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Terry Kath | |
|---|---|
 Kath in 1969 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Terry Alan Kath |
| Born | January 31, 1946 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | January 23, 1978 (aged 31) Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Rock, hard rock, blues rock, jazz rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1963–1978 |
| Formerly of | Chicago |
| Spouse(s) |
Pamela Robinson
(m. 1970; div. 1975)Camelia Ortiz (m. 1976) |
| Website | terrykath |
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".[1][2]
Growing up in a musical family, Kath took up a variety of instruments in his teens, including the drums and banjo. 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.
Kath struggled with health problems and drug abuse towards the end of the 1970s. 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.[3]
- ^ Gress, Jesse (January 30, 2014). "Under Investigation: Terry Kath". Guitar Player. Archived from the original on October 20, 2017. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
- ^ Kachejian, Brian (October 4, 2017). "Why Jimi Hendrix Called Chicago's Terry Kath The Best Guitarist In The Universe". ClassicRockHistory.com. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
- ^ "Chicago's Terry Kath: Inside the Life and Tragic Death of an Unsung Guitar Hero". Rolling Stone. December 11, 2017. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2020.