Many who know call Chicago the most successful American rock band of all time. The group came together on February 15, 1967, in the Windy City –  from which it eventually would take its name. The original group consisted of Walter Parazaider on saxophone and woodwinds, Lee Loughnane on trumpet, Terry Kath on guitar and vocals, Danny Seraphine on drums, James Pankow on trombone, and Robert Lamm on organ and vocals. In December 1967, bassist/vocalist Peter Cetera joined from rival band, The Exceptions. Chicago's first self-titled album sold more than two million copies and spawned four chart singles, beginning a string of massive hits that lasted to the end of the decade, with each album cover sporting a variation on the Chicago logo and a sequential title with a roman numeral: Chicago II, Chicago III, etc. Chicago's music was a combination of many varying styles, from hard rock to light pop, and often included elements of jazz and classical.
Following Cetera's gold-selling #1 hit in 1976, "If You Leave Me Now," the group became more identified with romantic ballads than anything else. Chicago hit the charts again in 1982 with "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" and the million-selling "Chicago 16," and was able to sustain its renewed popularity despite Cetera's departure for a solo career in 1985. As Cetera's replacement, Chicago found Jason Scheff, the 23-year-old bass-playing son of famed bassist Jerry Scheff who boasted a tenor voice that allowed him to re-create Cetera's singing on many Chicago hits. Despite boasting a Top Five hit single in "Will You Still Love Me?," 1986's Chicago 18 only went gold. The band recovered, however, with Chicago 19, released in the spring of 1988. Among its singles, "I Don't Want to Live Without Your Love" made the Top Five, "Look Away" topped the charts, and "You're Not Alone" made the Top Ten as the album went platinum. Another single, "What Kind of Man Would I Be?," originally found on the album, was included as part of the 1989 compilation Greatest Hits 1982-1989)a nd became a Top Five hit, while the album sold five million copies by 1997.
At the turn of the decade, Chicago Twenty 1, was released. In 1995, Chicago signed to Giant Records, to release their 22nd album, Night & Day, a collection of big-band standards that made the Top 100. In 1998, they released Chicago 25: The Christmas Album on Chicago Records, and they followed it in 1999 with Chicago XXVI: The Live Album. The band reappeared in 2006 with the new album Chicago XXX on Rhino.

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