Which original Chicago members are still alive and do any perform with the band today?
Executive summary
Three of Chicago’s founding members — Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane and James (Jimmy) Pankow — remain listed as members of the band and have performed with the group in recent years, while fellow originals Peter Cetera and Danny Seraphine are alive but no longer regular members, Terry Kath died in 1978, and Walter Parazaider has retired from touring though is still acknowledged as an original member [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. Who from the original 1967 lineup is still alive
Of the seven musicians who formed the band in 1967, Terry Kath is the sole original member who is deceased — he died in 1978 — while the remaining six are alive: Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow, Walter Parazaider, Peter Cetera and Danny Seraphine [4] [1] [2].
2. Which original members currently perform with Chicago on stage
The band’s public and press materials identify Robert Lamm (keyboards, vocals), Lee Loughnane (trumpet) and James Pankow (trombone) as the continuing core of the group and the three originals most regularly associated with live Chicago shows in recent seasons [2] [5] [6]. Multiple outlets and the band’s own listings concur that those three have been the active founding members in the lineup that toured through the early-to-mid 2020s [1] [7].
3. Exceptions, retirements and health updates that affect who’s onstage
Walter Parazaider, the original woodwind player, has formally retired from touring and in 2021 disclosed an Alzheimer’s diagnosis; he is still acknowledged as a founding member in tributes but is not part of the touring ensemble [1] [2]. Peter Cetera and Danny Seraphine are alive but not regular performers with Chicago: Cetera pursued a solo career, declined to attend the band’s Hall of Fame ceremony, and has indicated he largely stopped performing after 2018; Seraphine has performed at reunion-type events but is not a standing member of the touring group [3] [1]. Importantly, reporting also notes that Lamm and Pankow have experienced health-related touring absences and, as of 2025 reporting, had periods of hiatus from the road though remained official members — meaning on any given tour some founding members may sit out while retaining band membership [1] [8].
4. How the band presents continuity despite personnel changes
Chicago presents itself as an organization that retains founding figures as anchors even while relying on veteran sidemen and substitutes to sustain a full touring show; the band’s official pages and several music outlets list Lamm, Loughnane and Pankow as the constants, and note a rotating supporting cast that includes long-term non-originals such as Walfredo Reyes Jr., Neil Donell and others [9] [10] [2]. Commentators observe that the group has prepared for the eventuality of continuing without any originals — both through substitution onstage and by framing remaining founders as custodians of a catalog and brand that can persist beyond individual members [8].
5. Bottom line and caveats
Bottom line: three original members (Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane and James Pankow) are alive and have been the ones most often performing with Chicago in recent years, one founding member (Walter Parazaider) is alive but retired from touring, two founding members (Peter Cetera and Danny Seraphine) are alive but not regulars with the band, and Terry Kath is deceased [2] [1] [3] [4]. Reporting contains nuance: health-related absences and formal “retirement from touring” mean that “perform with the band today” can vary by tour date, so contemporaneous tour rosters and the band’s official site are the definitive source for any single concert’s lineup [9] [1].