Peter Paul Cetera Jr. (/səˈtɛrə/sə-TERR-ə; born September 13, 1944)[1] is an American retired musician best known for being a frontman, vocalist, and bassist for the American rock bandChicago from 1967 until his departure in 1985.[1][2][3] His career as arecording artist encompasses 17 studio albums with Chicago[4] and eight solo studio albums.[5] As a lead singer/vocal artist he has had four number one songs on theBillboard Hot 100, two during his tenure with Chicago and two during his solo career.[6] Of those four songs he wrote or co-wrote three.
As a solo artist, Cetera has scored sixTop 40 singles, including two that reached number one onBillboard's Hot 100 chart in 1986, "Glory of Love" and "The Next Time I Fall".[7] "Glory of Love", the theme song from the filmThe Karate Kid Part II (1986), was co-written by Cetera,David Foster, and Diane Nini and was nominated for both anAcademy Award[8] and aGolden Globe Award for best original song from a motion picture.[9] In 1987, Cetera received anASCAP award for "Glory of Love" in the category "Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures".[10] His performance on "Glory of Love" was nominated for a Grammy Award for best pop male vocal.[11] That same year Cetera andAmy Grant, who performed as a duet on "The Next Time I Fall", were nominated for a Grammy Award for best vocal performance by a pop duo or group.[11] Besides Foster and Grant, Cetera has collaborated throughout his career with other recording artists from various genres of music. His songs have been featured in soundtracks for movies and television.[12]
Former Chicago drummerDanny Seraphine wrote, "Peter came from a strong Catholic blue-collar family...".[24]: 59 Cetera was born to Peter Paul Cetera Sr.[25] and Margareta (Bechtold) Cetera[26] in theMorgan Park neighborhood, located on the farSouth Side of Chicago, Illinois.[27] He was the second of six children and is of Polish[1][28] and Hungarian[29] descent. His father worked as amachinist.[30][31] Cetera's siblings include two brothers, Tim Cetera (who recorded an album withRicky Nelson in the early 1970s)[32][33] and Kenny Cetera.[27] Both are listed as contributing musicians on some of the recordings Cetera made with Chicago[34][35] and on some of his solo recordings.[36][37][38][39]
Cetera attendedArchbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary for one year of high school because, he says, "my mother wanted me to be a priest."[28][24]: 59 He transferred to Mendel Catholic Prep High School, graduated from there in 1962, and is listed among the "Notable Alumni".[40]
Cetera says that his mother "was always singing around the house" and taught the children to sing in harmony while they were doing their household chores.[41] His brother Kenny also remembers the family harmonizing together while growing up.[42] Based on the positive responses he got, Cetera realized around the age of 11 or 12 that he had a talent for singing.[41] Cetera's interest in music deepened when, at 11 years of age, his parents bought him anaccordion instead of the guitar he wanted.[27] He says he was "kind of a polka prodigy"[43] and aged 12 won a local talent competition for his accordion-playing.[44] However, his family missed his radio debut when the show was broadcast the following week, because they did not own anFM receiver.[44]
During high school, he started seriously thinking of pursuing a career as a singer.[41] When he was 15, some older students from his high school took him to a club to see a band called the Rebel Rockers, which led to his purchasing an acoustic guitar atMontgomery Ward.[27] He eventually took up the electric bass, and with some high school friends—a drummer, guitarist, and saxophone player—Cetera began playing the local dance circuit, dividing lead vocals with the guitarist.
Cetera played in several groups in the Chicago area, including a popular local rock band namedthe Exceptions, which toured theMidwest in the mid-1960s.[27][47] Cetera said, "By the time I was 18 I was making more money than my dad."[27]
Among Cetera's first recording experiences were several singles and a five-song seven-inch EP titledRock 'N' Roll Mass with the Exceptions.[48][49][50] One of those recorded songs, "Come On Home", also gave Cetera his first songwriting credit.[44] (Kal David andMarty Grebb also are credited on the song.)[51] Adding to his early recording experience, Cetera played electric bass on Chicago folk singer and songwriterDick Campbell's albumDick Campbell Plays Where It's At, released in 1966 on Mercury Records.[52][53] When the Exceptions decided to move toward a more psychedelic sound, Cetera left; the band changed its name toAorta, and became one of the first psychedelic groups on a major label.[54][55]
In December 1967, Cetera arrived early for a show to watch a band called the Big Thing. Impressed by their use of ahorn section combined with rock and roll, Cetera left the Exceptions to join the Big Thing within two weeks.[1] The Big Thing, which soon changed its name to the Chicago Transit Authority (and eventually shortened it toChicago), released its self-titled debut albumChicago Transit Authority onColumbia Records in 1969. Cetera shared lead vocals on three of the eleven songs on the album: "Questions 67 & 68", "I'm a Man",[56] and "Someday",[57] histenor voice complementing thebaritone voices of the two other lead singers in the group, keyboardistRobert Lamm and guitaristTerry Kath.
The follow-up album,Chicago, vaulted the band to popular status throughout the world. The song "25 or 6 to 4" was the first major hit single with Cetera singing lead vocals.Chicago is also notable for featuring Cetera's first songwriting effort with the group, "Where Do We Go From Here?"[58]
As the 1970s progressed, Cetera became a more prolific songwriter for the group, contributing the songs "Wishing You Were Here" and "Happy Man" to the 1974 albumChicago VII. "Wishing You Were Here" featured vocals by members ofthe Beach Boys,[59] and reached number eleven on the charts.[15] "Happy Man" was, according to Chicago producerJames Guercio, "a Number 1 record that was never released as a single."[59] Cetera's biggest singing and songwriting accomplishment with Chicago came in 1976 with the ballad "If You Leave Me Now", fromChicago X. It was the group's first number one single in the United States,[15][16] also reaching number one on charts worldwide[60][61] and certified Gold and Platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[62] The song won aGrammy Award for Chicago, the group's only competitive or standard Grammy Award to date, for the 1976Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus,[14] at the19th Annual Grammy Awards, held on February 19, 1977.[63] According to William James Ruhlmann, biographer of the group, "the success of 'If You Leave Me Now' overshadowed the album from which it came, and also consolidated what by now seemed a definitely stated preference on the part of radio, if not Chicago's audience in general, for lush ballads sung by Peter Cetera over any other style the band might care to put forward."[59] Another success in the same vein followed: Cetera's 1977 composition "Baby, What a Big Surprise", fromChicago XI. The song featured him on lead vocals and made it to number four on the record charts.[15]
During this time Cetera also worked with other recording artists. He, along with a group of other well-known musicians, appeared on the 1976 self-titled debut album by singer-songwriter Angelo.[64][65][66] In 1977 Cetera provided background vocals onBeached, an album by Ricci Martin (son ofDean Martin), produced by Ricci Martin's brother-in-law,Carl Wilson of theBeach Boys. Cetera's bandmatesJames Pankow,Walter Parazaider, andLee Loughnane also performed on the album.[67][68] He is credited as one of the background vocalists onBilly Joel's single "My Life", released in 1978, from the album52nd Street.[69] The following year he collaborated withKaren Carpenter on herself-titled solo album, providing backing vocals for a song that he had written, "Making Love in the Afternoon".[70] That album was not released until 1996 by A&M Records.
By the end of the 1970s, with the rise ofdisco music, Chicago's popularity declined, culminating in the release of the band's poorest-selling album to that point,Chicago XIV, which peaked at number 71 on theBillboard 200 chart[71] in 1980.Columbia Records subsequently bought out the remainder of Chicago's contract.[2]
In 1981, Cetera released his first solo album,Peter Cetera, onWarner Bros. Records,[72] after personally buying the rights from his previous contract withColumbia Records, who would not release the project.[73] The album peaked at number 143 on theBillboard 200[74] and was considered a commercial failure. Cetera blamed Warner Bros., claiming that the company refused to promote him as a solo artist out of fear that he would leave Chicago, who had only recently signed with the label.[3] Former bandmateDanny Seraphine agrees with Cetera on this point, and says that the album "... sank like a stone due to lack of record company support. Warner Brothers didn't want it to interfere with their plans for Chicago."[24]: 200 Although his debut album was a commercial failure, there was one single from that album that managed to be a Top 10 hit in theTop Rock Tracks chart, the single in question is "Livin' in the Limelight".[citation needed]
In 1982,David Foster was brought in as producer and the resulting group effort wasChicago 16. The album, which peaked at number nine on theBillboard 200 chart,[75] represented a major comeback for Chicago, and leading the way was the hit single co-written by Cetera and Foster and featuring Cetera on lead vocals, "Hard to Say I'm Sorry". It went to number one on the charts,[15] was certified Gold by the RIAA in September of that year,[76] and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.[77] It was also featured in the movieSummer Lovers, starringDaryl Hannah.[78][79] The second single, "Love Me Tomorrow", also co-written with Foster and sung by Cetera, reached number 22 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart.[15] The third single, "What You're Missing", was yet again sung by Cetera.[citation needed] Cetera, a member of theAmerican Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), won ASCAP Pop Music Awards in the category, Most Performed Songs, for both "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" and "Love Me Tomorrow", and was honored by ASCAP as a multiple songwriter winner.[80]In 1983, he took a break from his duties as Chicago frontman to add backing vocals onPaul Anka's final U.S. Top 40 hit, "Hold Me 'Til the Mornin' Comes",[81] which debuted in the summer of that year.[82][83]
WhenChicago 17 was released in 1984, it became the veteran band's most successful album in their history, eventually selling over six million copies in the United States alone.[84] All four singles released from the album were sung by Cetera, including three which he co-wrote, and all of them charted in the top 20: "Stay the Night" (number 16),[15] "Hard Habit to Break" (number 3),[85] "You're the Inspiration" (number 3),[15] and "Along Comes a Woman" (number 14).[15] "Hard Habit to Break", written bySteve Kipner and John Lewis Parker,[86] brought three Grammy nominations for Cetera: two nominations as a member of Chicago forRecord of the Year andBest Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal;[77][87] and outside the group, as a co-nominee with David Foster forBest Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices, Cetera's first, and to date only, nomination for vocal arrangement.[77][88] Cetera won ASCAP honors for most-performed songs for "You're the Inspiration".[89]With the advent of the music video and the growing popularity ofMTV, Cetera became the 'face' and public leader of the longtime-faceless band that was Chicago.[90]
With his newfound popularity, Cetera was interested in recording another solo album. In addition, he had stated his lack of interest for the extensive touring schedule of the band, especially to promoteChicago 17.[79] When the 17 Tour concluded in May 1985, Chicago's management, along with several members of the band, expressed a desire to book another tour for that summer and start working on the group's next album.[43] The two sides could not resolve their differences and Cetera left the band in July 1985; he was replaced byJason Scheff as both bassist and lead singer.[24]: 200, 209–216, 265–266 Retrospectively Cetera said he wanted an arrangement similar to the one thatPhil Collins andGenesis had at the time, with Collins being a member and touring with Genesis, while also doing some solo work at the same time,[91] and his former bandmateDanny Seraphine agreed that's what the group should have done.[24]: 213 In a 1987 interview, Cetera said about his split from the group, "It wasn't amicable, but it wasn't the worst. It's nothing that me having a hit and them having a hit won't make better."[92]
After leaving Chicago, Cetera had immediate success as a solo artist. His first single, "Glory of Love", was used as the theme song for the filmThe Karate Kid Part II. Co-written by Cetera, David Foster, and Diane Nini,[8] Cetera has said it was written originally for the film,Rocky IV.[93][94] It was a number one hit on theBillboard Hot 100 andAdult Contemporary charts in the US in 1986,[7][95][6][96] and achieved similar success throughout the world.[3] It went on to win anASCAP Award for Cetera for Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures[10] and aBMI Film & TV Award for David Foster for Most Performed Song from a Film.[97] It was also nominated for both anAcademy Award[8] and aGolden Globe Award[9] in the category of Best Original Song, as well as aGrammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Male Artist.[11][98] He performed a shortened version of the song live at the59th Academy Awards ceremony.[99][100] In two interviews Cetera gave in 1987, he discussed people's confusion about "Glory of Love", and said they thought initially that it was a new song by Chicago.[92][100] By February of that year, however, he had achieved enough recognition as a solo performer to win theAmerican Video Award for "best new artist".[101][102]
"Glory of Love" was included on Cetera's second solo album,Solitude/Solitaire, released in 1986. The album was also successful, with more than one million copies sold, and has been certified Gold and Platinum by theRIAA.[103] It produced another number one hit single on both theBillboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts, "The Next Time I Fall", a duet withAmy Grant.[7][95][6] "The Next Time I Fall" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.[11]Solitude/Solitaire, which made it to number twenty-three on theBillboard 200 chart,[104] outsoldChicago 18, the firstChicago album without him, which peaked at number thirty-five.[75] Cetera was listed at number nine onBillboard's Top Pop Singles Artists—Male of 1986.[105]
In 1988, he teamed up with producerPatrick Leonard and released his third solo album,One More Story.[37] Cetera and Leonard share writing credits on eight of the ten songs on the album, including the title song and the song "One Good Woman",[37] which became a number four hit single.[106] Leonard also played piano and synthesizers on the album.[37] The album features many well-known music artists, such asRichard Sterban ofthe Oak Ridge Boys on backup vocals;Bonnie Raitt on guitar and backup vocals on the song "Save Me";[37]David Gilmour ofPink Floyd on guitar on the songs "Body Language" and "You Never Listen to Me";[37] andMadonna, who was working with Leonard on her new album at the time, in cameo as 'Lulu Smith' on vocals on the song "Scheherazade".[107][108] "Save Me", co-written by Cetera andDavid Foster,[37] was the original opening theme music for the TV showBaywatch.[109][110] "You Never Listen to Me" plays during the opening scene of theMiami Vice episode "Redemption in Blood: Part 2",[111] though it is not credited.[112]
In 1989, Cetera recorded another duet, this time withCher, called "After All",[47] which was included on the soundtrack of the movieChances Are, as well as on Cher'sHeart of Stone album. The song was a hit, reaching number six on the USBillboard Hot 100 chart[113][114] and receiving a Gold certification by theRIAA.[103] In a 2014 article inBillboard, writer Keith Caulfield listed "After All" as Cher's ninth-biggestBillboard hit.[114]
In 1990, a song by Cetera titled "No Explanation" was featured in the soundtrack for the popular filmPretty Woman.[115][116]
In 1991 Cetera co-wrote (with David Foster and Linda Thompson) and sang on "Voices That Care", a song and supporting documentary music video intended to help boost the morale of American troops involved in Operation Desert Storm, as well as to support the International Red Cross organization.[117] The single reached number eleven on theBillboard Hot 100[118] and number six on theBillboard Adult Contemporary chart.[119]
In 1992, Cetera's final album onWarner Bros. Records,World Falling Down, was released. It featured the Adult Contemporary number one hit "Restless Heart",[120] as well as two other successful singles: "Even a Fool Can See", and another duet, this time withChaka Khan, "Feels Like Heaven". The songs made it to number three[120] and number five[121][122] on the Adult Contemporary chart respectively. "Restless Heart" again won ASCAP honors for Cetera in the category Most-Performed Songs.[123] According to writer Melinda Newman,World Falling Down "lyrically describes the crumbling of his marriage."[124]
In 1995, Cetera released his first album for River North Records,One Clear Voice, which featured the single "(I Wanna Take) Forever Tonight", a duet with actressCrystal Bernard, which peaked at number twenty-three on the Adult Contemporary chart,[125] and number eighty-six on the Hot 100 chart.[126][127] Following the release of the album, Cetera launched his first solo tour—accompanied by his River North labelmate, country singerRonna Reeves—lasting into 1996.[128][129] The tour had been delayed while Cetera recuperated from a motorcycle accident.[91][128]
1997 broughtYou're the Inspiration: A Collection, a collection of all his duets from over the years, along with three re-recorded songs he had written while a member of Chicago—"If You Leave Me Now", "You're the Inspiration", and "Baby, What a Big Surprise"—plus two brand-new recordings, "Do You Love Me That Much" and "She Doesn't Need Me Anymore".[39] In a 1997 interview, Cetera said he had to remake the three Chicago songs because Chicago band members refused to release the master recordings for River North Records to use for this album. Although Cetera was at first reluctant to revisit his Chicago material, he soon had a change of heart and said, "I viewed them as what I would do with the songs if they were new today."[130] Additionally, this was the first of Cetera's solo albums to feature "After All", his 1989 duet withCher from the soundtrack of the movieChances Are.[39]
Also in the 1990s, Cetera recordedcovers of two of his songs from his Chicago days with theR&B vocal groupAz Yet. In 1996, Cetera performed a back-up vocal on Az Yet's single of "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" fromChicago 16, titled "Az Yet – Hard to Say I'm Sorry (Featuring Peter Cetera)."[131] The song was nominated, once again, for a Grammy Award, this time in the category of Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.[77] In 1997, Az Yet performed vocals with Cetera on his single of "You're the Inspiration", fromChicago 17, titled "'You're the Inspiration' – Peter Cetera featuring Az Yet",[130][132][133] and they appeared together in a music video featuring the song.[134]
In 2002, Cetera performed a medley of four of his songs at the Concert for WorldChildren's Day, backed byDavid Foster and an orchestra atArie Crown Theater in Chicago.[28][135] The concert aired onPBS and was released in DVD format.[136] This led to his subsequent appearance, in October 2003, with the Chicago Pops Orchestra on the PBS music programSoundstage, which was broadcast throughout the U.S.Amy Grant appeared on the program as a special guest.[137][138][139] The program was released on DVD.[140]
From 2003 until summer 2007, Cetera performed a limited number of concerts each year with a 40-piece orchestra, playing re-arrangements of songs from throughout his career, including several from his tenure as a member of Chicago.[43][141]
In December 2007, Cetera embarked on theYou Just Gotta Love Christmas tour of the United States. It marked a return to a traditional rock band show, his first since 1996, featuring songs from his 2004 Christmas album and from throughout his career.[146]
He sang live with theCleveland Pops Orchestra forSmucker's Presents Hot Ice, Cool Sounds, an event featuring world-class ice skaters performing to the music of Peter Cetera. The show was taped on October 18, 2008, inYoungstown, Ohio, and televised nationally byNBC on December 25, 2008.[147][148][149]
Cetera formed a new band called the Bad Daddies – a seven-piece electric rock band which performed original material and covers of popular songs, as well as material from Chicago and Cetera's solo career. Cetera played bass on some songs during the shows.[43][152][153]
In 2017, Cetera was a co-headliner forNight of the Proms in Germany and Luxembourg,[154] his first time performing in Germany in 35 years.[155]
In autumn 2018 Cetera returned to Europe. In October and November, he performed in London,[156] Dublin,[157][158] Randers (Denmark),[159][160] Frankfurt,[161] Hamburg and Berlin.[162] Cetera was scheduled to perform in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, on November 9,[163] but according to a September 4, 2018 post on the WeRock.bg website, the show was cancelled.[164]
During interviews, Cetera has often been asked about the prospect of a reunion with Chicago. While Cetera has compared his departure from the band to the divorce of a married couple,[165] and thus far has declined to perform with the band despite attractive financial offers,[166] he has also said "never say never."[167]
In December 2015, it was announced that the seven original members of Chicago – Cetera,Robert Lamm,Lee Loughnane,Walter Parazaider,James Pankow,Danny Seraphine, andTerry Kath – were to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the induction ceremony was set for April 8, 2016, at the Barclays Center inBrooklyn, New York.[168][169] Initially Cetera and current band members entertained the possibility of performing together for the induction ceremony.[166][170][171] Ultimately, Cetera decided against it. He announced his decision via two posts to his web site, dated February 8[172] and February 25, 2016,[173] and in those posts expressed his frustration with trying to work out the performance details with band members and show producers.[174] Cetera did not attend the ceremony even to accept his award.[175][176][177] Since then there have been indications that a reunion between him and Chicago is unlikely ever to happen.[178][179][180] Cetera declined to be interviewed for the 2017 documentaryNow More Than Ever: The History of Chicago and the band's episode ofVH1's Behind the Music; he also refused the latter show's request to use the songs he wrote while he was in Chicago.[181][182][183] He did, however, appear in the documentaryThe Terry Kath Experience, along with the other surviving members of the original Chicago line-up and producer James William Guercio.[184]
In a podcast interview withMark Pattison from November 2019, Cetera said he was "done." He explained that he had long wanted to quit performing before he lost his voice, and also cited the amount of travel involved in touring. He continued that he now had to "learn how to be an out-of-work singer." His last live performance was November 23, 2018, for the opening of the Argyros Performing Arts Center in Ketchum, Idaho.[185][186][187][188]
Cetera's tenor voice has been labeled "distinctive"[43] and "unmistakable"[143] by music reviewers. In 2018 on theAXS TV showTop 10 Revealed, he was rated number nine of the show's top ten "high note hitters".[189]
Cetera's trademark singing style developed as a result of his having to sing for a period of time with a wired-shut jaw after getting into a brawl at aLos Angeles Dodgers game in 1969.[24]: 107–108 [58][190][191][192]
In 2009 an interviewer noted that Cetera had been around for four decades, called him "one of the most enduring singers around", and asked him how he takes care of his voice. Cetera responded: "'I don't smoke and I don't drink. I try to exercise as much as I can. I do warm-up vocal exercises regularly.'"[41]
For Cetera, recording the vocals with members ofthe Beach Boys for "Wishing You Were Here" fromChicago VII was satisfying on a personal level, according to William James Ruhlmann. He writes that Cetera said, "There's two people that I always wanted to be, and that was aBeatle or a Beach Boy. …I got to do the background harmonies – myself andCarl Wilson,Dennis Wilson andAl Jardine. For a night, I was a Beach Boy."[59] Cetera had the opportunity, of sorts, to be both a Beatle and a Beach Boy. During a radio interview in 2015, he recalled as one of the highlights of his life a joint concert of Chicago and the Beach Boys when the two groups, who were performing on stage together, were joined by former Beatles drummerRingo Starr for a rendition of the Beatles song "Got to Get You into My Life".[193]
Cetera's former Chicago bandmates had high regard for his voice and singing ability. In his autobiographical book,Street Player: My Chicago Story, Danny Seraphine, the original drummer for the band Chicago, recollects that when the group was being formed in the city of Chicago in the 1960s it needed someone who could sing in the high range. Seraphine says Cetera was, at that time, "the best singer in the city".[24]: 58–59 In a 1992 interview, seven years after Cetera had left the group, original band member and woodwinds player Walter Parazaider called Cetera "one of the finest singers in the world" and rated Cetera among his choice of top five singers.[194] In a 2009 interview, former Chicago memberBill Champlin said of Cetera, "I think he's one of the major voices of our time," and that he believed Cetera was one of "maybe the two best tenors on the Earth."[195] In a 2016 documentary about the history of the group, original band member and keyboard player Robert Lamm says, "There were and are a lot of tenor voices in rock and none of them sound like Cetera."[196] In a 2022 interview, Lamm again lauded Cetera as having been an "amazing vocalist" when he was with Chicago.[197]
Cetera's popularity as a singer in the United States is indicated by the chart successes of songs featuring him on lead vocals. Cetera sang lead vocal on Chicago's first two number one songs on theBillboard Hot 100 chart, "If You Leave Me Now" in 1975,[16] and "Hard to Say I’m Sorry" in 1982.[17] In 1986 he had two more number one songs, "Glory of Love" and "Next Time I Fall", both from his first solo album after leaving the group,Solitude/Solitaire.[6] He sang lead vocal or shared lead vocal on eleven of Chicago's sixteen songs that made it to the top ten on theBillboard Hot 100 chart during the years he was a band member.[198] Cetera has often been dubbed "the voice of Chicago" by writers.[29][199][200][201][202][203]
Although Cetera has not gotten a song on theBillboard charts since the 1990s, songs he performed as a member of Chicago and as a solo act continue to pop up in the soundtracks of movies, television programs and commercials and live stage plays. Cetera's composition from the 1976 albumChicago X, "If You Leave Me Now", has appeared in the moviesThree Kings (1999),[204]Shaun of the Dead (2004),[205]A Lot like Love (2005),[206]Happy Feet (2006)[207][208] andDaddy's Home 2 (2017); the television seriesSex and the City[209] andSouth Park;[210] and a television commercial that aired during the 2000Super Bowl.[211] Robert Lamm's song from the 1970 albumChicago II, "25 or 6 to 4", which was sung by Cetera, was used in the 2017 filmI, Tonya,[212][213] and on the animated TV seriesKing of the Hill.[214][215] Cetera's number one 1986 song as a solo performer, "Glory of Love", was performed as the finale in the stage showRiot, in 2018 inSydney,[216] and was used in a 2019 episode of theNBC television seriesGood Girls.[217][218] Chicago's 1984 version of the Cetera/Foster song "You're the Inspiration", which is sung by Cetera, was used for the soundtracks of the moviesA Hologram for the King[219] andDeadpool (both 2016);[220] a 2017 Super Bowl commercial;[221] and the television seriesIt's Always Sunny in Philadelphia[222] andCriminal Minds.[223] Cetera's music and name have been featured on several episodes of the American television situation comedy seriesThe Goldbergs (2013–2023),[224] set in the 1980s.[225][226][227] In 2010, not only was Cetera's music heard during a television commercial forHeineken Premium Light beer but Cetera himself was the subject of discussion. A young man at an assisted-living home holds up a copy of theWorld Falling Down LP cover and asks one of the residents why he likes Cetera. The older resident replies that he does not like Cetera but the ladies do "and if you love the ladies, by default, you love Cetera." Cetera's song "Restless Heart" from theWorld Falling Down album is heard playing in the background.[228][229][230] In 2022 "Restless Heart", a love song, was used in the Hulu film,Fresh, as a counterpoint to the horror being depicted in the scene.[231][232][233][234] Two songs sung by Cetera, "Glory of Love", and his duet with Cher, "After All", made it on toPandora's list of "Most-Thumbed Movie Songs Playlist" in 2020.[235]
Radio personality Doc Reno wrote in 2024, "Peter Cetera may actually be the king of love songs." The Chicago song, "Hard Habit to Break", in Reno's opinion, "best exemplifies Cetera's pure vocal star power... better than any of his other power ballads."[244]
Cetera, a mainly self-taught musician who started playing bass guitar during his teenage years, has said he's not the most "knowledgeable" bass player, that he doesn't "really" read music, and that his knowledge of chords "[doesn't] go much past 'Is it major or minor?'"[27] He citesJames Jamerson,Paul McCartney andAndy Fraser among his bass influences and says that he was aware ofJohn Entwistle andJack Bruce.[27] Writing forBass Player magazine, Stevie Glasgow says, "Peter Cetera's bass (and vocals) were key to Chicago's sound. His tasty 4-string style was forged through a deep knowledge of early rock & roll and R&B, bolstered by a keen melodic sense, astute rhythmic prowess, and a dexterous technique capable of issuing graded nuance and ferventoomph in equal measure."[245]Jeff Coffey, Chicago's bassist and vocalist from 2016 to 2018, gained a new respect for Cetera's bass lines when he joined the band.[246]
Cetera's first bass guitar was aDanelectro Shorthorn. He switched to aHöfner 500/1 to use with the Exceptions. When the Höfner sound was deemed not "bassy or ballsy" enough for Chicago, he replaced it with a 1963Fender Precision Bass. The Fender became his favorite and it was his usual choice of instrument throughout his 17-year tenure with the band.[27][247]
He currently endorses Wilkins basses,[43][248] as well asFender Precision Basses and Taurus bass amplification.[249] He is a longtime user of LaBella flatwound bass strings. He briefly switched to the LaBella roundwound strings for a time, but was not satisfied with them and returned to flatwounds. He also uses Fender medium picks.[247]
Cetera received high praise for his bass playing during his years with Chicago. In his review of a 1969 Chicago concert at theUniversity of Hartford, Ken Cruickshank wrote, "Their bass player, Peter Cetera, is perhaps the fastest and finest I've heard."[250] Reviewing a 1972 live Chicago show at theGreek Theater in Los Angeles, Henry Mendoza, writing for theSan Bernardino Sun-Telegram, labeled Cetera's bass work "superb" and said Cetera "emerged as one of rock's finest bassists."[251] After a 1973 performance atMiddle Tennessee State University, writer Mike West reported his view of Cetera as more singer than bass player had changed, "His bass work was great, driving to peaks of soul sound."[252] Writer Brown Burnett called Cetera's bass playing "excellent" in his review of Cetera's first solo album,Peter Cetera (1981).[253] In a 2018 review writer Bob Helme said Cetera's bass playing on the song "Hot Streets" is "astounding" and called Cetera "an amazing bassist".[254] In a 2019 article about the recording of the song, "25 or 6 to 4", Matt Hurwitz calls Cetera, "a remarkable bass player."[255]
Cetera was featured in the cover story of the December 2007 issue ofBass Player magazine.[27][256] Shortly thereafter, he saw former Arkansas governorMike Huckabee playing bass guitar on television. Cetera sent his compliments, along with an autographed copy of the issue, to Huckabee, who was at that time a presidential hopeful in the2008 Republican primaries. Huckabee said, "I was totally awestruck to get a letter from Peter Cetera. ...having one of the greatest bass players in my generation give me a compliment is like winningNew Hampshire."[257]
Bass playerWill Lee says Peter Cetera influenced his playing, likening Cetera's playing to "a looseMcCartney, but with all that Chi-town funk, and just as much taste and melodicism."[245]
Songs written by Cetera have received popular success. During his years with Chicago nine songs that were written or co-written by Cetera made it into the top twenty on theBillboard Hot 100, and two of them were Chicago's only number one hit songs up to then, "If You Leave Me Now" and "Hard to Say I'm Sorry".[198] As a solo artist he wrote or co-wrote six songs that made it into theBillboard Hot 100, with one, "Glory of Love" making it to number one and "One Good Woman" making it to number four.[260]
Cetera has gained recognition for his songwriting in professional music circles. He is a member of theAmerican Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and as a songwriter he has won ASCAP honors in the category "Most Performed Songs" for "Hard to Say I'm Sorry",[80] "Love Me Tomorrow",[80] "You're the Inspiration",[89] "Glory of Love",[10] and "Restless Heart".[123] According to the websiteSecondHandSongs, "If You Leave Me Now" was covered by nearly one hundred different recording artists from around the world between 1976 and 2018,[261] not including the duet version Cetera recorded with Italian vocalistFilippa Giordano for her 2018 album,Friends and Legends Duets.[262][263] On February 22, 2017, it was announced that Cetera, Robert Lamm and James Pankow were among the 2017Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees for their work as members of the music group Chicago.[20][21] (Cetera did not attend the induction event, held Thursday, June 15, 2017, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.)[20][264] In a 1986 interview, David Foster said of Cetera, "He's the best writing partner I've ever had."[265]
About the process of writing songs, Cetera has said, "I'm like the very bad student who only studies the day before a test! I only tend to write songs when I have a purpose – I need to know that I'm going to do a new album, and then I would start writing. There are not a lot of Peter Cetera songs lying around, because I don't really write a lot of things when I'm not expected to do an album!"[266]
According to William James Ruhlmann, in 1969 the Moon landing,Walter Cronkite and convalescence after having his jaw broken provided Cetera with the right mix of inspiration and available time for him to write his first song with Chicago, "Where Do We Go from Here?", which was included on Chicago's second album. Until that time he did not perceive himself as a songwriter, telling Ruhlmann, "I came from a band that did Top 40 [the Exceptions], …and as far as I was concerned, especially when the Beatles came along, number one, all melodies had already been taken, and, number two, certain people were songwriters and certain people were singers, and I didn't consider myself to be a songwriter."[58]
Cetera also tells Ruhlmann that songs can come to people in "flashes", but without a recording device at hand they're apt to "disappear just exactly the way they come, into thin air." He says about the song "Happy Man", fromChicago VII: "[It] was a song I wrote about midnight driving down the San Diego Freeway on my motorcycle, ...It was the one and only song that I ever remembered, words and music, and I went home and sang it into a tape a day later, and that's how that song came out."[59]
Cetera produced the albumI Stand Alone by Swedish singer andABBA memberAgnetha Fältskog. It was released in November 1987,[269] and reached number one on Swedish charts.[270] Cetera also appears as a singer and composer on the album. The album featured a duet between Cetera and Fältskog, "I Wasn't the One (Who Said Goodbye)",[271] and he andBruce Gaitsch co-wrote the title track, "I Stand Alone".[272] Gaitsch is also the album's co-producer, and Cetera's brother, Kenny Cetera, appears on background vocals.[272]
Three years after country singerRonna Reeves sang a duet with Cetera on his 1995 album,One Clear Voice, Cetera produced Reeves' 1998 album,Day 14.[129] Reeves and Cetera were labelmates on River North Records,[129] and she had accompanied him during his first solo tour in 1995–96.[128]
In 1969, Cetera suffered serious injuries when he was assaulted while attending a baseball game atDodger Stadium with several bandmates. According to Cetera, four Marines took exception to a "long-haired rock 'n' roller" rooting for theChicago Cubs. He suffered a broken jaw in the attack, spent two days in intensive care and had his jaw wired shut for several months.[275]
In July 1995, just as he was preparing for his first tour as a solo artist, Cetera had a serious accident while riding hisHarley-Davidson motorcycle which resulted in 60 stitches in his face. His tour had to be postponed for several months while he recuperated.[91][128]
Cetera's first marriage was to Janice Sheely.[24]: 84 [276]
Cetera married Diane Nini in 1982 and their daughter was born in 1983.[92] Their marriage seemed to have been over by the time his album,World Falling Down, was released in July 1992, according to writer Melinda Newman.[124] Cetera and bandmateRobert Lamm were married to sisters Diane and Julie Nini, respectively.[277][278]
In 1997, Cetera had a second daughter with then-girlfriend and eventual wife years later Blythe Weber.[130] He met Weber while she was working at River North Records/Platinum Records.[279]
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^abCollins, D.M. (September 6, 2012)."TIM HEIDECKER: WHAT IS REAL AND FAKE".L.A. Record. YBX Media Inc.Archived from the original on January 4, 2017. RetrievedJanuary 4, 2017.On Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, you were able to get some real soft- rock veterans to appear as themselves. I was pretty enamoured of your 'Tairy Greene Machine' episode, in which both Richard Marx and Peter Cetera appeared to sing 'Little Dancing Man' songs. How did you get them, considering they were satirizing their own sound? We have a producer around when we're writing, and we try to get as much casting integration as possible, you know? Our producer went to them and made them the best offer that we could. They were nice guys! We want- ed Richard Marx to wear a wig because he doesn't have that big mane of hair anymore, but he refused.
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^"Chicago".classicbands.com.Archived from the original on February 4, 2016. RetrievedJanuary 29, 2016.Four marines didn't like a long-haired rock 'n' roller in a baseball park," Cetera recounts, "and of course I was a Cub fan, and I was in Dodger Stadium, and that didn't do so well. I got in a fight and got a broken jaw in three places, and I was in intensive care for a couple of days. The only funny thing I can think about the whole incident," he says, "is that, with my jaw wired together, I actually went on the road, and I was actually singing through my clenched jaw, which, to this day, is still the way I sing.
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