Chicago (band)

Chicago
Chicago in 2004 (l–r): Howland, Pankow, Champlin, Parazaider, Imboden, Loughnane, Scheff and Lamm (behind Scheff)
Background information
Also known as	The Big Thing, The Chicago Transit Authority
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	Rock soft rock jazz rock
Years active	1967–present
Labels	Columbia Warner Bros. Full Moon Rhino Reprise Chicago Records/Chicago Records II Frontier Records
Associated acts	The Beach Boys The Doobie Brothers Earth, Wind & Fire Sons of Champlin
Website	Official website
Members	Robert Lamm Lee Loughnane James Pankow Walter Parazaider Tris Imboden Keith Howland Lou Pardini Walfredo Reyes Jr. Jeff Coffey
Past members	Danny Seraphine Peter Cetera Terry Kath (deceased) Laudir de Oliveira Donnie Dacus Chris Pinnick Bill Champlin Jason Scheff Dawayne Bailey Drew Hester Daniel de los Reyes

Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, generating several hit ballads. The group had a steady stream of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Since at least 2008, Billboard has shown Chicago to be the "greatest of all time" American band in singles chart success, and since 2015, the "greatest of all time" American band in album chart success as well. 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.

According to Billboard, Chicago was the leading U.S. singles charting group during the 1970s. They have sold over 40 million units in the U.S., with 23 gold, 18 platinum, and 8 multi-platinum albums. Over the course of their career they have had five number-one albums and 21 top-ten singles. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 8, 2016 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Original band members Peter Cetera, Robert Lamm, and James Pankow are among the 2017 Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees for their songwriting efforts as members of the music group, Chicago.

The original band membership consisted of saxophonist Walter Parazaider, guitarist Terry Kath, drummer Danny Seraphine, trombonist James Pankow, trumpet player Lee Loughnane, and keyboardist/singer Robert Lamm. Parazaider, Kath, Seraphine, Pankow and Loughnane met in 1967 while students at DePaul University. Lamm was recruited from Roosevelt University. The group of six called themselves "The Big Thing", and continued playing 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," they added local tenor and bassist Peter Cetera.