‘Longer’ And ‘Leader Of The Band’ Singer Dan Fogelberg Dies But Leaves Message Behind
Posted December 17, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
He wasn’t a huge hit maker, but you probably remember a few of his biggest songs. Dan Fogelberg, the singer-songwriter who took “Leader of the Band” and “Same Old Lang Syne” to the top of the charts in the 1980s, died on Sunday.
The musician had been suffering from prostate cancer for three years and his case wasn’t diagnosed quickly enough to save his life. “Dan left us this morning at 6am,” read a notice on the singer’s official website. “He fought a brave battle with cancer and died peacefully at home in Maine with his wife Jean at his side. His strength, dignity and grace in the face of the daunting challenges of this disease were an inspiration to all who knew him.”
“Leader” was about a bandleader and was a tribute to his father, while the melancholy “Syne” dealt with a man who ran into his old girlfriend while on vacation – something that actually happened to him in the mid-70s. Other hits included “Longer”, “Run For the Roses” and “The Power of Gold.” Fogelberg never had the presence of some of his contemporaries, yet he managed to earn several platinum and multi-platinum records with his soft-rock sound. He often credited the Beatles and Canadians Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lightfoot, among others, with influencing his sound.
He was an avid environmentalist before it became a modern-day cause and put out his last album called “Full Circle” in 2003. But he never got to tour for it, receiving his cancer prognosis the following year.
Fogelberg’s last message didn’t come in a song. It was a plea on his website to men in their 40s and 50s. “Prostate cancer can be very slow growing or very aggressive, but detected early while it is still confined to the prostate gland, it can usually be treated and cured successfully,” he wrote. “Do yourself and your loved ones a huge favor and GET CHECKED REGULARLY. I promise you, you DON’T want to go through what I’m going through if you can avoid it.”
It’s sage advice from a man who knew what he was talking about – Fogelberg was just 56.
Photo courtesy: danfogelberg.com
