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 See more

Kath was born to Raymond Elmer "Ray" Kath (1912–2003) and Evelyn Meline (nee Haugen) Kath (1916–1982) on January 31, 1946, in Chicago. He had an older brother, Rod … See more

Early career
Terry Kath joined his first semi-professional band, The Mystics, in 1963, moving to Jimmy Rice and the Gentlemen in 1965. He then played bass in a road band called Jimmy Ford and the Executives. … See more

Kath used several guitars in his early career, but many of these early ones were stolen while on the road. His first main instrument that he used when Chicago were still The Big Thing was a Register guitar that cost $80. When the band started becoming … See more

Kath sang lead vocals on several of Chicago's early songs, including "I'm a Man" (Chicago Transit Authority), "Colour My World", "Make Me Smile" (both part of "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon"), "Movin' In", and "In The Country" (Chicago II), "Free See more

Kath had a self-admitted history of drug abuse, including alcohol. Seraphine knew that Kath had a high tolerance for drugs and later recalled Kath telling him, "I'm going to get things under control ... if I don't, this stuff is going to kill me." Chicago bandmates … See more

Because Chicago considered themselves a team, some band members have subsequently claimed Kath's contributions to be generally overlooked. Chicago band member Walter Parazaider later said, "If [Kath] was totally up front, he would have gotten a lot more … See more