Peter Cetera (1967 \u2013 1985)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"CHICAGO](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/chicago-list-peter-cetera-1971-2.jpg?w=300\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: ABC Photo Archives\/Disney General Entertainment Content\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tEveryone who\u2019s ever sang \u201c25 or 6 to 4\u201d is trying to match Peter Cetera\u2019s renditions from the early days of Chicago. This is even true for Cetera himself much later in life, when his voice simply wasn\u2019t the same as it was in his youth. The vast majority of Chicago\u2019s early gigs are lost to time or available only on shoddy bootlegs, but a professional camera crew was rolling when they played the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Massachusetts, on July 21, 1970. Cetera is obviously very impressive here, but pay attention to guitarist Terry Kath as well. There\u2019s a reason why even Jimi Hendrix was in awe of this guy. And as hard as it was for the other singers to follow Cetera, the guitarists that followed Kath had a task just as challenging.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\nJason Scheff (1985 \u2013 2016)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"Robert](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
![\"Robert](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/chicago-list-jason-scheff.jpg?w=300\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Tim Mosenfelder\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tDespite Cetera\u2019s prominence in Chicago\u2019s MTV-era videos and the hits they cut with producer David Foster, this was a band built as a genuine collective without a leader or even a frontman. And so when Cetera bolted in 1985, there wasn\u2019t a thought of dissolving. They just did what they did after Terry Kath\u2019s tragic death in 1977 and brought in someone new. They initially considered Starship\u2019s Mickey Thomas, but wound up going with 23-year-old Jason Scheff because of his youthful enthusiasm, soaring voice, and skills as a bassist. It worked out pretty well since he sang lead on their 1986 hit \u201cWill You Still Love Me?\u201d By the time the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016, with Scheff out front singing \u201c25 or 6 to 4,\u201d it truly seemed like he was a Chicago lifer. He\u2019d been in the group for 31 years at that point, practically twice as long as Cetera lasted, and he\u2019d even participated in the interviews for their career-spanning documentary, Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago. <\/em>But the band announced he was leaving later in 2016 to deal with family issues. \u201cOne day he asked our manager if he could have some time off, and he asked him how much,\u201d Chicago trumpet player Lee Loughnane told Rolling Stone<\/em> earlier this year.<\/a> \u201cAnd he said three or four months. Three or four months? We got gigs booked. We can\u2019t do that. So we looked for somebody else, and Jason went his way and we went ours.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nJeff Coffey (2016 \u2013 2018)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"WEST](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/chicago-list-jeff-coffey.jpg?w=300\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Vivien Killilea\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tJust weeks after Chicago were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they played their first gig with new vocalist Jeff Coffey. \u201cMy whole take on the gig was to take Peter\u2019s bass and vocal inflections and approach,\u201d he told Something Else<\/em> in 2018. <\/a>\u201cI didn\u2019t realize how good a bass player he was until I started digging into the songs. That man was a wicked player. I took his approach on bass playing and his inflections, the way he would sing songs, because I heard comments that the vocals had taken a different approach phrase wise \u2014 so I wanted to get them back to the way they sound on record.\u201d He left the group in January 2018, two days after drummer Tris Imboden parted ways with the group as well. \u201cI left for various reasons,\u201d Coffey told writer Gary Games. <\/a>\u201cThe schedule is very demanding. Those guys tour a lot. It is in many ways very difficult to do anything else. That had something to do with it, but there are other reasons as well. Very good reasons. Some reasons better left un-said.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nNeil Donell (2018 \u2013 2026)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"SAN](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/chicago-list-Neil-Donell.jpg?w=300\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Daniel Knighton\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tRight after Coffey left Chicago for \u201creasons better left un-said,\u201d they signed up Canada-based singer Neil Donell. He was 62 at the time, but still had a truly remarkable voice. \u201cNeil\u2019s been with us for eight or nine years now,\u201d Loughnane told Rolling Stone<\/em> in April.<\/a> \u201cHe\u2019s got a great voice. Everybody in the band is world-class.\u201d The following month, Donell left the band. \u201cI tendered my resignation from the band Chicago on Saturday,\u201d he wrote on Facebook.<\/a> \u201cIt was just time to leave that very unhealthy environment.\u201d The words \u201cvery unhealthy environment\u201d led to much speculation in the Chicago fan community, and he eventually posted a follow-up. \u201cI was absolutely not terminated,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI was the one who pulled the plug. But now, as the dust settles, it\u2019s very important to me that people are made aware that there is absolutely no animosity on my part, none whatsoever.\u201d Later still, when asked for elaboration by fans on Facebook, he wrote<\/a>, \u201ccertain behaviors I witnessed and experienced behind the scenes made the decision rather easy actually. There is a culture that exists behind the curtains so-to-speak that possess a number of attributes consistent with \u2018arrested development,\u2019 that I never share nor embrace on any level\u2026troubling value systems inconsistent with my own.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nRudy Cardenas (2026 \u2013 Present)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"July](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/chicago-list-rudy-cardenas.jpg?w=300\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Ron Elkman\/IMAGN\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tChicago always has a very busy touring schedule, and it didn\u2019t take them long to bring Rudy Cardenas into the \u201cvery unhealthy environment\u201d that Donell left with \u201cabsolutely no animosity.\u201d He\u2019s been there for the last couple of months, and he sings the shit out of \u201c25 or 6 to 4\u201d every single night. At this point, however, the only remaining OG member of Chicago is Loughnane. One could argue that former Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine\u2019s group California Transit Authority is just as legit since they also have just one founding member. If you wanna see them play \u201c25 or 6 to 4,\u201d head here.<\/a> That\u2019s Travis Davis on lead vocals. If Cardenas ever leaves Chicago, maybe they should give him a call.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nBonus Video 1: The 1986 Remix<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"MOUNTAIN](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/chicago-list-1986-remix.jpg?w=300\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Tim Mosenfelder\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tShortly after Jason Scheff joined the band for 1986\u2019s Chicago 18,<\/em> the group made the somewhat baffling decision to record a new version of \u201c25 or 6 to 4\u201d with producer David Foster. Scheff does his best Cetera impression, but nobody in 1986 was dreaming of a slick, slow \u201c25 or 6 to 4.\u201d It peaked at No. 48 on the Hot 100, and was quickly forgotten.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nBonus Video 2: Lee DeWyze on \u2018American Idol\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"AUBURN](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/chicago-list-lee-dewyze.jpg?w=300\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Bill Pugliano\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tRemember Lee DeWyze? He won the ninth season of American Idol.<\/em> That was the weird, one-off season in 2010 where Ellen DeGeneres was a judge. During the finale, DeWyze played \u201cDoes Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?,\u201d \u201cIf You Leave Me Now,\u201d and, of course, \u201c25 or 6 to 4\u201d with Chicago. A year earlier, Adam Lambert secured a very long and lucrative gig with Queen after playing with them on Idol<\/em>. DeWyze has yet to join Chicago, but who knows what the future holds?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nBonus Video 3: Earth, Wind & Fire\u2019s Philip Bailey<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"NEW](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/chicago-and-EWF.jpg?w=300\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Debra L Rothenberg\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tAs we explained last month,<\/a> the parallels between Chicago and Earth, Wind, & Fire are pretty eerie. They\u2019ve also toured together many times over the past two decades since there\u2019s so much audience overlap, and they have trouble filling large amphitheaters on their own. The shows often end with a giant mashup of the two groups, and songs from both catalogs. As always, they wrap up the night with \u201c25 or 6 to 4.\u201d EWF lead singer Philip Bailey has duetted with several Chicago singers on it, and it\u2019s always fantastic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nBonus Video 4: Jason Scheff & Jeff Coffey Unite<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"Bonus](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/chicago-list-scheff-and-coffey.jpg?w=300\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Scott Dudelson\/Getty Images; William Thomas Cain\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tJason Scheff left Chicago 10 years ago, but that doesn\u2019t mean he stopped playing the songs. He was part of a crazy tour in 2019 where he joined forces with Todd Rundgren, Micky Dolenz, Christopher Cross, and Badfinger\u2019s Joey Molland that was centered around songs from the Beatles\u2019 White Album<\/em> and their own careers \u2014 including \u201c25 or 6 to 4.\u201d And in 2020, he teamed up with Jeff Coffey to play the song on the 70s Rock and Romance Cruise. This was a very rare union of two Chicago singers on the same stage, and thankfully it was captured on video.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nBonus Video 5: Peter Cetera Solo<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"HOLLYWOOD,](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/chicago-list-peter-cetera-2014.jpg?w=300\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Mathew Imaging\/WireImage\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tPeter Cetera hasn\u2019t played with Chicago a single time since they split in 1985. The closest they came was 2016 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame together. But Cetera wanted them to lower \u201c25 or 6 to 4\u201d into a different key to accommodate his decreased vocal range. \u201cHe wanted to drop it down from A to E,\u201d Robert Lamm told Rolling Stone<\/em>.<\/a> \u201cSo it\u2019s a big jump. And normally, if it\u2019s just a four-piece band you can do it, but with horns, you got to transfer those\u2026 It\u2019s not something that we wanted to do for a one-off.\u201d In the end, Cetera didn\u2019t even attend the ceremony, let alone play with the band. And two years later, he retired from the road as a solo performer. He\u2019s been largely AWOL ever since. But if you want an idea of what \u201c25 or 6 to 4\u201d sounds like dropped down several keys, check out this video from one of his solo gigs in 2017. It\u2019s great seeing Cetera tackle one of his signature tunes, but without horns and in that lower key, it\u2026doesn\u2019t quite<\/em> work. Let\u2019s just leave it there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n\tEveryone who\u2019s ever sang \u201c25 or 6 to 4\u201d is trying to match Peter Cetera\u2019s renditions from the early days of Chicago. This is even true for Cetera himself much later in life, when his voice simply wasn\u2019t the same as it was in his youth. The vast majority of Chicago\u2019s early gigs are lost to time or available only on shoddy bootlegs, but a professional camera crew was rolling when they played the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Massachusetts, on July 21, 1970. Cetera is obviously very impressive here, but pay attention to guitarist Terry Kath as well. There\u2019s a reason why even Jimi Hendrix was in awe of this guy. And as hard as it was for the other singers to follow Cetera, the guitarists that followed Kath had a task just as challenging.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n
Jason Scheff (1985 \u2013 2016)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Tim Mosenfelder\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tDespite Cetera\u2019s prominence in Chicago\u2019s MTV-era videos and the hits they cut with producer David Foster, this was a band built as a genuine collective without a leader or even a frontman. And so when Cetera bolted in 1985, there wasn\u2019t a thought of dissolving. They just did what they did after Terry Kath\u2019s tragic death in 1977 and brought in someone new. They initially considered Starship\u2019s Mickey Thomas, but wound up going with 23-year-old Jason Scheff because of his youthful enthusiasm, soaring voice, and skills as a bassist. It worked out pretty well since he sang lead on their 1986 hit \u201cWill You Still Love Me?\u201d By the time the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016, with Scheff out front singing \u201c25 or 6 to 4,\u201d it truly seemed like he was a Chicago lifer. He\u2019d been in the group for 31 years at that point, practically twice as long as Cetera lasted, and he\u2019d even participated in the interviews for their career-spanning documentary, Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago. <\/em>But the band announced he was leaving later in 2016 to deal with family issues. \u201cOne day he asked our manager if he could have some time off, and he asked him how much,\u201d Chicago trumpet player Lee Loughnane told Rolling Stone<\/em> earlier this year.<\/a> \u201cAnd he said three or four months. Three or four months? We got gigs booked. We can\u2019t do that. So we looked for somebody else, and Jason went his way and we went ours.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nJeff Coffey (2016 \u2013 2018)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Vivien Killilea\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tJust weeks after Chicago were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they played their first gig with new vocalist Jeff Coffey. \u201cMy whole take on the gig was to take Peter\u2019s bass and vocal inflections and approach,\u201d he told Something Else<\/em> in 2018. <\/a>\u201cI didn\u2019t realize how good a bass player he was until I started digging into the songs. That man was a wicked player. I took his approach on bass playing and his inflections, the way he would sing songs, because I heard comments that the vocals had taken a different approach phrase wise \u2014 so I wanted to get them back to the way they sound on record.\u201d He left the group in January 2018, two days after drummer Tris Imboden parted ways with the group as well. \u201cI left for various reasons,\u201d Coffey told writer Gary Games. <\/a>\u201cThe schedule is very demanding. Those guys tour a lot. It is in many ways very difficult to do anything else. That had something to do with it, but there are other reasons as well. Very good reasons. Some reasons better left un-said.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nNeil Donell (2018 \u2013 2026)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Daniel Knighton\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tRight after Coffey left Chicago for \u201creasons better left un-said,\u201d they signed up Canada-based singer Neil Donell. He was 62 at the time, but still had a truly remarkable voice. \u201cNeil\u2019s been with us for eight or nine years now,\u201d Loughnane told Rolling Stone<\/em> in April.<\/a> \u201cHe\u2019s got a great voice. Everybody in the band is world-class.\u201d The following month, Donell left the band. \u201cI tendered my resignation from the band Chicago on Saturday,\u201d he wrote on Facebook.<\/a> \u201cIt was just time to leave that very unhealthy environment.\u201d The words \u201cvery unhealthy environment\u201d led to much speculation in the Chicago fan community, and he eventually posted a follow-up. \u201cI was absolutely not terminated,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI was the one who pulled the plug. But now, as the dust settles, it\u2019s very important to me that people are made aware that there is absolutely no animosity on my part, none whatsoever.\u201d Later still, when asked for elaboration by fans on Facebook, he wrote<\/a>, \u201ccertain behaviors I witnessed and experienced behind the scenes made the decision rather easy actually. There is a culture that exists behind the curtains so-to-speak that possess a number of attributes consistent with \u2018arrested development,\u2019 that I never share nor embrace on any level\u2026troubling value systems inconsistent with my own.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nRudy Cardenas (2026 \u2013 Present)<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Ron Elkman\/IMAGN\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tChicago always has a very busy touring schedule, and it didn\u2019t take them long to bring Rudy Cardenas into the \u201cvery unhealthy environment\u201d that Donell left with \u201cabsolutely no animosity.\u201d He\u2019s been there for the last couple of months, and he sings the shit out of \u201c25 or 6 to 4\u201d every single night. At this point, however, the only remaining OG member of Chicago is Loughnane. One could argue that former Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine\u2019s group California Transit Authority is just as legit since they also have just one founding member. If you wanna see them play \u201c25 or 6 to 4,\u201d head here.<\/a> That\u2019s Travis Davis on lead vocals. If Cardenas ever leaves Chicago, maybe they should give him a call.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nBonus Video 1: The 1986 Remix<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Tim Mosenfelder\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tShortly after Jason Scheff joined the band for 1986\u2019s Chicago 18,<\/em> the group made the somewhat baffling decision to record a new version of \u201c25 or 6 to 4\u201d with producer David Foster. Scheff does his best Cetera impression, but nobody in 1986 was dreaming of a slick, slow \u201c25 or 6 to 4.\u201d It peaked at No. 48 on the Hot 100, and was quickly forgotten.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nBonus Video 2: Lee DeWyze on \u2018American Idol\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Bill Pugliano\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tRemember Lee DeWyze? He won the ninth season of American Idol.<\/em> That was the weird, one-off season in 2010 where Ellen DeGeneres was a judge. During the finale, DeWyze played \u201cDoes Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?,\u201d \u201cIf You Leave Me Now,\u201d and, of course, \u201c25 or 6 to 4\u201d with Chicago. A year earlier, Adam Lambert secured a very long and lucrative gig with Queen after playing with them on Idol<\/em>. DeWyze has yet to join Chicago, but who knows what the future holds?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nBonus Video 3: Earth, Wind & Fire\u2019s Philip Bailey<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Debra L Rothenberg\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tAs we explained last month,<\/a> the parallels between Chicago and Earth, Wind, & Fire are pretty eerie. They\u2019ve also toured together many times over the past two decades since there\u2019s so much audience overlap, and they have trouble filling large amphitheaters on their own. The shows often end with a giant mashup of the two groups, and songs from both catalogs. As always, they wrap up the night with \u201c25 or 6 to 4.\u201d EWF lead singer Philip Bailey has duetted with several Chicago singers on it, and it\u2019s always fantastic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nBonus Video 4: Jason Scheff & Jeff Coffey Unite<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Scott Dudelson\/Getty Images; William Thomas Cain\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tJason Scheff left Chicago 10 years ago, but that doesn\u2019t mean he stopped playing the songs. He was part of a crazy tour in 2019 where he joined forces with Todd Rundgren, Micky Dolenz, Christopher Cross, and Badfinger\u2019s Joey Molland that was centered around songs from the Beatles\u2019 White Album<\/em> and their own careers \u2014 including \u201c25 or 6 to 4.\u201d And in 2020, he teamed up with Jeff Coffey to play the song on the 70s Rock and Romance Cruise. This was a very rare union of two Chicago singers on the same stage, and thankfully it was captured on video.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n- \n
\nBonus Video 5: Peter Cetera Solo<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Mathew Imaging\/WireImage\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\n\tPeter Cetera hasn\u2019t played with Chicago a single time since they split in 1985. The closest they came was 2016 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame together. But Cetera wanted them to lower \u201c25 or 6 to 4\u201d into a different key to accommodate his decreased vocal range. \u201cHe wanted to drop it down from A to E,\u201d Robert Lamm told Rolling Stone<\/em>.<\/a> \u201cSo it\u2019s a big jump. And normally, if it\u2019s just a four-piece band you can do it, but with horns, you got to transfer those\u2026 It\u2019s not something that we wanted to do for a one-off.\u201d In the end, Cetera didn\u2019t even attend the ceremony, let alone play with the band. And two years later, he retired from the road as a solo performer. He\u2019s been largely AWOL ever since. But if you want an idea of what \u201c25 or 6 to 4\u201d sounds like dropped down several keys, check out this video from one of his solo gigs in 2017. It\u2019s great seeing Cetera tackle one of his signature tunes, but without horns and in that lower key, it\u2026doesn\u2019t quite<\/em> work. Let\u2019s just leave it there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\n\tDespite Cetera\u2019s prominence in Chicago\u2019s MTV-era videos and the hits they cut with producer David Foster, this was a band built as a genuine collective without a leader or even a frontman. And so when Cetera bolted in 1985, there wasn\u2019t a thought of dissolving. They just did what they did after Terry Kath\u2019s tragic death in 1977 and brought in someone new. They initially considered Starship\u2019s Mickey Thomas, but wound up going with 23-year-old Jason Scheff because of his youthful enthusiasm, soaring voice, and skills as a bassist. It worked out pretty well since he sang lead on their 1986 hit \u201cWill You Still Love Me?\u201d By the time the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016, with Scheff out front singing \u201c25 or 6 to 4,\u201d it truly seemed like he was a Chicago lifer. He\u2019d been in the group for 31 years at that point, practically twice as long as Cetera lasted, and he\u2019d even participated in the interviews for their career-spanning documentary, Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago. <\/em>But the band announced he was leaving later in 2016 to deal with family issues. \u201cOne day he asked our manager if he could have some time off, and he asked him how much,\u201d Chicago trumpet player Lee Loughnane told Rolling Stone<\/em> earlier this year.<\/a> \u201cAnd he said three or four months. Three or four months? We got gigs booked. We can\u2019t do that. So we looked for somebody else, and Jason went his way and we went ours.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n \t<\/p>\n \n\tJust weeks after Chicago were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they played their first gig with new vocalist Jeff Coffey. \u201cMy whole take on the gig was to take Peter\u2019s bass and vocal inflections and approach,\u201d he told Something Else<\/em> in 2018. <\/a>\u201cI didn\u2019t realize how good a bass player he was until I started digging into the songs. That man was a wicked player. I took his approach on bass playing and his inflections, the way he would sing songs, because I heard comments that the vocals had taken a different approach phrase wise \u2014 so I wanted to get them back to the way they sound on record.\u201d He left the group in January 2018, two days after drummer Tris Imboden parted ways with the group as well. \u201cI left for various reasons,\u201d Coffey told writer Gary Games. <\/a>\u201cThe schedule is very demanding. Those guys tour a lot. It is in many ways very difficult to do anything else. That had something to do with it, but there are other reasons as well. Very good reasons. Some reasons better left un-said.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n \t<\/p>\n \n\tRight after Coffey left Chicago for \u201creasons better left un-said,\u201d they signed up Canada-based singer Neil Donell. He was 62 at the time, but still had a truly remarkable voice. \u201cNeil\u2019s been with us for eight or nine years now,\u201d Loughnane told Rolling Stone<\/em> in April.<\/a> \u201cHe\u2019s got a great voice. Everybody in the band is world-class.\u201d The following month, Donell left the band. \u201cI tendered my resignation from the band Chicago on Saturday,\u201d he wrote on Facebook.<\/a> \u201cIt was just time to leave that very unhealthy environment.\u201d The words \u201cvery unhealthy environment\u201d led to much speculation in the Chicago fan community, and he eventually posted a follow-up. \u201cI was absolutely not terminated,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI was the one who pulled the plug. But now, as the dust settles, it\u2019s very important to me that people are made aware that there is absolutely no animosity on my part, none whatsoever.\u201d Later still, when asked for elaboration by fans on Facebook, he wrote<\/a>, \u201ccertain behaviors I witnessed and experienced behind the scenes made the decision rather easy actually. There is a culture that exists behind the curtains so-to-speak that possess a number of attributes consistent with \u2018arrested development,\u2019 that I never share nor embrace on any level\u2026troubling value systems inconsistent with my own.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n \t<\/p>\n \n\tChicago always has a very busy touring schedule, and it didn\u2019t take them long to bring Rudy Cardenas into the \u201cvery unhealthy environment\u201d that Donell left with \u201cabsolutely no animosity.\u201d He\u2019s been there for the last couple of months, and he sings the shit out of \u201c25 or 6 to 4\u201d every single night. At this point, however, the only remaining OG member of Chicago is Loughnane. One could argue that former Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine\u2019s group California Transit Authority is just as legit since they also have just one founding member. If you wanna see them play \u201c25 or 6 to 4,\u201d head here.<\/a> That\u2019s Travis Davis on lead vocals. If Cardenas ever leaves Chicago, maybe they should give him a call.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n \t<\/p>\n \n\tShortly after Jason Scheff joined the band for 1986\u2019s Chicago 18,<\/em> the group made the somewhat baffling decision to record a new version of \u201c25 or 6 to 4\u201d with producer David Foster. Scheff does his best Cetera impression, but nobody in 1986 was dreaming of a slick, slow \u201c25 or 6 to 4.\u201d It peaked at No. 48 on the Hot 100, and was quickly forgotten.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n \t<\/p>\n \n\tRemember Lee DeWyze? He won the ninth season of American Idol.<\/em> That was the weird, one-off season in 2010 where Ellen DeGeneres was a judge. During the finale, DeWyze played \u201cDoes Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?,\u201d \u201cIf You Leave Me Now,\u201d and, of course, \u201c25 or 6 to 4\u201d with Chicago. A year earlier, Adam Lambert secured a very long and lucrative gig with Queen after playing with them on Idol<\/em>. DeWyze has yet to join Chicago, but who knows what the future holds?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n \t<\/p>\n \n\tAs we explained last month,<\/a> the parallels between Chicago and Earth, Wind, & Fire are pretty eerie. They\u2019ve also toured together many times over the past two decades since there\u2019s so much audience overlap, and they have trouble filling large amphitheaters on their own. The shows often end with a giant mashup of the two groups, and songs from both catalogs. As always, they wrap up the night with \u201c25 or 6 to 4.\u201d EWF lead singer Philip Bailey has duetted with several Chicago singers on it, and it\u2019s always fantastic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n \t<\/p>\n \n\tJason Scheff left Chicago 10 years ago, but that doesn\u2019t mean he stopped playing the songs. He was part of a crazy tour in 2019 where he joined forces with Todd Rundgren, Micky Dolenz, Christopher Cross, and Badfinger\u2019s Joey Molland that was centered around songs from the Beatles\u2019 White Album<\/em> and their own careers \u2014 including \u201c25 or 6 to 4.\u201d And in 2020, he teamed up with Jeff Coffey to play the song on the 70s Rock and Romance Cruise. This was a very rare union of two Chicago singers on the same stage, and thankfully it was captured on video.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n \t<\/p>\n \n\tPeter Cetera hasn\u2019t played with Chicago a single time since they split in 1985. The closest they came was 2016 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame together. But Cetera wanted them to lower \u201c25 or 6 to 4\u201d into a different key to accommodate his decreased vocal range. \u201cHe wanted to drop it down from A to E,\u201d Robert Lamm told Rolling Stone<\/em>.<\/a> \u201cSo it\u2019s a big jump. And normally, if it\u2019s just a four-piece band you can do it, but with horns, you got to transfer those\u2026 It\u2019s not something that we wanted to do for a one-off.\u201d In the end, Cetera didn\u2019t even attend the ceremony, let alone play with the band. And two years later, he retired from the road as a solo performer. He\u2019s been largely AWOL ever since. But if you want an idea of what \u201c25 or 6 to 4\u201d sounds like dropped down several keys, check out this video from one of his solo gigs in 2017. It\u2019s great seeing Cetera tackle one of his signature tunes, but without horns and in that lower key, it\u2026doesn\u2019t quite<\/em> work. Let\u2019s just leave it there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\nJeff Coffey (2016 \u2013 2018)<\/h2>\n
Neil Donell (2018 \u2013 2026)<\/h2>\n
Rudy Cardenas (2026 \u2013 Present)<\/h2>\n
Bonus Video 1: The 1986 Remix<\/h2>\n
Bonus Video 2: Lee DeWyze on \u2018American Idol\u2019<\/h2>\n
Bonus Video 3: Earth, Wind & Fire\u2019s Philip Bailey<\/h2>\n
Bonus Video 4: Jason Scheff & Jeff Coffey Unite<\/h2>\n
Bonus Video 5: Peter Cetera Solo<\/h2>\n