Who IS Peter Cetera?

I underestimated my parents' generation of music... again. It's not the first time and it certainly won't be the last. But please let me tell you how Peter Cetera and the Cleveland Pops humbled me by their performance in "Smucker's presents Hot Ice, Cool Sounds" last Saturday night in Youngstown, Ohio.

When I first heard that Peter Cetera would be headlining the show, I thought, "WHO is Peter Cetera? And if I don't know him, how the heck is this show going to sell tickets?" The nearly sold out show proved me wrong, wrong and wrong on all accounts. Let's break down the answer to that, question by question:

Who is Peter Cetera?

A Chicago native, Cetera is an American singer, songwriter, bass guitar player and producer probably best known for being an original member of the rock band Chicago, before launching a successful solo career. (thank you Wikipedia)

Trivia game factoid: (if you are like me and partake in pub trivia games then you'll want to listen up - this could come up at any time): The band Chicago originally started out with the name "The Big Thing" (what?? ahahahahaha), before becoming "The Chicago Transit Authority" and later shortening it to "Chicago" after getting complaints from the real CTA.

"Chicago's" first big hit was "25 or 6 to 4" and went on to author hits like, "Where do we go from here?" "Wishing you were here," "Happy Man," "If you leave me now," "Baby, what a big surprise," and "Hard to say I'm sorry." If you don't recognize them by name, do peruse Itunes and take a good listen... I'm SURE you'll know them.

Anyhoo, in 1985, Cetera and "Chicago" went their separate ways, and Peter blessed us with the theme to Karate Kid Part II, "Glory of Love." The song went on to win an ASCAP Award for Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures and a BMI Film & TV Award for Most Performed Song from a Film. It was also nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe in the category of Best Original Song, as well as a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Male Artist. It's just an all-around awesome song.

And just when I was sure it couldn't get any more awesome, top national, world and Olympic figure skaters decided to perform to it for their finale this weekend! The nearly-sold out arena was beside itself - fans of all ages cheered and screamed, and although I didn't see any, it would not have surprised me to see a tear or two.

With the power of an orchestra such as the Cleveland Pops to back him up, Cetera delivered an unbeatable performance and threw in a couple of Christmas songs to preview the upcoming holiday season. The skaters did exactly what we knew they would do, and performed magically. Sasha Cohen did a 'duet' on the ice with Brian Boitano, and other greats like Todd Eldredge, Jennifer Robinson, Yuka Sato, Jamie Sale & David Pelletier, Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon, Shae-Lynn Bourne and Michael Weiss performed too... it just doesn't get much better than that.

But there's good news and there's bad news. The bad news first... the live show already happened. The good news... if you missed it, you can see it on NBC on Dec. 25 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. EST. The even better news? If you own a TIVO (or happen to get one from Santa on Christmas Day) you can watch it over and over and over again.

Another quick trivia game factoid before I leave you: Cetera's trademark singing style would develop as a result of having to sing for a period of time with a wired-shut jaw after getting into a brawl at a Los Angeles Dodgers game in 1969. (according to Wikipedia)... which reinforces my belief that everything happens for a reason, and sometimes we are just not allowed to know why until much later.

I'm not alone in thinking the show was incredible... check out these reviews by fans and show-goers:

Ice Skating Offers Warm and Fuzzy Feeling

Hot Ice, Cool Sounds