Robert William Lamm is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 keyboardist

Keyboardist

A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...

, singer and songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 who came to fame as a founding member of the pop rock

Pop rock

Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...

 band Chicago

Chicago (band)

Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...

. He wrote many of the band's biggest hits, including
"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" is a song written and sung by Robert Lamm while in the rock band Chicago and recorded for their debut album The Chicago Transit Authority ....

," "Beginnings

Beginnings (song)

"Beginnings" is a song written by Robert Lamm for the rock band Chicago and recorded for their debut album The Chicago Transit Authority, released in 1969. Lamm also provided lead vocals...

," "Saturday in the Park

Saturday in the Park (song)

"Saturday in the Park" is a song written by Robert Lamm and recorded by the group Chicago for their 1972 album Chicago V, with Lamm on piano and lead vocals and Peter Cetera on bass and backing vocals. The single version hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's highest-charting single...

," "Dialogue

Dialogue

Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....

," and "25 or 6 to 4

25 or 6 to 4

"25 or 6 to 4" is a song written by American musician Robert Lamm, one of the founding members of the rock/jazz fusion band Chicago. It was recorded for their second album, Chicago , with Peter Cetera on lead vocals. The song was edited and released as a single in June of the year 2009, climbing to...

."

Biography

Robert Lamm was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Chicago, Illinois. His parents had a collection of jazz records, which were an early influence on him. He studied art in high school, particularly drawing and painting, but changed direction in college by enrolling in the music program at Roosevelt University

Roosevelt University

Roosevelt University is a coeducational, private university with campuses in Chicago, Illinois and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university is named in honor of both former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The university's curriculum is based on...

 in Chicago. In a 2003 interview, Lamm said, "My first musical training came as a member of the choir at Grace Episcopal Church, Brooklyn Heights, New York. It was a very good choir, (Harry Chapin

Harry Chapin

Harry Forster Chapin was an American singer-songwriter best known in particular for his folk rock songs including "Taxi", "W*O*L*D", and the number-one hit "Cat's in the Cradle". Chapin was also a dedicated humanitarian who fought to end world hunger; he was a key player in the creation of the...

 and members of his band were also in this choir at around the same time). It exposed me to some of the great sacred music from the Middle Ages, right up through Bach and into some of the 20th Century composers."

Lamm's first group, known as "The Trondells" formed in 1962 on the South Side of Chicago. "Chicago" was formed in February 1967. In the mid-1990s, Lamm formed a trio with Gerry Beckley

Gerry Beckley

Gerald Linford "Gerry" Beckley is a founding member of the band America.Beckley was born to an American father, and an English mother. He began playing the piano at the age of three and the guitar a few years later. By 1962, Beckley was playing guitar in The Vanguards, an instrumental surf music...

 of the band America

America (band)

America is an English-American folk rock band that originally included members Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek. The three members were barely out of their teens when they became a musical sensation during 1972, scoring #1 hits and winning a Grammy for best new musical artist...

 and Carl Wilson

Carl Wilson

Carl Dean Wilson was an American rock and roll singer and guitarist, best known as a founding member, lead guitarist and sometime lead vocalist of The Beach Boys...

 of The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...

. After Wilson's death from lung cancer

Lung cancer

Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...

 in February 1998, an album was released entitled Like a Brother (2000).

In 2004 Lamm fronted his own group "The Robert Lamm Band", performing concerts in New Zealand and Los Angeles.
Apart from his involvement with Chicago

Chicago (band)

Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...

, Lamm has recorded a number of solo albums, beginning in 1974 through the present.
He also has guest lectured on music production at Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

.

Hits written by Lamm

Chicago hits composed by Lamm include:

"Beginnings

Beginnings (song)

"Beginnings" is a song written by Robert Lamm for the rock band Chicago and recorded for their debut album The Chicago Transit Authority, released in 1969. Lamm also provided lead vocals...

"

"Questions 67 & 68"

"25 or 6 to 4

25 or 6 to 4

"25 or 6 to 4" is a song written by American musician Robert Lamm, one of the founding members of the rock/jazz fusion band Chicago. It was recorded for their second album, Chicago , with Peter Cetera on lead vocals. The song was edited and released as a single in June of the year 2009, climbing to...

"

"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" is a song written and sung by Robert Lamm while in the rock band Chicago and recorded for their debut album The Chicago Transit Authority ....

"

"Free

Free (Chicago song)

"Free" is a song written by Robert Lamm for the rock band Chicago and recorded for their third album Chicago III , with Terry Kath singing lead vocals. It was the first single released from this album, and peaked at #20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100....

"

"Another Rainy Day in New York City

Another Rainy Day in New York City

"Another Rainy Day in New York City" is a song written by Robert Lamm for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Chicago X . The first single released from that album, it reached #32 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and it was a #2 hit on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart...

"

"Harry Truman

Harry Truman (song)

"Harry Truman" is a song written by Robert Lamm for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Chicago VIII , with lead vocals by Lamm. The first single released from that album, it reached number thirteen on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100....

"

"Saturday in the Park

Saturday in the Park (song)

"Saturday in the Park" is a song written by Robert Lamm and recorded by the group Chicago for their 1972 album Chicago V, with Lamm on piano and lead vocals and Peter Cetera on bass and backing vocals. The single version hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's highest-charting single...

"

"Dialogue (Part I & II)

Dialogue (Part I & II)

"Dialogue" is a song written by Robert Lamm for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Chicago V . On the album the song is over 7 minutes long and is divided into two tracks. An edited version of the song was released as a single in October 1972, eventually reaching #24 on the U.S...

"

Discography

• 1975: Skinny Boy
• 1995: Life Is Good In My Neighborhood
• 1999: In My Head
• 2000: Like A Brother (Beckley-Lamm-Wilson)
• 2003: Subtlety & Passion
• 2004: Too Many Voices
• 2005: Leap Of Faith - Live in New Zealand
• 2006: "Life is Good in My Neighborhood 2.0"
• 2006: Skinny Boy 2.0
• 2008: The Bossa Project

Songs and Compositions

• "Beginnings"
• "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?"
• "Listen"
• "Poem 58"
• "Questions 67 & 68"
• "Someday (August 29, 1968)"
• "South California Purples"
• "25 or 6 to 4"
• "Fancy Colours"
• "I Don't Want Your Money"
• "It Better End Soon"
• "Lonliness is Just a Word"
• "Mother"
• "Poem For The People"
• "Sing a Mean Tune Kid"
• "Wake Up Sunshine"
• "At The Sunrise"
• "Flight 602"
• "Free"
• "A Hit By Varese"
• "A Song For Richard and His Friends"
• "All Is Well"
• "Dialogue"
• "Goodbye"
• "Saturday In The Park"
• "State Of The Union"
• "Where You Think You're Goin?"
• "While The City Sleeps"
• "Critics' Choice"
• "Darlin' Dear"
• "Hollywood"
• "Italian From New York"
• "Rediscovery"
• "Someday I'm Gonna Go"
• "Something in This City Changes People"
• "A Lifetime, We"
• "City Living"
• "Crazy Brother John"
• "Crazy Way To Spend a Year"
• "Fireplace and Ivy"
• "Lifesaver"
• "Love Song"
• "One Step Forward"
• "Sing To Me, Lady"
• "Skinny Boy"
• "Temporary Jones"
• "The Woman Don't Want To Love Me"
• "Until The Time Runs Out"
• "Ain't It Blue"
• "Harry Truman"
• "Long Time No See""
• "Gently I'll Wake You
• "Scrapbook"
• "You Get It Up"
• "Policeman"
• "Hot Streets"
• "Love Was New"
• "Paradise Alley"
• "Reruns"
• "Vote For Me"
• "Doin' Business"
• "I'd Rather Be Rich"
• "Manipulation"
• "Thunder And Lightning"
• "Upon Arrival"
• "Getaway"
• "We Can Stop The Hurtin'"
• "Tender In the Night"
• "Forever"
• "My Neighborhood""
• "I Stand Up"
• "In this Country"
• "Jesse"
• "Tabla"
• "Ain't No Ordinary Thing"
• "All the Years"
• "Life in Motion"
• "Only Time Can Heal the Wounded"
• "When the Rain Becomes"
• "When Will the World be Like Lovers?"
• "If Everybody Knows"
• "Love Doesn't Live Here Anymore"
• "Murder on Me"
• "One From the Heart"
• "Blue After All"
• "Feel the Spirit"
• "Plaid"
• "Single Solution"
• "Standing at Your Door"
• "Here with Me"
• "Sleeping In the Middle of the Bed"
• "The Pull"
• "Sad Old House"
• "Schitzoid"
• "The Love of My Life"
• "Sacha"
• "Sacrificial Culture"
• "Swept Away"
• "The Best Thing"
• "Back to You"
• "My Naked Heart"
• "The Heart of Me"
• "The Love You Call Your Own"
• "Will People Ever Change?"
• "Crazy Happy"
• "Living Alone"
• "Set Me Free from My Heart"
• "Another Sunday"
• "For You, Kate"
• "Gimme Gimme"
• "I Could Tell You Secrets"
• "Intensity"
• "It's a Groove, this Life"
• "It's Always Something"
• "You Never Know the Story"
• "Somewhere Girl"
• "The Mystery of Moonlight""
• "90 Degrees and Freezing"
• "Bright Eyes"
• "Come To Me, Do"
• "Home"
• "I Confess"
• "Out of the Blue"
• "We Shall Arise"
• "Living Proof"
• "Those Crazy Things"
• "Heaven in My Eyes"
• "Samba in Your Life"
• "Haute Girl"
• "Sean"
• "Send Rain"
• "The Myth of Solid Ground"
• "Trippy Day"
• "More Will Be Revealed"
• "Keep the Faith"
• "Angels Fly"
• "4 Bells"
• "Liquid Sky"
• "Something's Coming"
• "On the Equinox"
• "The Possibility of Life"

Personal life

Robert Lamm is married to Joy Elizabeth Lamm. (1991)
He married Barbara Karen Perk (stage name

Stage name

A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...

 Karen Lamm) in 1971. They divorced in 1972. In 1976, Robert married Julie Ann Nini, and had a daughter, Sacha, before divorcing in 1981. In 1985 Lamm married soap opera actress Alex Donnelley

Alex Donnelley

Alex Donnelley was born August 13, 1959 in Frankfurt, Germany. She is an American actress best known for originating the role of Diane Jenkins on the popular daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless. She played the role from 1982–1984, then briefly in 1986, and then from 1996-2001...

with whom he had two daughters, Kate and Sean; divorced in 1991.

External links

• CHICAGO's Official Website