Chicago Saxophonist Walter Parazaider Dead at 81
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- Walter Parazaider, founding member of Chicago and multi-instrumentalist on sax, flute, and clarinet, died June 17 at 81 after a long battle with Alzheimer's, his wife JacLynn confirmed to TMZ.
- Parazaider played continuously with Chicago from the band's 1967 formation in his basement — after members met at DePaul University — until he stepped off the road in 2018, appearing on nearly all of the group's albums.
- Chicago were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016, with Parazaider speaking first at the ceremony and recalling that the band never imagined standing on that stage when they first played together.
- Parazaider recalled in a 2015 Classic Rock interview that Jimi Hendrix told him after a 1968 Whisky a Go Go show: 'The horns are one set of lungs. And your guitar player is better than I am.'
- Terry Kath's accidental self-inflicted gunshot death on January 23, 1978 devastated Parazaider, who said the news hit him 'like being hit with a sledgehammer' and that 'there are some things you never get over.'
- David Foster joined Chicago's orbit in 1981 and helped craft the hits 'Hard to Say I'm Sorry' and 'You're the Inspiration,' though he excluded most members from the creative process, according to the band's documentary.
- Chicago's 1969 self-titled debut — originally released under the name Chicago Transit Authority, shortened due to legal pressure from the actual transit agency — earned a Best New Artist Grammy nomination and included staples like 'Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?' and 'Beginnings.'
Why it matters: Parazaider's death closes a chapter on one of rock's most influential architects: he convinced a generation of bands that horns belonged in rock, not just jazz. The Alzheimer's detail, disclosed only after death, reframes his 2018 retirement as a health-driven exit rather than a routine departure from a band that was still playing 100 shows a year.
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