From the beginning up until 1978? It's a tough one, and although I'm a huge fan, I can't pick just one (so I allowed multiple votes).

Terry Kath - Soulful

Peter Cetera - Soaring

Robert Lamm - Smooth

You're welcome - I'm glad someone else thought of this as well :)

I hope everyone read "up until 1978".. Robert Lamm wrote the most, no question, but gave songs for others to sing, but he might be "the voice" for ALL of Chicago simply because of longevity.

Cetera's voice can sometimes annoy me, but if I wrote a song that I thought could be a hit, I'd probably let him sing it. I love Terry's voice and guitar, and the songs he wrote, in comparison to Peter's (I do love "Wishing You Were Here" - and can thank the altitude levels for Terry singing lead.. and "Baby What A Big Surprise").

A few months ago, I went from I to XI, and on albums, it's harder to say... I listened to over 50 live shows, and Cetera sings the most. And when someone is singing back-up or the "response vocal", it's usually him. I can't think of many songs with Terry and Robert singing. 

at the 20 minute mark, after Cetera sings "I will understand" he adds a "Yes I will" and Terry sings a nice reply, "Yes I wiiiiiiiill"... Very moving.. I was always moved by the line, "Now I know my life has meaning".

I am not a fan at all of Cetera’s voice, but his is the voice of Chicago (before or after 1978).

Or, if you prefer, the voice of voices. He may not be the only singer in Chicago. He may not be my favourite singer in Chicago. But that’s not what you asked. I suspect you might have had different results in your poll, if you worded it differently -  but as it has been worded, I find it completely unsurprising that Cetera is leading. Regardless of whether people like his voice, and/or prefer the voices of other Chicago singers, it is pretty damn hard not to recognised that if there has to be one, that Cetera is the voice of Chicago.

Yeah, I did start it with "From the beginning up until 1978?" but that might have been too long for the poll. Who knows?

On the first album, it's mostly Robert singing, but people remember the hits. And some people might just not know the difference before/after Terry's death....

The odd thing is, Peter Cetera always said how he never felt part of the band. Even in this interview, he's identified as "The Dissident Member"

And, yes, he sang far less early on - but he still sang more than (eg) Phil Collins did during Gabriel era Genesis. And yet, even if one enjoys the songs more that were not sung by Cetera, and even if one prefers other Chicago singers over Cetera, it is still hard not to recognise him as “the voice of Chicago”.

As I said, I think you might have found entirely different results if you had worded your question differently.

You’ve not asked who is the “best” singer of Chicago.

You’ve not asked who is our favourite singer of Chicago.

You’ve asked who is “the voice of Chicago”.

Three very different questions, with potentially three different answers.

Kinda reminds me of Don Henley.. He sang more and more as years went on. They both have "whiny" voices (albeit great voices, in tune, etc), but if you write "25 or 6 to 4" or "Hotel California", I'd want those guys to sing it.

HolyMoly wrote: Terry Kath, I think. He was the most outstanding (in the sense of “best” as well as “most distinctive”) vocalist in the band while he was alive. Cetera obviously had a sound that everyone recognizes, but for the first 5-8 albums he was more of an equal participant than the main attraction.

I think early on, Terry appeared as the leader, front-man. I also think his voice is distinctive, but not like Cetera, who you can tell a mile away. And I have small critiques about both. Cetera's voice is a little whiny, Terry's sometimes sounding too gruff and uninspiredPeter didn't write a song in the first album, but was always given songs by Lamm, Pankow, and even Terry with "The Road". Lee gave him "Call On Me", and probably should have, since Cetera helped make it. According to Cetera, though, he needed some help. "I tried to help Lee Loughnane with a song," Cetera says, "and that song turned out to be 'Call On Me.' Lee had written a song. It wasn't called, 'Call On Me,' it was called something else, and it in fact was terrible. I talked to him at the ranch one day, and he was all bent out of shape. He said that he had played the song for the guys, and they had told him in fact to get the heck out of there with the song. I said, 'Well, come on, let's have a go.' So Lee and I went and re-wrote the lyrics and re-wrote the melody and came up with the song called, 'Call On Me,' which was a big hit for him." Loughnane remembers it a little differently. "Peter changed a couple of the words and the way he sang the melody in order for him to be able to play the bass and sing the melody at the same time because that's the way he felt it." Loughnane added, "I appreciate his efforts, and we did make the song a hit."

Terry seemed to come alive on XI, starting the album with "Mississippi Delta City Blues" (I love the new funky arrangement), and then he has "Takin' It On Uptown", a rockin' song with no horns, only to end the album with the beautiful, "Little One". I really think they were going to move away from the softer stuff. After an international #1, they only let Peter sing one song, his own, "Baby What A Big Surprise" and it was by far the most played on the radio, despite great songs like, "Take Me Back To Chicago" along with the aforementioned. In this magazine in 76, he says, "Our next album (XI) is going to be more balls-out" but once he dies, and with Robert behind a piano (and admittedly having problems of his own), and Cetera losing weight, getting in shape, he was the only "frontman" and I think they did a 180, going with what hand they were dealt after the death blow.