US:Dan Fogelberg, an American singer and songwriter, who was known for soft-rock hits including Leader of the Band and Same Old Lang Syne, died on Sunday of prostate cancer at his home in Maine. He was 56.
Fogelberg wrote Leader of the Band in tribute to his father, Lawrence Fogelberg, a musician and bandleader. Same Old Lang Syne, a hit in the early 1980s that became a holiday classic, was inspired by his own life, he said. He was in his 20s and visiting his family in Peoria, Illinois, where he was born. At a convenience store there, he said, he bumped into a former girlfriend. The song, which shows aspects of the narrative style that characterised a good deal of his work, described that meeting.
He attended the University of Illinois, was discovered while playing in a coffee house and began as a session musician.
His album Souvenirs was issued in 1974. It included Part of the Plan, a song credited with making him a star.
Fogelberg toured widely, performing at least once at Carnegie Hall. He was described in the Washington Post as projecting an image of ruggedness blended with sensitivity. He was known as a skilled pianist and guitarist and a singer of ballads who was no stranger to sentiment or soul-searching.