Chicago

It's a testament to Chicago's popularity and staying power that nearly every one of the group's Basics is instantly recognizable to the American listening public. We here at iTunes are only too happy to make things easy for you, condensing more than 30 years of nonstop hit-making into one amazing playlist.

As good as our Chicago Basics playlist is, it couldn't possibly contain all the hits and classics that Chicago has produced over the course of three decades. So, take the next step and check out these milestones from the ongoing journey of one of popular music's most celebrated groups.

A band doesn't make music together for as long as Chicago has without producing both classics and lesser-known (but equally indispensable) cuts. Doing justice to the eclectic tastes of its members, the Windy City outfit has covered the musical bases, from Christmas songs to extended jams to stands at Carnegie Hall. Our Deep Cuts do the same.

During their storied career, Chicago has scored one mind-numbing accomplishment after another: 20 Top 10 singles, a dozen Top 10 long-players, and album sales topping 120 million. Formed in the late '60s by a gang of like-minded musicians (Walter Parazaider, Terry Kath, Danny Seraphine, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow, Robert Lamm, and Peter Cetera), this "rock band with horns," generated a bold, brassy, immediately identifiable sound that's helped them carve out an exalted place in the pop-music pantheon.