Terry Kath

Terry Alan Kath (January 31, 1946 – January 23, 1978) was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter who is best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago.

He played lead guitar and sang lead vocals on many of the band's early hit singles alongside Robert Lamm and Peter Cetera.

He has been praised by his bandmates and other musicians for his guitar skills and his Ray Charles–influenced vocal style.

Jimi Hendrix cited Terry Kath as one of his favorite guitarists, and considered Kath to be "the best guitarist in the universe".

Growing up in a musical family, Kath took up a variety of instruments in his teens, including the drums and banjo.

Kath was born to Raymond Elmer "Ray" (1912–2003) and Evelyn Meline Haugen Kath (1916–1982) on Thursday, January 31, 1946, in Chicago, Illinois.

He had an older brother, Rod Kath, was raised in the Norwood Park neighborhood of Chicago, and attended Taft High School.

His brother played the drums and his mother played the banjo, and Kath attempted to learn these instruments too.

He acquired a guitar and amplifier when he was in the ninth grade, and his early influences included The Ventures, Johnny Smith, Dick Dale, and Howard Roberts.

He was later influenced by George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix.

Unlike several other Chicago members who received formal music training, Kath was mostly self-taught and enjoyed jamming.

He played bass in a number of bands in the mid-1960s, before settling on the guitar when forming the group that became Chicago.

His guitar playing was an important component of the group's sound from the start of their career.

He used a number of different guitars, but eventually became identified with a Fender Telecaster fitted with a single neck-position humbucker pickup combined with a bridge position angled single-coil pickup and decorated with numerous stickers.

Terry Kath joined his first semi-professional band, The Mystics, in 1963, moving to Jimmy Rice and the Gentlemen in 1965.

He then played bass in a road band called Jimmy Ford and the Executives.

Considered to be the bandleader, Kath guided the band's musical direction.

Ford was the trumpeter, Walter Parazaider played saxophone and other wind instruments, and Danny Seraphine later became the drummer.

Kath became close friends with Seraphine as they formed the rhythm section, as well as with Parazaider.

The three musicians regularly socialized outside of the band.

They were fired from the group, which wanted to merge with another band, Little Artie and the Pharaohs, while leader and guitarist Mike Sistack explained that "it's just business."

In 1966, Kath joined a cover band called the Missing Links, taking Parazaider and Seraphine with him, and started playing clubs and ballrooms in Chicago on a regular basis.

Parazaider's friend at De Paul University, trumpeter Lee Loughnane, also sat in with the band from time to time.

Kath's compatriot James William Guercio (who later became Chicago's producer) was lead guitarist in one of two road bands performing on The Dick Clark Show with the Missing Links.

Kath received an offer from Guercio to play bass for the Illinois Speed Press and move to Los Angeles, but declined as he considered the guitar his main instrument and wanted to sing lead.

He stayed with Parazaider, Seraphine, and Loughnane instead, who quickly recruited trombonist James Pankow from De Paul and vocalist/keyboardist Robert Lamm.

Kath sang the lower range of lead vocals in the group in a style reminiscent of Ray Charles.

The group practiced at Parazaider's parents' basement and changed its name to The Big Thing.

With the addition of singer and bassist Peter Cetera of The Exceptions, they moved to Los Angeles and signed with Columbia Records, renaming the band Chicago Transit Authority.

The real Chicago Transit Authority objected to the band's use of the name so in mid-1969 the name was shortened to Chicago.

Kath was regarded as Chicago's bandleader and best soloist; his vocal, jazz and hard rock influences are regarded as integral to the band's early sound.

He has been praised for his guitar skills and described by rock author Corbin Reiff as "one of the most criminally underrated guitarists to have ever set finger to fretboard".

According to Loughnane, Kath could sing a lead vocal and play lead and rhythm guitar simultaneously.

Kath struggled with health problems and drug abuse towards the end of the 1970s.

In a 1971 interview for Guitar Player, he said he had tried professional lessons but abandoned them, adding "All I wanted to do was play those rock and roll chords."

His father wanted him to have a steady career, but he decided he would prefer a career in music.

He died in January 1978 from an unintentional self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

The bereavement tempted Chicago to disband, but they ultimately decided to resume as is signified by their memorial song "Alive Again".

To commemorate his musicianship, they issued the 1997 album The Innovative Guitar of Terry Kath.

In 2016, Kath's daughter Michelle Sinclair released the documentary The Terry Kath Experience, which chronicles his life and Chicago's early years.