Terry Kath

At 31 years old, Terry Kath physical status not available right now. We will update Terry Kath's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

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

On several of the band's early hit singles, he sang lead vocals.

The band has lauded him for his guitar playing and Ray Charles' inspired vocal style. Katharina grew up in a musical family, playing drums and banjo as a youth.

He appeared in a variety of bands in the mid-1960s before settling on the guitar when forming the group that became Chicago.

His guitar playing was a vital piece of the group's sound from the start of their careers, and he performed on several of the group's singles.

He played several different guitars before deciding on the Fender Telecaster, which was equipped with a humbucker pickup and covered with numerous stickers.

Kath was also known to be Jimi Hendrix's favorite guitarist.

He died in January 1978 from an accidental gunshot wound to the head.

The bereavement compelled Chicago to consider disbanding, but they eventually decided to reopen as shown by their memorial song "Alive Again."

They released The Innovative Guitar of Terry Kath, a 1997 compilation to honor his musicianship.

Early life

Kath was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Raymond Elmer "Ray" (1912–2003) and Evelyn Meline Haugen (1916–1982) on January 31, 1946. Rod Kath, his older brother, had a younger brother. He was born in Chicago's Norwood Park neighborhood. He attended Taft High School.

His brother played the drums and his mother played the banjo, and Kath attempted to learn these instruments as well. He bought a guitar and amplifier in the ninth grade, and The Ventures, Johnny Smith, Dick Dale, and Howard Roberts were among his early influences. George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix later inspired him.

Kath was mainly self-taught and loved jamming unlike many other Chicago residents who received formal music instruction. In a 1971 interview with Guitar Player, he had attempted vocational lessons but decided against them, adding, "All I wanted to do was play those rock and roll chords." His dad wanted him to work, but he decided against a career in music.

Personal life and death

Kath had a history of heroin use, including alcohol. Seraphine knew Kath had a high tolerance for opioids, but later reminded him, "I'm going to get it under control... if I don't, this stuff is going to kill me." Danny Seraphine, a Chicago bandmate, has expressed concern about his increasing dissatisfaction with the music. Kath met Laudir de Oliveira the night before he died. De Oliveira gave him tea, and the two men spent the night in chat. Kath was finishing writing a solo album before he died, according to Guercio, and Pankow has adamantly denied that Kath was suicidal.

Kath loved target shootings and by 1978, she was routinely carrying weapons. About 5:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Monday, January 23, after a party at roadie and band technician Don Johnson's home in Woodland Hills, California, Kath began to play with his pistols. He pulled the trigger on his finger, pushed it to his temple, and pulled the trigger. Several times, Johnson warned Kath that she should be cautious. Kath bought a semi-automatic 9-mm pistol and told Johnson, "Don't be concerned about it." "What do you think I'm going to do?" said the narrator's last sentence.

Blow my brains out?"

Kath shared the empty magazine to calm Johnson's tremblings. Kath reloaded the magazine in the magazine, took the rifle to his temple, and pulled the trigger. According to reports, the weapon had fired in the chamber for the first time unknowingly. He died as a result of the gunshot within hours, eight days before his 32nd birthday.

Kath left his mother, Camelia Ortiz, and Michelle Kath, a 20-month-old girl (now Michelle Kath Sinclair). Kath had been married to Pamela Robinson from May 1970 to May 1975 (per California Public Records).

In the Gardens of Remembrance, Kath is laid to rest beside his mother, Evelyn Kath, and father, Raymond Kath.

The group's members were devastated over losing Kath and strongly considering disbanding, but Doc Severinsen, the group's musical director, was tempted to continue. Donnie Dacus came first, followed by Chris Pinnick, Dawayne Bailey, and Keith Howland. Lee Loughnane (trumpet) and Robert Lamm (keyboards), two original participants, have performed lead vocals at Chicago concerts, originally performed by Terry Kath.

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Career

Terry Kath performed with The Mystics, his first semi-professional band, in 1963, before transferring to Jimmy Rice and the Gentlemen in 1965. Jimmy Ford and the Executives, his bassist, played bass in a road band. Kath, who is considered to be the bandleader, influenced the band's musical direction. Walter Parazaider, the trumpeter, played saxophone and other wind instruments, and Danny Seraphine later became the drummer. As they established the rhythm section, Kath and Seraphine became close friends, as well as with Parazaider. The three musicians used to socialize outside of the band. They were fired from the company, which wanted to merge with another band, Little Artie and the Pharaohs, but guitarist Mike Sistack said, "it's just business."

Kath formed the Missing Links in 1966, carrying Parazaider and Seraphine with him, and started playing clubs and ballrooms in Chicago on a regular basis. Lee Loughnane, Parazaider's friend at DePaul University, played with the band from time to time. James William Guercio, Kath's compatriot who later became Chicago's chief engineer, was lead guitarist in one of two road bands on The Dick Clark Show with the Missing Links. Kath received an invitation from Guercio to play bass for the Illinois Speed Press and then move to Los Angeles, but he turned down the guitar as he considered it his primary instrument and wanted to sing lead. Instead, he stayed with Parazaider, Seraphine, and Loughnane, who recruited trombonist James Pankow from De Paul and keyboardist Robert Lamm. Kath sang in a manner reminiscent of Ray Charles. The group gathered at Parazaider's basement and changed its name to The Big Thing. The band Chicago Transit Authority was renamed after singer and bassist Peter Cetera of The Exceptions' arrival in Los Angeles and signed with Columbia Records, renaming the group Chicago Transit Authority. The Chicago Transit Authority objected to the band's use of the word in mid-1969, but the band's name was shortened to Chicago.

Kath was regarded as Chicago's best soloist and singer; his vocal, jazz, and hard rock influences were regarded as essential to the band's early success. He has been praised for his guitar abilities and has been dubbed by rock author Corbin Reiff as "one of the most criminally underrated guitarists to have ever set a finger to fretboard." Kath could sing lead vocals and play lead and rhythm guitar simultaneously, according to Loughnane.

Kath's piece "Introduction," which was later Chicago guitarist Dawayne Bailey's "Terry's masterpiece" on the group's first album, Chicago Transit Authority, was released in 1969. The album features a number of musical styles, including jazz, blues, salsa, rock and roll, acid rock, and pop. The Stratocaster's tremolo arm was used on the same debut album as an instrumental guitar piece titled "Free Form Guitar," largely due to feedback and heavy use of the Stratocaster's tremolo arm. According to the album liner notes, the nearly seven-minute piece was recorded live in the studio in a single take, with only a Fender Dual Showman amplifier pre-amped with a Bogen Challenger P.A. amp. The guitar's neck was secured by a radiator hose clamp. Kath's album "Beginnings" features an acoustic rhythm guitar.

Kath contributed an extended guitar solo on "25 or 4", the group's second album, which became a live favorite. Kath performed on the lead vocal on the four-part suite "Memories of Love" on the same album as orchestral arranger Peter Matz.

During his lifetime, Kath wrote at least one song and contributed at least one lead vocal to every Chicago album ever released. Though the Chicago X, the nation's highest-one hit, "If You Leave Me Now," Kath's "Once or Twice" revealed that he was still writing and recording rock music in 1976. On the following year's Chicago XI, he maintained his style by contributing to the funky "Mississippi Delta City Blues" and the sassy "Takin' It on Uptown," which counterbalanced some of the stuff that other members were producing.

The band composed and released the song "Alive Again" on its first album without him after his death to celebrate Kath and to celebrate the resuming of Chicago. "Feel the Spirit" was released later in Kath's honor, and the group later released the song "In Honor of" in Kath's honour.

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