Grammy-Winning Musician Peter CottonTale Runs on Hope

Peter Wilkins, more commonly known as Peter CottonTale, is just happy to be here. 

The 32-year-old musician has a Grammy Award for his work with Chance the Rapper. The two hail from neighboring areas, Chatham and Grove Heights, predominantly Black neighborhoods in Chicago that have a median income of less than $50,000. (In comparison, the median income for the entire city is more than $65,000.) It’s a place Jahmal Cole, an activist and runner from the neighborhood, describes as having more liquor stores and money exchanges than gyms and runners on the street. 

And yet, CottonTale has never allowed his circumstances to limit his vision of what he could accomplish. 

At 17 years old, CottonTale was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease, a chronic pain condition in the spine that varies from mild aches to debilitating pain. For CottonTale, it was the latter. His body began to break down faster than what was considered normal for someone his age. It led to herniated discs and pinched nerves in his L1 through L4 discs, which ultimately caused his left leg to become paralyzed, he says.