Peter Cetera’s transition from vocalist of Chicago to going solo could not have gone any better.







Gone were the starts and stops that are sometimes beset an artist making such a move. Instead, just about a year after leaving the band, Cetera had his first single post-Chicago, “Glory of Love” from the “Karate Kid, Part II” soundtrack, reach the top spot on the charts in July of 1986. His second single, “The Next Time I Fall” (a duet with Amy Grant), would go to number one on the Billboard charts in December of the same year.







To the former frontman of Chicago, it does not seem like 30 years have passed since he went solo, especially since many people still think of him as the voice of his former band.







“It seems like (time has) flashed by,” Cetera said. “You know, it's funny because I've been out of the group Chicago longer than I was in the group Chicago and I still (get asked), ‘Hey, I heard you guys are going to play in so and so.’ I (go), ‘No, not me.’”



Despite millions of records sold while with Chicago and during his solo career, the 2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee (as a member of Chicago) is not driven to make new music at this stage in his career.







“I've had some success (with my solo career). I haven't really pursued it the way one would normally pursue any kind of career, actually,” he said. “I was just reading something about David Bowie and how the last year of his life, even though he knew he had cancer, he continued to work on a new album. I just don't know if I could ever do something like that, and I haven't. I spent so many of the early years touring and traveling and working hard, that now I want to enjoy life, and music is a big part of it, but not the only part of it.”







The man known for singing such hits as “25 or 6 to 4,” “If You Leave Me Now,” “Hard Habit To Break,” and “You’re The Inspiration” while with Chicago will be performing Thursday at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Cetera and the symphony will be joined by five of the seven members of his current band, The Bad Daddies.



One can expect Cetera to sing hits from his days with Chicago, as well as songs from his solo career.







“People ask me if I do Chicago songs (during my shows). Well, I think my answer to that is, ‘This is not a Chicago tribute show, this is a Peter Cetera tribute show, basically.’ It's the songs that I've written both for Chicago and for my solo career. We do most of the songs that people come to hear.”







Despite Cetera’s immediate success as a solo artist less than a year after parting ways with his former bandmates, he was met with resistance since record executives wanted him to rejoin his former band.







“In reality, what I was met with at the time was negativity from the record company that I was with who wanted nothing more than me to get back with Chicago because they had so much more at that point invested in Chicago than they did in me as a solo act. Despite them not doing any kind of promo or helping me out at all, I had a couple of big hits and I was off to the races only to be hit in the kneecaps by the record company.







“Yeah, I had success but there was nobody there to help me as far as a record company. If anything, they tried to short circuit me by not helping out.”







The label’s reluctance to push Cetera as a solo act seems to be even more shocking when one considers that Cetera’s debut solo album outsold the first Chicago album that was released without him as the lead singer.







“One would think that and that's what I thought. Unfortunately, it didn't happen that way. What happened was I went on my solo way, I put together a great band, and we toured, then there was just nothing out there. I tried to come back with more stuff and the head of the Warner Brothers (label), Moe Austin, told me right there as my then-wife and I were sitting in his office, ‘No, we want you back with Chicago, and that's that.’







“Yeah, it kind of put me in a deep funk for years. I sort of got out of the business for years.”







Cetera parted ways with the other members of Chicago in the summer of 1985 due to disputes about touring and his solo career.



The friction among Cetera and the rest of his former band never ceased, and it made headlines once again as the two sides could not come to an agreement to reunite for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony this past April.







“I never really wanted it to happen because I didn't really care to play with them. I didn't really care to go back. The only reason I tried to do it was because people started saying, ‘Oh, this will be so memorable for you.’ Well, in fact, it wasn't. Music is supposed to be fun, and nothing about that was turning out to be fun, so no, I have no regrets (about not performing with his former band).







“There's just so much bad blood and it's sort of like asking somebody that was in a very contentious divorce to get back together for one night and act like you love each other. It's just not going to happen that way, with me at least.”







According to Cetera earlier this year, his suggestions about the possible performance at the induction ceremonies fell on deaf ears.







“I don't know really why I would want to perform or why I should be expected to perform with people that I have nothing in common with. I’ve been out of the group longer than I was in the group and I just didn't have any inclination to play with some people that I didn't enjoy playing with. (I) saw their performance (at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction). I'm just happy I wasn't there.”







Due to three decades worth of hostilities, it is safe to assume that there won’t be a Peter Cetera reunites with Chicago tour anytime soon.







“The fact of the matter is, there (is) just too much bad blood and contention. If there (wasn’t), I might have still been there, but there is. The thought of even getting on stage and acting like nothing is wrong and all is forgiven and we love each other, it basically turned my stomach and I just couldn't sell my soul to the devil for that.







“Whenever I see a group (reunite), it's strictly for the money, and I get that. Yeah, I've turned down many millions of dollars to get back and (tour) with them. I still have a conscience and I have a modicum of integrity that I choose to keep, and I just can't do it for the money. Nor can I do it just because people think I should do it. It's just not going to work that way.”

