Dan Fogelberg Caricature

Dan Fogelberg Caricature, illustrated here in 1977, age 26.

Fogelberg was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist.

Dan Fogelberg was born in Peoria, Illinois. He was the youngest of three sons born to Margaret (née Irvine), a classically trained pianist, and Lawrence Peter Fogelberg, a high school band director at Peoria’s Woodruff High School; his father would later be the inspiration for the song, “Leader Of The Band”.
Fogelberg taught himself to play a Hawaiian slide guitar that his grandfather had given him. He also learned to play the piano at age 14.

In 1971 he was discovered by Irving Azoff, who started his music management career promoting another Champaign-Urbana act, REO Speedwagon. Azoff sent him to Nashville, Tennessee, to hone his skills where he became a session musician.

He performed as an opening act for Van Morrison in the early 1970s. In 1972, Fogelberg released his debut album Home Free to lukewarm response, although it eventually reached platinum status.

In 1974 Joe Walsh produced his second album Souvenirs. The song “Part of the Plan” became Fogelberg’s first hit. Fogelberg also received contributions from the Eagles throughout the album. Dan had toured with the group during this time period. After Souvenirs, he released a string of gold and platinum albums, including Captured Angel (1975) and Nether Lands (1977).

Phoenix, from 1979, reached the top 10, with “Longer” becoming a #2 pop hit in 1980.
The Innocent Age, released in October 1981, was Fogelberg’s critical and commercial peak. The double album included four of his biggest hits: “Same Old Lang Syne”, “Hard to Say”, “Leader of the Band”, and “Run for the Roses”.

In May 2004, Fogelberg was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. After undergoing therapy, his cancer went into partial remission.
However, his cancer returned, and on December 16, 2007, Fogelberg died at home in Deer Isle, Maine, at the age of 56.