Peter cetera health
“Drugs and alcohol and ego clashes got in the way, but we managed to keep them quiet”: the unbelievable story of Chicago, the soft rock kings with steel in their hearts
When Peter Cetera was beaten up at a baseball game, it changed his life. In a good way.
Although he left Chicago, the band he co-founded in 1967, almost 40 years ago, to many people Cetera remains the voice of the band, his falsetto technique gracing mega-hits such as If You Leave Me Now and Hard To Say I’m Sorry. Bizarrely, Cetera’s style is a direct a result of singing for a period of time with a wired-shut jaw after getting into a brawl at an LA Dodgers match in summer 1969.
“That’s true,” he affirms. “Three huge guys beat the living shit out of me. They didn’t like a long-haired rock ’n’ roller in a baseball park. I got a broken jaw in three places, and I was in intensive care for a couple of days. Afterwards I was afraid to open my Peter cetera pictures!