Singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg Dies

By Ken Barnes, USA TODAY

Dan Fogelberg, one of the most popular singer/songwriters of the '70s and '80s, died Sunday at home in Maine at age 56. He had battled advanced prostate cancer since being diagnosed in 2004.

Fogelberg was a key component of the golden age of the confessional singer/songwriter, joining the likes of James Taylor, Carole King, Jackson Browne and more in turning pop music's focus inward after the '60s' explosion of social commentary. He had started as a rocker in bands around his hometown of Peoria, Ill., but began performing solo while attending the University of Illinois.

There he met a local booking agent, Irving Azoff. He and local band REO Speedwagon became Azoff's first managerial projects (prior to managing the Eagles). Azoff secured Fogelberg a contract with Columbia, but first album Home Free made little impact. 1974's Joe Walsh-produced Souvenirs, however, hit the top 20, thanks largely to hit single Part of the Plan, and Fogelberg embarked on a two-decade run that would include nine top-30 albums (including three that hit the top 10).

His best-remembered songs include his biggest hit, the affecting ballad Longer; The Power of Gold, a collaboration with flautist Tim Weisberg; Leader of the Band, a tribute to his bandleader father, Lawrence; and the evergreen seasonal standard Same Old Lang Syne, which originally hit the top 10 in 1980.

In later years, he ventured into new musical territory, recording a successful pure-bluegrass album, High Country Snows, in 1985, and tackling broader political, spiritual and environmental issues in his songs. His last album, Full Circle, was released in 2003.

The most apt summation of his life's work likely comes from Fogelberg himself, when he said, as quoted in his online biography, "You've got to just follow your heart and do your best work … There is no doubt in my mind or heart that everything I've done is exactly what I intended to do."