Music of Illinois - Rock and Roll

Rock and Roll

Notable Illinois pop and rock bands include, Styx (whose members originally lived in the Chicago suburbs), Chicago (the original members of which were students at DePaul University in Chicago and hailed from the area, though they moved to Los Angeles before becoming famous), Jim Peterik (who founded Chicago-area band the Ides of March and was later a member of Survivor). The Boyzz, or the Boyzz from Illinois, were a hard rock, boogie band from the Fox River Grove area. Power pop four-some Cheap Trick came from nearby Rockford, Illinois and members of REO Speedwagon hailed from Champaign-Urbana. Enuff Z'nuff, who had a couple of minor hits in 1989 with the songs "New Thing" and "Fly High Michelle", hailed from the Chicago suburb of Blue Island. The Southern and South Central Illinois regions have also produced influential rock, most notably Head East. Dan Fogelberg, an influential singer/songwriter of the 70s and 80s, was from Peoria, Illinois. The heavy metal band Mudvayne was also a product of Peoria. The death/doom metal band Novembers Doom are from Chicago. Death metal legends Macabre are from Downers Grove. The rock band Dope from Villa Park was formed in Chicago. Songwriters who hail from the Chicago area have had success on the US pop rock charts as well, including Jim Whelan, from Wilmette who co-wrote Belinda Carlisle's Go-Go's first hit.