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ROCK & ROLL CALL📞📞☎️📞
MARSHAL THOMPSON has always been the driving force behind the Chi-Lites, one of Chicago’s most enduring and top soul vocal groups. As a founding member and the last surviving original Chi-Lite, he has spent more than six decades carrying the group’s sound and legacy around the world. Marshal continues to perform, record, and tell the Chi-Lites’ story.
He was Born in Chicago, and came of age amid the city’s vibrant Black music scene. As a teenager, he fell in love with the stage at the Regal Theater, where he would later work as house drummer and back artists like Gladys Knight.
In 1959 he helped form a high school vocal group called the Hi-Lites . In 1964 the group became Marshall & the Chi-Lites and soon after – the Chi-Lites, recognizing Chicago and their musical roots.
The Chi-Lites’ big break came when they signed a record deal in the late 1960s and began releasing a run of records that would define early‑1970s soul. Their first chart action arrived with “Give It Away” and “Let Me Be the Man My Daddy Was,” but it was the remarkable string of singles between 1970 and 1974 that made them staples of both the R&B and pop charts. Songs such as “Have You Seen Her,” “Oh Girl,” “The Coldest Days of My Life,” and “Stoned Out of My Mind” showcased the Chi-Lites’ soulful sound. Marshal Thompson continued to anchor the group on the stage and in the studio.
Join the Cuz as we welcome this Soul Man to MUSICRADIO – Saturday 2/28/26.
CB