In the heyday of rock and roll in the 1960s, there was a figure on the stage whom even the Guitar God himself, Jimi Hendrix, praised his guitar skills: Terry Kath. Kath was born into a family of musicians and was quick to take on this legacy. By ninth grade, he geared up his guitar and amplifier and was ready to rock the stage.
Terry Kath received no formal training; he was just figuring out what to do by jamming. He was a natural. He was building his style by listening to Eric Clapton and Hendrix, and his natural dexterity with the guitar would get him to the point where even one of his inspirations, Hendrix, would admire his guitar skills.
At the age of 21, he formed a ‘rock and roll band with horns:’ Chicago. Kath’s outstanding guitar playing and soulful vocal performances were the main elements shaping the band’s sound, which started to resonate with listeners more and more in the rock scene of the period. He was at the peak of his career.
In 1969, Chicago released its debut album, and the song ‘Introduction’ from that album was named a ‘masterpiece’ by many musicians and fans. Kath was mixing jazz, salsa, blues, rock and roll, and acid rock tones with such mastery that the song became his introduction as the heir of the ‘rock god’ image of the era.
Terry Kath was at a point where he enjoyed the rapid and organic increase of his popularity. Especially in a song from their second album, ‘25 or 6 to 4,’ Kath’s riffs woven with that musical genius became one of the most valuable pieces inherited from the rock and roll scene of the period. While everything was going magically well, one of the most unfortunate events the rock scene has ever witnessed happened on January 23, 1978.
Kath was doing target shooting as a hobby, and in the 1978’s, he started carrying a gun with him. They threw a party in LA at the house of one of their roadies, Don Johnson. After the party, the late rocker took out his gun and started playing with it. Johnson warned him, but he did not hear. “What do you think I’m gonna do? Blow my brains out?” he said jokingly. As luck would have it, these were his last words.
When the gun fired unexpectedly, Terry Kath died instantly. He was only 31 when he passed. Witnesses to his death said it was an accident. However, it was a fact that drug and alcohol abuse had increased in his life, especially in the last period. Therefore, some thought that it was not an accident but a suicide. In any case, the rock scene once again lost a huge talent at a very, very early age.
