Robert Lamm

Robert William Lamm (born October 13, 1944) is an American musician and a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for his songwriting, vocals, and keyboard melodies, most significantly on the band's debut studio album, Chicago Transit Authority (1969). Lamm wrote many of the band's biggest hits, including "Questions 67 & 68", "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Beginnings", "25 or 6 to 4", "Saturday in the Park", "Dialogue (Part I & II)" and "Harry Truman".

Lamm was born on October 13, 1944 in Brooklyn, one of the five New York City boroughs. His parents had a collection of jazz records, which were an early influence on him. As a youth, he performed in the boys' and men's choir at Grace Episcopal Church in Brooklyn Heights. Also in the choir was Harry Chapin. In a 2003 interview, Lamm said, "My first musical training came as a member of that choir. It exposed me to some of the great sacred music from the Middle Ages, right up through Bach and into the 20th century composers."

His mother eventually remarried, resulting in Lamm moving to Chicago, Illinois, when he was 15 years old, Robert joined a group on the south side of Chicago, along with Roland Gomez (drums) and several other guys calling themselves "The Trondells". He studied art in high school, particularly drawing and painting, but changed direction in college by enrolling in the music program at Roosevelt University in Chicago.

In 1967, Lamm was one of the seven founding members of a "rock band with horns"—soon to be known as Chicago. After recording six overwhelmingly successful albums, in 1974, Lamm released Skinny Boy, the only solo album from a member of Chicago before the 1980s. Lamm seemingly drifted into a period of both personal and professional frustration including a bout with drug addiction. He emerged in 1982 with a new attitude.

A number of solo albums began to appear after Lamm relocated back to New York in 1991. He formed a trio (Beckley-Lamm-Wilson) with Gerry Beckley of the band America and Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys. After Wilson's death from lung cancer in February 1998, an album was released titled Like a Brother (2000).

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.