Whatever Happened To Chicago Singer Peter Cetera?
Peter Cetera and his unmistakeable tenor voice spent decades at the top of the charts, first as one of the vocalists leading rock superstars Chicago, and then in a solo career that saw him receive Grammy, Golden Globe and Oscar nominations. But Cetera has been quiet recently — he declined to join Chicago onstage or even attend the group’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and he hasn’t played live since 2018. What is the man who was once considered the “king of top 40 love songs” doing today?
Members of Chicago, 4th November 1976; Laudir de Oliveira, Peter Cetera, Terry Kath, and Danny Seraphine. (Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty images)
Cetera is actually from Chicago — he was raised in a musical family on the city’s South Side, dreamed of being a football player, and, at one point, was a self-described child “polka prodigy.” But he soon moved on to rock music, and by the time he graduated high school, he was playing bass and singing in a popular area band called the Exceptions. But by 1967, he had decided to bring his talents over to another local group called The Big Thing. The band — who stood out among local rock groups with their vibrant horn section — soon changed their name to The Chicago Transit Authority, and released their debut self-titled album in 1969.
Shortening their name to Chicago, the band released Chicago in 1970, which had a major hit with “25 or 6 to 4.” It reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100. Shockingly, Cetera recorded the vocals on this song with his jaw wired shut — the souvenir of a brawl with some Marines outside an L.A. Dodgers game (they didn’t like the hippie looks of Cetera, who naturally, was there to root for the Chicago Cubs).
Cetera and Chicago went on to a decade and a half of hits, including the 1976 Cetera-penned “If You Leave Me Now,” Chicago’s first #1 hit, and also the source of their first and only Grammy win, for Best Pop Vocal Performance. 1977’s “Baby What A Big Surprise,” again written by Cetera, was another monster hit, reaching #4 on the Billboard charts.
The 1984 album Chicago 17, Cetera’s final recording with the band, was the biggest album of their career, selling over six million copies, with four Cetera-sung singles in the top 20, including top 5 hits “You’re the Inspiration” and “Hard Habit to Break.”
Cetera broke up with the band in 1985 — after being promised a break from touring and time to record solo material, he discovered another tour was booked, and that Chicago’s management had given him an ultimatum: join the tour or be replaced. “They sort of backed me into a corner, and then gave me a little doorway to get out,” he said in a 2015 interview. “And then I took it. Was I fired or did I quit? I think it was both.”
He went solo after splitting from Chicago
Cetera hit the ground running with his solo career, releasing the album Solitude/ Solitaire, which contained “Glory of Love,” the theme to The Karate Kid II, in 1986. It was a number-one hit, and garnered Cetera Grammy, Golden Globe, and Oscar nominations. The Amy Grant duet “The Next Time I Fall” also hit #1.
Despite his great solo successes, Cetera felt that his label never gave his albums their full support, because they were holding out for a Chicago reunion. He released more solo albums throughout the ’80s and ’90s, but pulled back from his career in the late ’90s, only to re-emerge in the early 2000s as an orchestral performer, working with the Chicago Pops Orchestra, among other ensembles.
Chicago’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame induction
Though Cetera discussed joining Chicago onstage for their 2016 Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, he ultimately opted out, saying “Unfortunately this scenario doesn’t work for me. I know we all did our best to make it happen, but I guess it’s just not meant to be. Personally, I’m frustrated and tired of dealing with this and it’s time to move on.” He later claimed that the show’s producers rejected his ideas for how the performance could play out, and the rest of Chicago seemed uninterested in supporting his ideas as well. “At this point in my life, I really don’t care to reintroduce the same negativity, misplaced egos, and petty jealousies I experienced years ago,” he said. “I’m very happy right where I am now, touring and playing my music with a band I love.”
That band was the Bad Daddies, a group that performed songs from Cetera’s career, as well as covers and originals. But after a few years, Cetera called it quits with them — and with music, period.
Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
In a 2019 podcast interview, Cetera explained that he had retired. “I thought, you know, I’m gonna quit before I lose my voice,” he said, noting how disappointing the experience of seeing a past-their-prime singer onstage is. After playing a show around Thanksgiving 2018, he recalled, “I thought, I’m done.” Does he miss it? Not really, because of the grind of touring travel: “When you’re on top and flying private … but then, when it all comes back down to earth and you have to get up at 5 in the morning to catch a 6:30 flight, three flights … to get to some casino in the middle of nowhere, and you’ve got to get up the next morning … too much.”
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