Providence Performing Arts Center to Present CHICAGO in Concert, 10/16

The legendary rock and roll band with horns CHICAGO visits the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) on Friday, October 16 at 8P.

Tickets go on sale on Friday, September 11 at 10A at the PPAC Box Office, online at www.ppacri.org and by phone at (401) 421-ARTS (2787). Regular Box Office Hours are Monday through Friday: 10A to 5P, Saturday: 10A to 2P and two hours prior to curtain times on performance days. The PPAC Box Office is located at 220 Weybosset Street in downtown Providence.

Tickets start at $49; please visit www.ppacri.org for current prices. A dollar from each ticket sale goes to charity. All ticket prices include a $3 per ticket restoration charge and are subject to change without notice.

For group sales information, please contact Paul Hiatt at phiatt@ppacri.org or (401) 574-3162.

Hailed as one of the "most important bands in music since the dawn of the rock and roll era" by former President Bill Clinton, CHICAGO came in at #13, the highest ranking for an American band, on Billboard Magazine's list of Top 100 artists of all time.

CHICAGO's album, Chicago Transit Authority, was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2014. That same year, the band performed on the Grammy stage for the first time, playing four songs with Grammy nominee Robin Thicke.

In 2014, a record of new studio tracks, "NOW" CHICAGO xxVI, was released on Frontiers Records. It includes eleven brand new songs, recorded on the road. Chicago has built a new recording system that is flexible, portable, powerful and musical. This new "recording rig" travels with the band. They have even created an online collaboration portal that allows even more performances to be worked on around the clock from remote locations. The CD package is a six-panel digipack with a beautiful 16-page full color lyric booklet.

Also in 2014, CHICAGO performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the first time ever, and also played with numerous Symphony Orchestras across the country.

Lifetime achievements include a Grammy Award, multiple American Music Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a Chicago street dedicated in their honor, and keys to and proclamations from an impressive list of US cities. Record sales top the 100,000,000 mark, and include 21 Top 10 singles, 5 consecutive Number One albums, 11 Number One singles and 5 Gold singles. An incredible 25 of their 36 albums have been certified platinum, and the band has a total of 47 gold and platinum awards.

The current band line-up includes original band members Robert Lamm on keyboards & vocals, Lee Loughnane on trumpet, James Pankow on trombone and Walt Parazaider on woodwinds, as well as Jason Scheff on bass & vocals, Tris Imboden on drums, Keith Howland on guitar, Lou Pardini on keyboards & vocals, and Walfredo Reyes, Jr. on percussion.

For the past four years, CHICAGO have raised over a quarter of a million dollars to fight breast cancer for the American Cancer Society by having a winning bidder come on stage and sing "If You Leave Me Now" in concert. The band has been doing it in honor of their friend, Paqui Kelly, the wife of Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly, who is a breast cancer survivor.

CHICAGO generously supports other charitable causes, donating a portion of ticket sales to the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation, which seeks a cure for a fatal children's disease, Niemann-Pick Type C, and Hannah & Friends, an organization that serves children and adults with special needs. Hannah & Friends is the personal mission of Maura Weis and her husband, Charlie Weis, the current coach at the University of Kansas.

From the signature sound of the Chicago horns, their iconic vocalists, and a few dozen of hit songs, this band's concerts are celebrations. The band is now in their 48th consecutive year of touring, without missing a single concert date.

CHICAGO continue to be true ambassadors for their beloved hometown, carrying the city's name with pride and dignity around the world.

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