Kenny Cetera profile picture

Kenny Cetera

Singing and writing and a rhythmatist

About Me

Hello everybody...and WELCOME.First, I want to thank all the myspace veterans for their support and designing ideas and give kudos to my "webstress" for getting my site going in a very short time! Righteous!Most of you here will probably remember me from the work I did with Chicago (the band) in the mid 1980's: singing background on one of their most successful records to date, "Chicago 17" and performing on the tour that followed (some of you affectionately, I'm sure, referring to it as "the White Tour" :D ...funny!).I am a product of the '60's music explosion, hailing from the south side of Chicago, IL and growing up in a blue collar, working class family. As the youngest person in the family, I was surrounded by music for as long as I can remember, from listening to my mother singing along with her 78-rpms and then 33-1/3's of musicals from the 40's, 50's and 60's, to singing three-part harmonies with my Mom and sister while washing the dishes to listening to my brothers practicing around the house and with bands in our garage. Being a singer and musician was inevitable for me. I sang in our church choir, joined the high school glee club, even did a little work in a barbershop quartet and performed in a college musical. It wasn't until my junior year in high school when I finally became lead singer in my first band playing 60's and 70's rock hits. Shortly after graduating I moved to the Champagne-Urbana area with another rock band and toured extensively throughout the Illinois-Michigan-Indiana areas as lead singer. A couple of major car wrecks later, I decided to move on!I landed in Tennessee for a couple of years, learning to appreciate the art of country music, finally making the move to the west coast in the winter of '79 and have never left. I spent 2-1/2 years as drummer/singer in a top 40 band in the San Francisco Bay area before making my move to So Cal in mid '82 where I spent another couple of years playing more top 40 gigs around So. Cal before getting my big break - singing background vocals on Chicago's 17th album. With David Foster again at the helm, and hot off their very successful 16th album, "17" was destined for the top of the charts. I also sang on David's "Voices That Care" project in 1991 - a fund raiser for Desert Storm.I live and continue working in the Los Angeles area and am a proud husband and a very proud father of 3 beautiful girls.In response to several comments posted on my brother Peter's message boards as to "what happened to Kenny?" I finally decided to jump in the water... actually, pushed (thanks hon ;-) )...here on myspace and reconnect with everyone. Never too late, right?Well, I hope you like these tunes...written and produced by some very talented people such as Jeff Silverman, Mark LeVang and Robbie Buchanan to name a few.I'll be posting more photos and songs as we go on.Please feel free to post a comment or send me an e-mail.Thank you for stopping by! Peace, Kenny Cetera
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My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 11/15/2007
Band Members:
Influences: My wife, my kids, my Mom and Dad, my family and all my great old friends from the neighborhood in Chicago where I grew up. There was singing in the choir at St. Margaret's and Bro. Patitucci's paddle at Leo HS (not that I got paddled, much, but it WAS influencial). Definitely the biggest musical influence would have to be the Beatles. John, Paul, George and Ringo crystallized it all for me. The melodies of James Taylor, Carly Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, Crosby, Stills, Nash (and Young) Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, 3 Dog Night, the Temptations, the Supremes, the Eagles, the Beach Boys, Chicago (of course). And from Beck, Sublime, Everclear and Pearl Jam to James Brown, Aretha, Sly, Earth, Wind & Fire, Michael Jackson, Prince, Elvis, the "Young" Rascals, Hendrix, Joplin, Tommy James & the Shondells, Santana, Bob Seger, Stones, the Kinks, the Hollies, Led Zep, Bad Co., Free, (Paul Rogers in general), ZZ Top, Peter Frampton, Aerosmith, Journey, Yes, ELP, Kansas, (did I mention the Beatles?) Steve Miller, Huey Lewis, Tom Petty, AWB, Police, Phil Collins, Toto, drummers that write and sing their ASSes off - Don Henley and Phil Coliins, and drummers like; Mitch Mitchell, John Bonham, Simon Kirk, Bill Bruford, John JR Robinson, Billy Cobham, Lenny White, Steve Gadd, Russ Kunkel, Jim Gordon, Jim Keltner, Stan Lynch, Danny Seraphine, Stewart Copeland, Peter Erskine, Bernard Purdie, Chester Thompson, Chad Wackerman, Dave Weckl, Jeff Porcaro (rip) 8.. (, Buddy Rich, Ed Shaughnessy, Jack DeJohnette,, and my mentors Jim Chapin and Scott Bonshire ; ) Other notable influences: Woodstock, Return to Forever, Chick Corea, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Weather Report, Jaco, Jon Anderson, Robert Plant, Guess Who, Burton Cummings, Bonnie Raitt, Level 42, Pat Benatar, Starship & Mickey Thomas, K C & the Sunshine Band (damn, I LOVE those old school dance grooves!), Sam & Dave, Bee Gees, Barry White, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tony Bennett, Quincy Jones, David Foster, Mamas and the Papas, the Turtles, Bing & Bob, Dean & Jerry, Bozo, Garfield Goose, 3 Stooges, Laurel & Hardy, My 3 Sons, Munsters, Family Feud, Dick Van Dyke, Andy Griffith, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Ed Sullivan, Honeymooners, Rodney Dangerfield, Carol Burnett, All In The Family, Johnny Carson (rip)...and many, many more.

My daughter Kaylie's gymnastics blog!
Sounds Like: Me, I think.
Record Label: unsigned
Type of Label: None

My Blog

Joe Cocker - A Little Help From My Friends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4_MsrsKzMM Ohhhhh you guys HAVE to watch this!! Kenny (ROFLMAO). PS...thanks Ed!...
Posted by Kenny Cetera on Sat, 05 Jul 2008 04:53:00 PST

Check out this video: Where I Feel Like Me

Check out this video: Where I Feel Like MeDescription: The mission of Shane's Inspiration is to create Universally Accessible Playgrounds and programs that integrate children of all abilities sociall...
Posted by Kenny Cetera on Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:38:00 PST

"Joe, American" Challenges the Presidential Candidates

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPch2k63uj4 Watch this and pass it on....
Posted by Kenny Cetera on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:18:00 PST

Encouraging For Me

I just thought I'd post the following message I received from one of my newest MySpace friends. Rather encouraging for me to keep it going... Thank YOU Barbara... and all my new "friends" on MySpace!...
Posted by Kenny Cetera on Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:46:00 PST

David Foster & Friends tribute review, May 23, 2008, Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino Event Center

(blog in progress)Hey guys. Wow... W O W ! ! Still recouperating from a fantastic night of entertainment.I was privileged to attend the David Foster & Friends benefit concert in Las Vegas Friday ni...
Posted by Kenny Cetera on Mon, 26 May 2008 06:45:00 PST

Happy Mothers Day / Falling Into You demo

A well deserved Happy Mother's Day for all you fabulous moms and the work you do! Kudos to YOU. But, I do have to give props to all the dads, too. The stupid things we do really helps to make you g...
Posted by Kenny Cetera on Sun, 11 May 2008 11:39:00 PST

Kenny C Q&A

OK, I've arranged this so the new ones are at the beginning (for those of you paying attention.)?8-!Q: (4/25/08) Hi Kenny, Love the new pictures!!! Sorry- but I must say the "gum wall" is gross. (she'...
Posted by Kenny Cetera on Fri, 07 Dec 2007 03:59:00 PST

Cruising

Just a quicky to let you all know about the photos I posted of a cruise I took last week with my wife of 15 years, Elisa, to celebrate our anniversary. No computers, no kids and very limited phoning....
Posted by Kenny Cetera on Tue, 06 May 2008 12:57:00 PST

Reconnecting

Wow. What a day. Every time I reconnect with someone I've lost complete touch with I feel like a piece of the me that I didn't know was lost to begin with has just been put back in place! It's an a...
Posted by Kenny Cetera on Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:30:00 PST

JACO PASTORIUS & PETER ERSKINE - JAZZ FESTIVAL MONTREAL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HAWPym-A6E My all time favorite drummer. But check this funky, smooth, jazzy groove Jaco is laying down... and what an incredible steel drum solo. (OK Bob, a...
Posted by Kenny Cetera on Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:12:00 PST