Jason Randolph Scheff (born April 16, 1962) is an American bassist, singer, and songwriter. From 1985 to 2016, he was the bassist and one of the lead vocalists for the rock band

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

; he is the longest-serving member in the bassist/vocalist position to date.

Chicago

In mid-1985, 23-year-old Scheff joined the multiplatinum band Chicago, after

Peter Cetera Peter Paul Cetera ( ; born September 13, 1944) is an American retired musician best known for being a lead vocalist and the bassist of the rock band Chicago from 1967 until his departure in 1985, before launching a successful solo career. His c ...

had departed the band to continue his solo career. His lead vocals were debuted on the 1986 single " 25 or 6 to 4", a remake of their 1970 hit, then followed up with " Will You Still Love Me?" In addition to performing the band's classic material, Scheff had composed several original songs for the band, including their 1989 top-5 single "

What Kind of Man Would I Be? "What Kind of Man Would I Be?" is a song written by Jason Scheff, Chas Sandford and Bobby Caldwell and recorded by the band Chicago for their 1988 album '' Chicago 19'' and 1989 album ''Greatest Hits 1982–1989''. Scheff sang the lead vocals. A ...

" Scheff also co-wrote the song " Heart of Mine" with

Bobby Caldwell Robert Hunter Caldwell (born August 15, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He released several albums spanning R&B, soul, jazz and adult contemporary. He is known for his soulful and versatile vocals. Caldwell released the ...

and Dennis Matkosky. The song became a big hit for

Boz Scaggs William Royce "Boz" Scaggs (born June 8, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. An early bandmate of Steve Miller in The Ardells and the Steve Miller Band, he began his solo career in 1969, though he lacked a major hit until h ...

in 1988 and was included in the 1988 Boz Scaggs album ''

Other Roads ''Other Roads'' is the tenth studio album by Boz Scaggs released in 1988. After an eight-year hiatus from recording, Scaggs returned in 1988 with this album, a record aimed primarily at the adult contemporary market. The album reached #47 on t ...

'' and the collection '' Hits!''. Scheff performed "Heart of Mine" several years later in 2007 for a theater-in-the-round setting at the

Bluebird Cafe The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. ...

in Nashville. Scheff, along with co-writers Peter Wolf and

Ina Wolf Ina Wolf (born Christina Ganahl on 9 October 1954 in Lochau, Vorarlberg, and also known as Christina Simon and Anne-Christie) is an Austrian singer and composer. Career 1970s In the 1970s, Wolf released music under her birth name as well as unde ...

, wrote the song " Bigger Than Elvis" in 1993 for what was intended to be Chicago's 22nd album. This song is about his father,

Jerry Scheff Jerry Obern Scheff (born January 31, 1941) is an American bassist, best known for his work with Elvis Presley from 1969 to 1977 as a member of his TCB Band and on the Doors' '' L.A. Woman''. Biography Scheff grew up in Vallejo, California. After ...

, describing Jason's childhood memories of watching his father play on television. The album, however, was rejected by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

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 Robert William Lamm (born October 13, 1944) is an American keyboardist, guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He wrote many of the band's biggest hits, including " Questions 67 & 68", " Does ...

convinced the band to record ''

Chicago XXX ''Chicago XXX'' is the twentieth studio album, and thirtieth album overall, by the American band Chicago, released on March 21, 2006. It was Chicago's first album of entirely new material since 1991's '' Twenty 1''. Background The album was ...

'', their first collection of new material since 1991's ''

Twenty 1 ''Twenty 1'' is the seventeenth studio album (and twenty-first overall) by the American band Chicago. Released on January 29, 1991, it was their first album of the 1990s. ''Twenty 1'' spent eleven weeks on the American ''Billboard'' 200, peaking ...

''. Scheff also enlisted

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second cousi ...

vocalist and bassist

Jay DeMarcus Jay DeMarcus (born Stanley Wayne DeMarcus Jr.; on April 26, 1971) is an American bassist, vocalist, pianist, record producer and songwriter. From 1999 to 2021, he was a member of the country pop group Rascal Flatts. Early life DeMarcus was born ...

to serve as producer for the new album, which was released on March 21, 2006. Scheff co-wrote seven of the 12 songs on the CD. He recorded as a solo artist, releasing a CD titled '' Chauncy'' in 1996, as well as several duets released only in Japan. He was part of two ''a cappella'' releases by West Coast All Stars. The first in 1997, called "California Dreamin'", included vocals by Joseph Williams,

Bill Champlin William Bradford Champlin (born May 21, 1947) is an American singer, musician, arranger, producer, and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the band Chicago from 1981–2009. ...

Bobby Kimball Robert Troy Kimball (born March 29, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter best known as the original and longtime frontman of the rock band Toto from 1977 to 1984 and again from 1998 to 2008. Kimball has also performed as a solo artist and ...

, and Scheff; the second in 1998, "Naturally", again featured Williams, Kimball, and Scheff, adding this time Tommy Funderburk as the fourth vocal. In the 2000s, he was part of Robert Lamm's solo band for performances and three albums. In 2005, Scheff (credited as Jason Chefe) appeared on the

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

tribute album ''

Back Against the Wall ''Back Against the Wall'' is an album released in 2005 by Billy Sherwood in collaboration with a number of (mostly) progressive rock artists as a tribute to Pink Floyd's album ''The Wall''. A year later, Sherwood followed it with the release of ...

'', performing lead vocals and bass on the track "

Run Like Hell "Run Like Hell" is a song by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, written by David Gilmour and Roger Waters. It appears on the album ''The Wall''. It was released as a single in 1980, reaching #15 in the Canadian singles chart as well as ...

", together with

Dweezil Zappa Dweezil Zappa (born Ian Donald Calvin Euclid Zappa; September 5, 1969) is an American rock guitarist and occasional actor. He is the son of musical composer and performer Frank Zappa. Exposed to the music industry from an early age, Dweezil deve ...

(lead guitar), Tony Kaye (keyboard solo), Aynsley Dunbar (drums),

Bob Kulick Robert Joel Kulick (January 16, 1950 – May 28, 2020) was an American guitarist and record producer, who worked with numerous acts such as Kiss, W.A.S.P., Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, Meat Loaf and Michael Bolton. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, ...

(electric guitar), and

Billy Sherwood William Wyman Sherwood (born March 14, 1965) is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, singer, record producer and mixing engineer. He is best known for his tenures in the English progressive rock band Yes (band), Yes as guitarist and ke ...

(keyboards). Scheff and Lamm also collaborated as the 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 The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

induction in April 2016, Scheff took a leave of absence from the band. Singer/bassist

Jeff Coffey Jeff Coffey (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the bassist and background vocalist for Don Felder. From 2016–18, he was bassist and lead vocalist for the band Chicago (band), Chicago. E ...

filled in for him on the summer tour. In October of that year, Scheff left Chicago permanently, with Coffey as his successor before he was initially replaced by Canadian tenor vocalist Neil Donell and bassist Brett Simons in late 2018. He remains the longest-serving bassist/vocalist in the band's history. Scheff appeared in January 2017 in the CNN feature film by Peter Pardini ''Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago'', which began filming before his departure from the band.

Other work

After leaving Chicago in 2016, Scheff participated as a judge for ''American Super Group''. He has worked with new artists trying to break into the music business by conducting songwriting workshops and music lessons. Scheff has participated in a number of fundraisers for charities. Scheff is currently touring with

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

, Denny Laine, Christopher Cross, and

Joey Molland Joseph Charles Molland (born 21 June 1947, Edge Hill, Liverpool) is an English songwriter and rock guitarist whose recording career spans five decades. He is best known as a member of Badfinger, the most successful of the acts he performed wi ...

in celebration of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' ''

White Album White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

'' on the ''It Was Fifty Years Ago Today – A Tribute to the Beatles’ White Album''. Scheff performs the Chicago songs "25 or 6 to 4" and "

Hard to Say I'm Sorry "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" is a power ballad written by bassist Peter Cetera, who also sang lead on the track, and producer David Foster, for the group Chicago. It was released on May 17, 1982, as the lead single from the album ''Chicago 16''. On S ...

References

External links

Jason Scheff official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheff, Jason 1962 births Living people American male bass guitarists American male singers Guitarists from California Songwriters from California Chicago (band) members Writers from San Diego Musicians from San Diego Point Loma High School alumni 20th-century American composers 21st-century American composers American male composers 20th-century American bass guitarists 21st-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male songwriters