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\n\tRolling Stone\u2018s interview series <\/em>Last Man Standing<\/a> features long-form conversations between senior writer Andy Greene and musicians who are the last remaining members of iconic bands. In some cases, they are the only classic-era member in the current touring lineup. In others, they are the only ones still alive. In either case, the task of keeping the torch lit has fallen onto their shoulders, whether they wanted that responsibility or not.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tIn early 1967, 20-year-old trumpet player Lee Loughnane formed a band with his buddies at DePaul University. They initially called themselves the Big Thing, before changing it to the Chicago<\/a> Transit Authority, and ultimately just Chicago. Over the past six decades, they\u2019ve scored 20 Top 10 singles, 23 gold records, including an astounding five consecutive Number One albums, and they\u2019ve played more concerts than just about any other band in rock history. They\u2019ve also survived major musical shifts, internal battles, drug addictions, health setbacks, the senseless death<\/a> of a key member near the peak of their success, and more lineup changes than your typical NBA team.<\/p>\n \n\tToday, Loughnane is the last member of the original band still in the touring lineup, following the quiet retirements of singer-keyboardist Robert Lamm and trombone player James Pankow just last year. \u201cI always preferred being in the background, not having to put myself out in front and talk to the audience and do all that,\u201d he tells Rolling Stone<\/em> via Zoom during a short break from the road. \u201cI just sort of left that to the other guys. And now I don\u2019t have any choice. I\u2019ve got to be out there doing more things than I ever imagined that I would be doing. And I\u2019m enjoying it. You grow with whatever it is you need to do at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tLoughnane\u2019s roots as a trumpet player go back to his father playing the instrument in the Army Air Force during World War II, where he played with members of Tommy Dorsey\u2019s band, Jimmy Dorsey\u2019s, and Glenn Miller\u2019s when they were drafted. He passed his love of music, and his trumpet skills, down to his son.<\/p>\n