The Big Thing

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 Frontiers Records
Associated acts	The Beach Boys The Doobie Brothers Earth, Wind & Fire Sons of Champlin David Foster
Website	Official website
Members	Robert Lamm Lee Loughnane James Pankow Walter Parazaider Keith Howland Lou Pardini Ray Herrmann Daniel de los Reyes Walfredo Reyes Jr. Neil Donell Brett Simons
Past members	Danny Seraphine Peter Cetera Terry Kath Laudir de Oliveira Donnie Dacus Chris Pinnick Bill Champlin Jason Scheff Dawayne Bailey Bruce Gaitsch Drew Hester Tris Imboden Jeff Coffey

Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois as The Chicago Transit Authority before shortening the name in 1970. 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. In 1971, Chicago was the first rock act to sell out Carnegie Hall for a week.

To date, Chicago has sold over 40 million units in the U.S., with 23 gold, 18 platinum, and 8 multi-platinum albums. They have had five consecutive number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and 20 top-ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. In 2017, original band members Peter Cetera, Robert Lamm, and James Pankow were elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame for their songwriting efforts as members of the music group.

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 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", they added local tenor and bassist Peter Cetera.