Armando Anthony Corea was born on 12 June 1941, in Chesterfield, Massachusetts USA, of Spanish and Italian descent. Chick is a pianist and composer, best known for his contributions to jazz and fusion music. He was a member of the Miles Davis band in the 1960s, and helped contribute to the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. All of his efforts have helped put his net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Chick Corea? As of mid-2017, sources inform us of a net worth that is at $3 million, mostly earned through success in the music industry. He also formed Return to Forever, in the 1970s, meantime helping in fundraising for numerous social issues. All of these achievements ensured the position of his wealth.
Chick Corea Net Worth $3 million
Chick was introduced to the piano at a young age, and he grew up surrounded by jazz music as his father was a trumpet player in the genre. He also took up drums and would grow fond of percussion instruments. He then took classical music lessons, and improved his musical composition skills, before becoming a part of St. Rose Scarlet Lancers as a performer and soloist. Chick started playing music while in high school and then moved to New York City after matriculating. He attended Columbia University and Juilliard but quit both schools since he found them disappointing. However, he stayed in New York to pursue a career in music.
Corea began playing professionally in the 1960s, and made his first album as a band leader in “Tones for Joan’s Bones” in 1966, then released his own album “Now He Sings, Now He Sobs” two years later. He then started associating with various avant garde players and would start experimenting on music which would later become jazz fusion. He did a lot of solo work, and live recordings with Miles Davis, and joined Davis’ band in 1968, helping him record numerous albums. Some of his projects during this time include ‘Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West” and “In a Silent Way”. He continued to tour with the band in 1970, and then left to form his own group called Circle. This eventually led to him going solo the following year, recording solo sessions called “Piano Improvisations Vol. 1” and “Piano Improvisations Vol. 2”. His net worth was now well established.
Chick then took a style change, now playing jazz fusion which incorporated a lot of Latin jazz elements. He formed the band Return to Forever and released two albums, plus projects including “Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy” and “Light as a Feather”. He also had duet projects, working with Gary Burton and pianist Friedrich Gulda. He continued to make music, forming the bands Chick Corea Elektric Band, New Trio, and Akoustic Band. In 1986 he signed with GRP Records, which ultimately led to the release of 10 albums through the mid-1990s, confirming his status and popularity, as well as growing his net worth.
In 2001, he formed the Chick Corea New Trio and released the album “Past, Present & Futures”. He also started to venture into other genres of music, such as contemporary classical music, but continued to release jazz fusion albums primarily though he experimented in most of them. His 2006 album “Ultimate Adventure” won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, and two years later, he created the Five Peace Band and would start touring around the world. A few of his latest projects include Chick Corea & The Vigil which formed in 2013, and playing at the Blue Note Jazz Club in celebration of his 75th birthday.
For his personal life, it is known that Corea married musician Gayle Moran in 1972. He is known to be a scientologist, and has credited the religion for helping him with his relationships and music.
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