Daniel Grayling Fogelberg

 

Daniel Grayling Fogelberg (August 13, 1951 – December 16, 2007)

He will be best remembered for his late 1970s & early 1980s soft rock hits, "Longer" (1979), "Same Old Lang Syne" (1980) and "Leader of the Band" (1981). During his youth, he taught himself how to play the guitar, in addition to taking piano lessons and started his first band while a teenager, under the influence of The Beatles. By his senior year in high school, he focused on art and theater and following graduation, he attended the University of Illinois where he majored in Theater. Dan gravitated back to music after dropping out of college in 1971 and performed in local cafes. He landed a record contract with Columbia Records (CBS) and released his debut effort "Home Free" (1972) while also during this time period, he worked as a session musician for numerous artists among them: Jackson Browne and Joe Walsh (Eagles/James Gang/Barnstorm). His second album "Souvenirs" (1974) included his first pop-chart placing with "Part of the Plan" (reaching number 31 in 1975) and after his initial pairing with flutist Tim Weisberg the result was the Top-30 single "The Power of Gold" (1978). Dan's last chart placing was the 1985 hit "The Language of Love" which reached number 13. He remained active over the last two decades recording and touring until he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in 2004.

After undergoing therapy, his cancer went into partial remission. In August 2005, Fogelberg announced the success of his cancer treatments. However, his cancer returned and on December 16, 2007, Fogelberg died at home in Deer Isle, Maine at the age of 56. His body was cremated, and the ashes scattered.