Chicago - If you leave me now - 1977 (HQ)

What this video is

Released as a single on July 30, 1976, 'If You Leave Me Now' was written and sung by Chicago bassist Peter Cetera and appeared on the album Chicago X. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 on October 23, 1976, becoming Chicago's first-ever US number-one hit, and simultaneously reached number one on the Easy Listening chart. Internationally, it topped charts in the UK (three weeks), Australia, Ireland, Canada, and the…

Why it matters

This clip is a primary archival document of Chicago's genre-defining pivot from jazz-inflected horn rock toward the Adult Contemporary ballad format that would dominate their late-1970s and 1980s commercial output. The song's success validated a generation of orchestrated soft-rock production and…