Peter Paul Cetera was born on September 13, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. is an American singer, songwriter, bass guitar player and producer best known for being an original member of the rock band Chicago, before launching a successful solo career.

Cetera was born the second of six children in a Polish-American family on the South Side of Chicago and first learned to play the accordion when he was five years old. At the age of 14, he bought his first guitar from Sears Dept store, after a friend took him to see his first concert.

He eventually took up bass guitar and, after finishing high school, played in several groups in the Chicago area, including a popular local rock band named The Exceptions, which toured the Midwestern United States in the mid 1960s, releasing two albums and several singles.

In 2002, Cetera performed a medley of four of his songs at The Concert for World Children's Day, backed by David Foster and an orchestra at Arie Crown Theater in Chicago. Subsequently, this led to his appearance, in 2003, with the Chicago Pops Orchestra on the PBS music program Soundstage, which was broadcast throughout the United States and released on DVD.

From 2003 until the summer of 2007, Cetera performed a very limited number of concerts each year with a 40 piece orchestra, comprised of re-arrangements of songs from throughout his career, including several from his tenure as a member of Chicago.

In 2004, Cetera released a collection of holiday classics, You Just Gotta Love Christmas, which featured background and duet vocals by his eldest daughter, Claire.

On August 16, 2007, Cetera sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at Wrigley Field for a Chicago Cubs game that was televised on WGN-TV.

In December 2007, Cetera will embark on the You Just Gotta Love Christmas tour of the United States. It will mark his return to a traditional rock band show, his first since 1996, and will feature songs from his 2004 Christmas album and from throughout his career.