Peter Cetera

An original member of the pop-rock band Chicago, Peter Cetera later established himself as a solo artist with three Top 10 US hits, two of which went to No. 1. • In 1967, Cetera was playing bass and singing with some high school friends in a local Chicago cover band, The Exceptions, when he was invited to join a more established act, The Big Thing. His new group soon moved to Los Angeles and changed their name to Chicago Transit Authority, later shortened to Chicago. • During Cetera’s tenure in Chicago from 1967 to 1985, the group released 14 studio LPs and notched five consecutive No. 1 albums and 21 Top 10 singles. The band has sold more than 38 million albums in the US. • Though Cetera released a self-titled solo album in 1981, he didn’t fully strike out on his own until after 1984’s Chicago 17, the band’s best-selling album to date. Cetera sang all four singles from the album, two of which—“You’re the Inspiration” and “Hard Habit to Break”—peaked at No. 3. • Cetera had a huge solo hit in 1986 when his single “Glory of Love” appeared on the soundtrack to the movie The Karate Kid Part II. The song spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earned Cetera nominations for an Oscar and a Golden Globe (“Take My Breath Away,” from Top Gun, won both), as well as a Grammy. • His next single, a duet with Amy Grant called “The Next Time I Fall,” also went to No. 1. Both “Glory of Love” and “The Next Time I Fall” came from Cetera’s 1986 LP Solitude/Solitaire. • “One Good Woman,” the first single from Cetera’s 1988 album One More Story, reached No. 4—Cetera’s last Top 10 hit on the Hot 100 chart. He continued to have success on the Adult Contemporary chart, including three Top 10 hits from his 1992 album World Falling Down. One of those singles, “Restless Heart,” reached No. 1. • Cetera hasn’t released a new album since 2004’s holiday LP You Just Gotta Love Christmas. He continued to perform, on his own and with a band called The Bad Daddies, until he announced his retirement in 2019.