn-based sound, being replaced by lush power ballads, which became Chicago's style during the 1980s. The new sound brought more singles success to the band.
For the 1982 album Chicago 16, the band worked with composers from outside the group for the first time, and Foster brought in studio musicians for some tracks (including the core members of Toto), and used new technology (such as synthesizers) to "update" and streamline the sound, further pushing back the horn section, and in some cases not even using them at all. The band did return to the charts with the Cetera-sung ballad "Hard to Say I'm Sorry/Get Away", which is featured in the soundtrack of the Daryl Hannah film Summer Lovers. Co-written by Cetera and David Foster, "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" was the group's second single to reach No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart and gave them a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Chicago 16 reached both gold and platinum status during the year of its release, and went to No. 9 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
1984's Chicago 17 became the biggest selling album in the band's history, certified by the RIAA in 1997 as six times multi-platinum. The album produced two more Top Ten (both No. 3) singles, "You're the Inspiration", written by Cetera and David Foster, and "Hard Habit to Break", written by Steve Kipner and John Lewis Parker. The single, "Hard Habit to Break", brought two more Grammy Award nominations for the band, for Record of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. The album included two other singles: "Stay the Night" (No. 16), another composition by Cetera and Foster; and "Along Comes a Woman" (No. 14), written by Cetera and Mark Goldenberg. Peter's brother, Kenny Cetera, who had provided background vocals on the Chicago 17 album, was brought into the group for the 17 tour to add percussion and high harmony vocals.
1990s: more changes and Stone of Sisyphus
The beginning of the 1990s brought yet another departure. Original drummer Danny Seraphine was dismissed from the band in May 1990. Seraphine was succeeded by Tris Imboden, a longtime drummer with Kenny Loggins and former session drummer with Peter Cetera. Imboden made his first appearance on the 1991 album Twenty 1 with a fragment of band's logo, which yielded an eleven-week stretch on the Billboard 200, a peak at No. 66, and the song "Chasin' the Wind" which peaked at No. 39. Twenty 1 would be their last released album of original music for fifteen years.
The band was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 23, 1992.
In 1993, Chicago wrote and recorded their 22nd album Stone of Sisyphus. This album was to have marked their return to their traditional composition of the 1970s, emphasizing major horn accompaniment. However, following a reorganization of the record company, the new executives at Reprise Records (now part of the newly formed Warner Music Group) rejected the completed album. It remained unpublished for fifteen years, aside from bootleg tapes and Internet files. This contributed to the parting of the band from the record label. The band was dismayed by the failure of the label. Upset with the shelving of the album, Dawayne Bailey voiced his objections and his annual contract was not renewed by the band in late 1994. And in the years that followed there were many debates and conjecture about the events surrounding the recordings. It was also suggested some years later that the band's management was negotiating with the label regarding a licensing of the extensive Chicago back catalog, and when those talks stalled, the label apparently retaliated by scrapping the project. The album eventually saw an expanded release on Rhino Records in June 2008, and made it to No. 122 on the album charts.
After finishing their 1994 tour, and after signing with the Warner Bros. Records imprint label Giant Records, they released their 1995 album Night & Day: Big Band, consisting of covers of songs originally recorded by Sarah Vaughan, Glenn Miller, and Duke Ellington. Guitarist Bruce Gaitsch stepped in and joined the band to handle the album's guitar work. The album featured guest appearances by Paul Shaffer of Late Show with David Letterman fame, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry, and the Gipsy Kings. Parazaider cited the group's participation in the 1973 television special honoring Duke Ellington, Duke Ellington... We Love You Madly, as key in their decision to record this album. After this big band album, Chicago acquired the rights to their Columbia recordings and reissued them on their own imprint. In early 1995, Keith Howland, who had been a studio musician and stage hand based in Los Angeles, was recruited as Chicago's new permanent guitarist.
2000s
In 2002, the band licensed their entire recorded output to Rhino Records, after having recorded it at Columbia Records and Warner Bros. Records. In 2002, Rhino released a two-disc compilation, The Very Best of: Only the Beginning, which spanned the band's career. The compilation made the Top 40 and sold over 2 million copies in the U.S. Rhino also began releasing remastered versions of all of the band's Columbia-era albums. The following year, the band released their most comprehensive compilation to date in the form of a box set, simply titled The Box. In October 2003, Rhino reissued Chicago XXV: The Christmas Album, along with six new recordings, as What's It Gonna Be, Santa?.
The American cable music channel VH1 featured the band in an episode of its Behind the Music series, "Chicago: Behind the Music", season 1, episode 133. The episode first aired on October 15, 2000.
In 2004, 2005, and 2009, Chicago toured with Earth, Wind & Fire.
On March 21, 2006, their first all-new studio album since Twenty 1 arrived with Chicago XXX. It was produced by Jay DeMarcus, bassist/vocalist with the country trio Rascal Flatts, who was a long-time fan of Chicago and had cited the group as an influence on him as a musician in a previous fan letter to Jason Scheff. It also marked the first time the band's music was available as a digital download. The album peaked at No. 41 in the U.S., spawning two minor adult contemporary hits: "Feel" and "Love Will Come Back". Two songs from this album, "Feel" and "Caroline", were performed live during Chicago's fall 2005 tour.
Chicago made multi-week appearances at the MGM Grand Las Vegas in March, May and October 2006. In July 2006, the band made a series of U.S. appearances with Huey Lewis and the News.
On October 2, 2007, Rhino Records released the two-disc The Best of Chicago: 40th Anniversary Edition (Chicago XXXI), a new greatest hits compilation spanning their entire forty years, similar to The Very Best of: Only the Beginning, released five years earlier.
In 2008, Stone of Sisyphus – once known as the aborted Chicago XXII, now listed officially as Chicago XXXII – was released with an expanded format.
2010s
In 2010 (just as they had already done in 1999 and 2008), Chicago toured with the Doobie Brothers (and would do so again in 2017). A 2011 performance in Chicago became a video for the HDNet cable channel that featured the Doobie Brothers joining Chicago for three encore tunes. The band also appeared on the season nine finale of American Idol. On July 24, 2011, the band performed at Red Rocks in Colorado, accompanied by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.
With Chicago XXXIII: O Christmas Three, the band re-teamed with producer Ramone (he had previously released the new tracks for the expanded Christmas re-release What's It Gonna Be, Santa?) to record a new Christmas album. Dolly Parton was a guest artist on the album, which was released in October 2011. In the meantime, Rhino released Chicago XXXIV: Live in '75, a two-disc set containing two hours of previously unreleased performances recorded June 24–26, 1975 at the Capital Centre in Largo, Maryland, featuring the original members of Chicago performing some of their greatest hits up to that point. In 2012, Chicago and the Doobie Brothers held another joint tour. That same year, Hester left the group shortly before the tour, and was succeeded at first by percussionist Daniel de los Reyes, then by Daniel's brother and former long-term Santana member, Walfredo Reyes Jr.
In 2013, Lamm, Loughnane, Pankow, and Parazaider appeared in the HBO film Clear History as the band Chicago. In late 2013, the band began releasing singles for a new album, starting with "Somethin' Comin', I Know" in August, "America" in September, "Crazy Happy" in December 2013, and "Naked in the Garden of Allah" in January 2014. The album, titled Chicago XXXVI: Now, was released on July 4, 2014.
The group's debut album, Chicago Transit Authority, released in 1969, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014. Chicago performed at the 2014 Grammy Awards show with Grammy nominee Robin Thicke. It was the band's first ever appearance on a Grammy Award show. Thicke and Chicago performed a medley of three of Chicago's past hits, then segued into a rendition of Thicke's hit song, "Blurred Lines", which was nominated for "Record of the Year".
On January 25 and 28, 2014 Chicago performed two concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In February 2015, Chicago released a two-disc live album, Chicago at Symphony Hall, of their performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
2020s
In March 2020 the band finished their scheduled shows at The Venetian Las Vegas and were scheduled to travel to California the next day for their next performances, but all performances were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The band resumed their live performances fifteen months later in Lincoln, Nebraska. In the 2022 documentary, The Last Band on Stage, band members talk about how their plans were affected by COVID and how they coped during that time. The documentary was directed by Peter Curtis Pardini and narrated by actor Joe Mantegna. Mr. Pardini also directed the 2017 documentary, Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago.
Chicago received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award on October 16, 2020.
On April 19, 2021, Walter Parazaider released a statement that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
During their 2021 summer tour, Lou Pardini was out for part of August and most of September, with Who keyboardist Loren Gold filling in until Pardini was able to return. On November 15, 2021, Howland broke his arm in an accident and took a leave of absence from the band, with guitarist Tony Obrohta filling in for him at shows. On December 1, 2021, Howland announced he was leaving Chicago after over 26 years, citing the recent accident and lengthy recovery period as bringing about the next phase of his life. The band confirmed Howland's departure, and removed his name from band lineup page on their website. Tony Obrohta officially joined the group to replace Howland in December 2021.
In November 2021, Chicago and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys announced they would co-headline a 25 date tour in the summer of 2022.
On January 21, 2022, Lou Pardini announced he was departing the band. Loren Gold (vocals, keyboards) appeared with the group on tour filling the role vacated by Pardini starting in January 2022, and on March 2, 2022, Chicago updated their website to list Gold as a band member. On Friday, May 6, 2022, Chicago announced on their website that Brett Simons had departed the band and Eric Baines (bass, vocals) had joined the group. The group also announced plans to release a new album in the summer of 2022. Chicago released the single "If This Is Goodbye" on May 20, 2022. On July 15, 2022, Chicago released Chicago XXXVIII: Born for This Moment. Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire toured together on the 2024 Heart and Soul joint tour.
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." Walter Parazaider told writer, Paul Elliott, "My idea was to make horns an integral part of a rock band." According to James Pankow, Chicago set out to be "basically" a rock and roll band with a horn section. Robert Lamm credits Walter Parazaider and Terry Kath for having the vision of "a rock band with expanded instrumentation." 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."
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 ...". 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."
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."
Chicago was deeply influenced by jazz, which culminated on their seventh album. Trumpeter Lee Loughnane holds that the term "jazz rock" was invented because of Chicago's music. 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.
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. 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.
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." 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." In a separate interview that same year, Lee Loughnane echoed Pankow's remarks.
Political topics
Early in their career, Chicago actively explored political themes in their songs, with Robert Lamm being the most politically active member. Beginning with 1972's Chicago V, the band began to move away from their politically oriented music and toward the mainstream.
On their debut album, the songs "Prologue, August 29, 1968" and "Someday (August 29, 1968)" features audio recordings of protests from the 1968 Democratic National Convention — including the crowd chanting "The whole world is watching". The second album features "It Better End Soon" a four-part suite that is a direct, scathing critique of the Vietnam War. The two-part song "Dialogue (Part I & II)" is a structured exchange between two opposing viewpoints — one politically neutral and the other more socially oriented — before concluding with an affirmative refrain calling for collective action. The song "Harry Truman" was written after the resignation of US President Richard Nixon; the lyrics are a tribute to the former president, whom Lamm believed Americans could trust. The song "All the Years" from their late album Stone of Sisyphus touches on the political situation of the early nineties, and that politics hasn't changed much since the late sixties.
The liner notes for second album Chicago contain a dedication written by Robert Lamm: "With this album, we dedicate ourselves, our futures and our energies to the people of the revolution. And the revolution in all of its forms." The Chicago III album included a poster showing the band members in American war uniforms standing in front of a field of crosses symbolizing those killed in the ongoing Vietnam War, along with the number of casualties from each war up to the time of the album's release. The packaging for the Chicago at Carnegie Hall concert album contained strong political messages, including voter registration information.
Public image
Graphics
Upon being renamed from Chicago Transit Authority to Chicago, the band sported a new logo. Its inspiration was found in the design of the Coca-Cola logo, in the attitude of the city of Chicago itself, and in the desire to visually transcend the individual identities of the band's members. It was designed by the art director of Columbia/CBS Records, John Berg, with each album's graphic art work being done by Nick Fasciano. Berg said, "The Chicago logo...was fashioned for me by Nick Fasciano from my sketch."
The logo would serve as the band's chief visual icon from Chicago II onward. In various artistic forms and visual similes, it has been the subject of every subsequent album cover, except the fifteenth album, Greatest Hits, Volume II. For example, it appeared as an American flag on III, a piece of wood on V, a U.S. dollar bill on VI, a leather relief on VII, an embroidered patch on VIII, a chocolate bar on X, a map on XI, a building on 13, a fingerprint on XIV, a computer silicon chip on 16, a parcel on 17, a mosaic on 18, and an aquarelle on 19. Chicago IX's incarnation was a caricature of the band itself, in the shape of the logo.
The album cover series has endured as a cataloged work of art in its own right, described by Paul Nini of the American Institute of Graphic Arts as a "real landmark in record cover design". In 2013, the iconic status of Chicago's album art was featured in a New York art museum exhibit, which centered upon ninety-five album covers completely selected from John Berg's career portfolio of hundreds. Having overseen the design of approximately fourteen Chicago album covers across more than twenty years, Berg stated that this artistic success resulted from the combination of Chicago's "unique situation" and his position in "the best possible job at the best possible time to have that job, at the center of the graphic universe". Berg won the 1976 Grammy Award for Best Album Package for Chicago X, one of four Grammy Awards he won in his lifetime.
The book titled Type and Image: The Language of Graphic Design described the logo as "a warm vernacular form, executed in thick script letters with Victorian swashes in the tradition of sports teams and orange crate labels". The book mentions the cultural and material background of the city of Chicago as inspiration for the logo; for example, describing the leather embossing of Chicago VII as representative of the great fire and the stockades. The author connects the album art to the atmosphere of the band's namesake city, quoting the band's original manager, James William Guercio: "The printed word can never aspire to document a truly musical experience, so if you must call them something, speak of the city where all save one were born; where all of them were schooled and bred, and where all of this incredible music went down barely noticed; call them CHICAGO."
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.
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. Musicians on Call is a nonprofit organization that brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients, families and caregivers in healthcare settings. The group donated an autographed guitar to the event's live auction and the $6,000 winning bid was made by singer Dionne Warwick. Chicago also did benefit performances for Musicians on Call in 2011, 2012, and 2022.
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), Shaun of the Dead (2004), A Lot like Love (2005), Happy Feet (2006), and Daddy's Home 2 (2017); the television series Sex and the City and South Park; the first episode of the HBO miniseries, The Regime, in 2024; and a television commercial that aired during the 2000 Super Bowl. Robert Lamm's song from the 1970 album Chicago II, "25 or 6 to 4", was used in the 2017 film I, Tonya, and on the animated TV series King of the Hill. "You're the Inspiration" was used for the soundtracks of the movies A Hologram for the King (2016) and Deadpool (2016); a 2017 Super Bowl commercial; and the television series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Criminal Minds. The song "Hearts In Trouble" was on the soundtrack to the 1990 film Days of Thunder.
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. 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.
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, and as performed by the Jackson State University marching band, ranked number seven of the "Top 20 Cover Songs of 2018 by HBCU Bands". 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. They performed again at a game against Bowling Green State University on October 5, 2019.
Personnel
As of 2018, the three remaining original members of Chicago were Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane, and James Pankow.
Since 2025, the band has included Loughnane as the only original member on stage, with Lamm and Pankow not touring due to health problems. On December 1, 2025, USA Today published a promotional photograph of the band for its upcoming 2026 summer tour with Styx, with neither Lamm nor Pankow featured in the photo. In April 2026, Loughnane confirmed that Lamm and Pankow have stopped touring, but remain band members.
Band legal structure
The legal hierarchy of the band was illuminated in a July 2022 published interview with Robert Lamm, in which he, Pankow and Loughnane are identified as the "partners" and the rest of the members as "contracted players". According to Lamm, the three partners have the final word on the band's activity, including the decision to record the 2022 album, Born for This Moment.
Status of Walter Parazaider
For several years, the exact status of Walter Parazaider as a current member or former member was unclear. A 2017 article said Parazaider retired due to a heart condition, but was still "technically" part of the group. Another 2017 article said that Ray Herrmann had become a full-time touring member, but that "Parazaider is still a band member and performs with the group for certain events." According to a 2018 article, Parazaider "officially retired" in 2017. By August 10, 2018, Ray Herrmann was shown as a member of the band, and Parazaider was not, on the group's official website. While Parazaider at times had been referred to as a non-touring member of the group, he did not appear on either of the studio albums released following his retirement, 2019's Chicago Christmas, and 2022's Born for This Moment. In 2021, Parazaider revealed he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. It was announced on June 17, 2026, that he had died.
Current members
Source:
Robert Lamm – keyboards, lead and backing vocals (1967–present; not touring 2025–present)
Lee Loughnane – trumpet, flugelhorn, backing vocals (1967–present)
James Pankow – trombone, backing vocals (1967–present; not touring 2025–present)
Source:
Walfredo Reyes Jr. – drums (2018–present); percussion (2012–2018)
Ray Herrmann – saxophones, flute, clarinet, backing vocals (2016-present; touring substitute 2005–2016)
Ramon "Ray" Yslas – percussion (2018–present)
Tony Obrohta – guitar, backing vocals (2021–present; touring substitute November 2021)
Eric Baines – bass, lead and backing vocals (2022–present)
Carlos Murguia - keyboards, lead and backing vocals (2025–present; touring substitute 2023-2024)
Justin Avery – keyboards, lead and backing vocals (2026–present)
Rudy Cardenas – lead and backing vocals (2026–present)
Nick Lane – trombone, backing vocals (2026–present; touring substitute 1999–2026)
Discography
Videography
Chicago: And the Band Played On (1992, Warner Reprise Video)
Chicago: In Concert at the Greek Theater (1993, Warner Reprise Video)
Soundstage Presents Chicago Live in Concert… (2004, Koch Vision)
Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire Live at the Greek Theater (2004, Image Entertainment)
Chicago & Friends: In Concert! (2024, Brian Lockwood)
Television and film
As major subject
Chicago in the Rockies (1973, ABC television special)
Chicago... Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch (1974, ABC television special)
Chicago's New Year's Rockin' Eve 1975 (December 31, 1974, ABC television special)
ABC In Concert (1992, two-part television special)
"Chicago: Behind the Music #133" (2000, VH1 documentary television episode)
Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago (2017, documentary film)
The Last Band on Stage (2022, documentary)
Other television and film appearances
Duke Ellington... We Love You Madly (1973, CBS television special)
Electra Glide in Blue (1973, film)
Saturday Night Live (1979, NBC)
Clear History (2013, HBO)
The Terry Kath Experience (2015, documentary film)
Awards and honors
Billboard awards
1971: Top Album Artist
1971: Top Album Group
1971: Trendsetter Award (for setting concert records at Carnegie Hall)
Playboy awards
1971: All-Star Readers' Poll: Best Instrumental Combo, Playboy Jazz & Pop Poll
1971: Best Small-Combo LP: Chicago, Playboy Jazz & Pop Poll
1972: All-Star Readers' Poll: Best Instrumental Combo, Playboy Jazz & Pop Poll
1973: All-Star Musicians' Poll: Best Instrumental Combo, Playboy Jazz & Pop Poll
1973: All-Star Readers' Poll: Best Instrumental Combo, Playboy Jazz & Pop Poll
1973: Best Small-Combo LP: Chicago V, Playboy Jazz & Pop Poll
Other honors
1970: Best Album of 1970: Chicago, Cash Box
1976: City of Chicago Medal of Merit (city's highest civilian award)
1976: Awarded a Cartier 25-pound bar of pure platinum by Columbia Records for platinum album achievement.
1977: Madison Square Garden "Gold Ticket Award" for drawing over 100,000 people to the venue over the years.
1987: American Video Award, Best Cinematography, "25 or 6 to 4" (Bobby Byrne)
