Source: Inductee Walter Parazaider and Robert Lamm of Chicago speak onstage at the 31st Annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Barclays Center of Brooklyn on April 8, 2016 in New York City. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Walter Parazaider, a founding member of jazz-rock band Chicago, died Wednesday at the age of 81, according to Deadline.
He had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, and was in hospice care as a result. Parazaider announced his Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2021.
His death was announced by his daughter, Felicia Helen Parazaider, on Facebook.
“I love you poppy, my Pal,” Felicia said in her post. “You coloured our world.”
Parazaider served as the saxophonist for Chicago from the group’s founding in 1967 to 2018, although he had retired from touring in 2017. Beyond his contributions on the saxophone, he played other instruments, including the flute on “Colour My World.”
The band released a statement following his passing, highlighting their former member’s key contributions to Chicago’s formation and its early years:
“A Rock & Roll band with horns was [Parazaider’s] idea,” Chicago said in a statement. “He put the band together and they rehearsed in the basement of his mother’s home. He is also the one who did the hard work to book shows for the young, unknown band, performing top 40 covers at local bars in and around Chicago.”
Born on March 14, 1945, in Maywood, Illinois, Parazaider would found Chicago in the city of the same name with Terry Kath, Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow and Danny Seraphine as “The Big Thing.”
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Peter Cetera would join later that year, and the band would change their name to “Chicago Transit Authority” in 1968, before simplifying it to “Chicago” in 1969.
Parazaider was instrumental in the band’s unique sound, as they blended the classic rock sound of the 1960s and 1970s with jazz and big band influences, going on to record nearly 40 albums and sell an estimated 100 million records.
