Charles Salvatore "Chuck" Panozzo (born September 20, 1948, in Chicago, IL) is an American musician best known as the bass player for the rock band Styx. A longtime member of Styx, he founded the group with his fraternal twin brother, drummer John Panozzo, who died in July 1996, and singer/keyboardist Dennis DeYoung. After three decades as a Styx mainstay, Chuck Panozzo left the band shortly thereafter, though he has since rejoined the band part-time and tours with Styx on a regular basis.
In 2001, Panozzo announced he was gay and living with HIV, and he has been involved in campaigning for AIDS awareness and gay rights. In 2006, he spoke with Frontiers for the first time about his decision to come out. The following year he released his autobiography The Grand Illusion: Love, Lies, and My Life With Styx.
It's been like painting from memory,
But a memory that's not mine
I've been pushing paint where I though it should go.
Trying to pick hues to compliment colors that I have yet to see.
Painting spring when all I've ever known is fall.
And winter was the expectation.
Aren't we all so sick of always falling short?
I have been for some time.
So let's leave words for the defining,
And let brushstrokes guide the titles.
We've been summed up too neatly by old tittles
that we thought bestowed insight.
This life is more than what you claim