1/31/1946 Chicago guitarist Terry Kath born Posted Friday, January 31st, 2025 12:00am by Rock Insigh

Terry Kath, considered by many to be a guitarist that deserved considerably more admiration and accolades than he was given, was born on this day in 1946. He and his drummer younger brother Rod grew-up in the Northwood area of Chicago. Inspired by surf guitarist Dick Dale and the Ventures, Kath took up the guitar in his opening year of high school. He had some lessons, but made most of his musical progress on his own.  He joined his first band at 17 and forged musical alliances with some players that he would work with in subsequent groups before landing in a group that branded itself The Big Thing. After recruiting Peter Cetera to join them from a group called The Exceptions, the band relocated to Los Angeles and adopted the name Chicago Transit Authority.  The audacious brass section and guitar driven self-titled debut album earned the group a Grammy award as the Best New Artist of the year the group’s dynamic stage presence turned Chicago into a strong concert draw.

Terry Kath’s life ended tragically on January 23, 1978 when Kath, fooling around with guns, jokingly put a 9mm pistol with no magazine in it to his temple, not realizing there was a bullet in the chamber, and pulled the trigger, killing him instantly.

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on the final day of January include…

1932 Rick Hall, founder of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Louisiana, born. 

1944 Blues guitar great Charlie Musselwhite is born.

1951 Roxy Music lead guitarist Phil Manzanera is born Geoffrey Targett-Adams in London..

1954 Whitesnake and Vandenberg guitarist Adrian Vandenberg born in The Hague, Netherlands.

1956 Sex Pistols  lead singer Johnny Rotten (John Joseph Lydon) is born in London.

1970 Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir busted down on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

1979 The Clash open first North American tour in Vancouver, BC.

1997 Metallica’s Kirk Hammett gets married during barefoot beachfront wedding in Hawaii.

1998 Bruce Springsteen joins Jon Bon Jovi and Southside Johnny at a Red Bank, NJ benefit for a slain policeman’s family.

2001 KISS announces Eric Singer will replace Peter Criss.

2007 Deborah Koons Garcia files suit to obtain the rights to Jerry Garcia’s concert tapes.

2010 Neil Young wins his first Grammy award.

2009 Buffalo Springfield drummer Dewey Martin dies of undisclosed causes at 68.

2015 Motley Crue ends Farewell Tour with LA concert. Tommy Lee gets stranded upside down on stage rollercoaster.

2017 John Wetton of King Crimson and Asia dies of cancer at 67…