About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Peter Cetera

Encyclopedia : P : PE : PET : Peter Cetera

Peter Paul Cetera (born September 13,1944 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American singer, songwriter, and bass player best known for his tenure in the band Chicago. The voice of major Chicago hits such as "25 or 6 to 4," "If You Leave Me Now," and "You're The Inspiration," Cetera is also an accomplished solo artist (including his number 1 single "Glory of Love").

Contents

Early years

Cetera, known for playing the electric bass, first learned the accordion at the age of 5, and the guitar while attending high school in Chicago. In the late 1960s, he joined and played in a popular local band, The Exceptions, which toured the Midwestern United States. However, in December 1967, Cetera arrived early for a show and watched an act then known as The Big Thing. Impressed by their use of horns combined with rock and roll, Cetera left The Exceptions to join The Big Thing within the span of two weeks.

Tenure in

The Big Thing, later renamed Chicago Transit Authority, and finally, just Chicago, continued to tour the Midwest until releasing their first album in 1969, The Chicago Transit Authority on the Columbia record label. Cetera was one of the band's three major lead vocalists, his tenor voice complimenting the baritones of guitarist Terry Kath and keyboardist Robert Lamm. His unique singing style resulted from singing with a wired-shut jaw after getting into a brawl in 1970.

While The Chicago Transit Authority was an underground hit, the follow-up album Chicago (sometimes referred to as Chicago II) vaulted the band to popular status across the United States and the world. The hit single "25 or 6 to 4", still one of the band's most well-known songs, was the first major hit with Cetera singing lead vocals. Chicago is also notable for featuring Cetera's first songwriting effort, "Where Do We Go From Here?" As time went on, Cetera became a much more prolific writer of the band's material, including the hit "Wishing You Were Here" (#11) and "Happy Man" from the 1973 album Chicago VII.

During this period Cetera had a minor part in the 1973 film Electra Glide in Blue, which was directed by Chicago's longtime manager/producer James William Guercio.

His biggest singing/songwriting accomplishment with Chicago came in 1976 with their first worldwide #1 single, the orchestrated ballad "If You Leave Me Now". The follow-ups, "Baby, What A Big Surprise" (#4) and "No Tell Lover" (#14) (written with Lee Loughnane and Danny Seraphine) were also hits in 1977 and 1978, respectively, cemented the band's status in the late 1970s as a "ballad band."

A split from the band's producer Guercio, followed by the accidental death of Kath, sparked a major change in direction for the band, in which Cetera became more influential. However, by the end of the 1970s, with the advent of disco, Chicago's popularity declined, culminating in the poor-selling Chicago XIV (#71) in 1980. During this time, Cetera released his first solo album, entitled Peter Cetera, a rock-based effort vastly different from his future solo albums. In addition, he also made contributions to other artists' work during this time period, including providing backing vocals on songs by Billy Joel and Paul Anka, and by singing a duet with easy-listening star Karen Carpenter.

After Bill Champlin joined Chicago, and David Foster was brought in as producer, the result was the album Chicago 16 (#9) released in 1982. On the Warner Brothers label, the album, led the by Cetera-copenned and sung "Hard to Say I'm Sorry/Get Away" (2 weeks at #1), was a major comeback. Also from 16, "Love Me Tomorrow" (#22), co-written by Cetera, was another hit.

Chicago 17 (#4), released in 1984, was an even bigger success. Four songs written (and sung) by Cetera were top 20 singles: the monster ballad "You're The Inspiration" (#3), "Hard Habit to Break" (#3), "Stay the Night" (#16), and "Along Comes a Woman" (#14). With the advent of the music video, Cetera became the star of the long faceless band that was Chicago.

Break with Chicago, solo career

With his newfound popularity, Cetera was eager to record another solo album. In addition, he objected to the extended touring of the band to promote 17. The band was also concerned that Cetera's focus on slow ballads was leading Chicago in a different direction than what the rest of the group wanted. After the band rejected his offer to stay in the band while recording a solo album (similar to the arrangement between Phil Collins and Genesis at the time), Cetera decided to leave Chicago in July of 1985.

Almost immediately, he continued his streak of hits sans Chicago. His first single, "Glory of Love" (the theme to the movie The Karate Kid, Part II) was a US #1 hit in 1986. His album, Solitude/Solitaire, released in 1986, was also successful, selling over 1,000,000 copies and spawning another hit single: "The Next Time I Fall", a duet with Amy Grant. In fact, Solitude/Solitaire outsold Chicago 18 (#35), the first Chicago album without him. His third solo album, One More Story (1988), despite containing the top 5 hit "One Good Woman", failed to reach Gold certification.

In 1987 Peter Cetera also worked as a producer. Together with Swedish singer and ex-ABBA-member Agnetha Fältskog he recorded 10 songs for her tenth solo album, I Stand Alone. One of these tracks, "I Wasn't The One (Who Said Good-Bye)" was a duet with her.

Cetera is known for his duets with other musicians. The largest of these hits was "After All" (with Cher in 1989), along with "Feels Like Heaven" (with Chaka Khan in 1992), and "Forever Tonight" (with Crystal Bernard in 1995). His final album released on the Warner Brothers label, World Falling Down, from 1992, contained the Adult Contemporary #1 hit "Restless Heart" as well. Since then, he has re-recorded some of his biggest Chicago hits in You're The Inspiration: A Collection (1997), and Christmas classics in You Just Gotta Love Christmas (2004).

Although he is not entirely comfortable with talking about his years with Chicago, Cetera continues to incorporate some of the group's songs (including those he composed) in his live repertoire (including "25 or 6 to 4", "If You Leave Me Now", and "You're The Inspiration").

Discography

Official studio albums

Hit singles

All chart information is from Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart except where noted.

Soundtracks

Peter Cetera also appeared on the following notable movie soundtracks:

External links


Peter Cetera
Peter Cetera | Solitude/Solitaire | One More Story | World Falling Down
One Clear Voice |
Another Perfect World | You Just Gotta Love Christmas

Chicago
Robert Lamm | James Pankow | Lee Loughnane | Walter Parazaider | Bill Champlin |
Jason Scheff | Tris Imboden | Keith Howland
Terry Kath | Peter Cetera | Danny Seraphine | Donnie Dacus | Dawayne Bailey
Discography
Studio albums: The Chicago Transit Authority | Chicago | Chicago III | Chicago V | Chicago VI |Chicago VII | Chicago VIII | Chicago X | Chicago XI | Hot Streets | Chicago 13 | Chicago XIV | Chicago 16 | Chicago 17 | Chicago 18 | Chicago 19 | Twenty 1 | Night & Day Big Band | Chicago XXX
Live albums: Chicago at Carnegie Hall |
Compilations: Chicago IX - Chicago's Greatest Hits | Greatest Hits, Volume II | Greatest Hits 1982-1989 | The Heart of Chicago 1967-1997 | The Heart of Chicago 1967-1998 Volume II | | Love Songs
Christmas albums: ' | '
Box sets: The Box

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: