Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus, at the 19th Annual Grammy Awards, held on February 19, 1977. According to William James Ruhlmann, biographer of the group, "the success of 'If You Leave Me Now' overshadowed the album from which it came, and also consolidated what by now seemed a definitely stated preference on the part of radio, if not Chicago's audience in general, for lush ballads sung by Peter Cetera over any other style the band might care to put forward." Another success in the same vein followed: Cetera's 1977 composition "Baby, What a Big Surprise", from Chicago XI. The song featured him on lead vocals and made it to number four on the record charts. During this time Cetera also worked with other recording artists. He, along with a group of other well-known musicians, appeared on the 1976 self-titled debut album by singer-songwriter Angelo. In 1977 Cetera provided background vocals on Beached, an album by Ricci Martin (son of Dean Martin), produced by Ricci Martin's brother-in-law, Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys. Cetera's bandmates James Pankow, Walter Parazaider, and Lee Loughnane also performed on the album. He is credited as one of the background vocalists on Billy Joel's single "My Life", released in 1978, from the album 52nd Street. The following year he collaborated with Karen Carpenter on her self-titled solo album, providing backing vocals for a song that he had written, "Making Love in the Afternoon". By the end of the 1970s, with the rise of disco music, Chicago's popularity declined, culminating in the release of the band's poorest-selling album to that point, Chicago XIV, which peaked at number 71 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1980. Columbia Records subsequently bought out the remainder of Chicago's contract. In 1981, Cetera released his first solo album, Peter Cetera, on Warner Bros. Records, after personally buying the rights from his previous contract with Columbia Records, who would not release the project. The album peaked at number 143 on the Billboard 200 and was considered a commercial failure. Cetera blamed Warner Bros., claiming that the company refused to promote him as a solo artist out of fear that he would leave Chicago, who had only recently signed with the label. Former bandmate Danny Seraphine agrees with Cetera on this point, and says that the album "... sank like a stone due to lack of record company support. Warner Brothers