Jason Scheff is an American bassist, singer, and songwriter who was the frontman for American rock band, Chicago, from 1985-2016. He replaced former lead vocalist Peter Cetera and was the longest serving bassist and vocalist for Chicago. Scheff’s lead vocals were debuted on the 1986 single, “25 or 6 to 4,” a remake of Chicago’s 1970 hit, then followed up with “Will You Still Love Me?”
In addition to performing the band’s classic material, Scheff composed several original songs for the band, including their 1989 top-5 single, “What Kind of Man Would I Be?” Scheff also co-wrote the song, “Heart of Mine” with Bobby Caldwell and Dennis Matkowsky. The song became a big hit for Boz Scaggs in 1988 and was included on the 1988 Boz Scaggs album, Other Roads.
Scheff, along with co-writers Peter Wolf and Ina Wolf, wrote the song “Bigger Than Elvis” in 1993 for what was intended to be Chicago’s 22nd album. The song, which is about Scheff’s father, describes his childhood memories of watching his father Jerry Scheff play on television. The album, however was rejected by Warner Brothers in 1993, and remained unreleased until 2008, when Rhino released it as Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus.
In 2005, Scheff and Chicago founding member Robert Lamm convinced the band to record Chicago XXX, their first collection of new material since 1991’s Twenty 1. Scheff co-write seven of the twelve songs on the album. Scheff also collaborated with Robert Lamm on several other projects including Lamm’s solo band and the duo collaborated as executive producers of Zosia Karbowiak’s first international solo release in 2009, S.I.N.G.
A few weeks after performing with Chicago for the band’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Scheff stepped away from the group, with Jeff Coffey and later Neil Donnell and Brett Simons assuming his former roles with the group in late 2018. Scheff most recently toured with the Happy Together Tour, where he performed all of the early Chicago hits. Visitors to the SC Pecan Music & Food Festival in 2026 can expect to hear hits from Chicago along with Scheff’s other projects backed by a full band and horn section.
