August 13: Singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg would be 59 today...

... he was 56 when he died from prostate cancer at his home in Deer Isle, with wife Jean by his side.

Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Dan Fogelberg incorporated folk, pop, classical, jazz, and bluegrass into his music.

Born Daniel Grayling Fogelberg in Peoria, Illinois, Dan's mother was a classically trained pianist, and his father, a high school band director. Dan's first instrument was a piano but he soon took an interest in the Hawaiian slide guitar his grandfather gave him.

Combined with his admiration of The Beatles, he taught himself electric guitar and by the age of 13 he had joined his first band, a Beatles cover band called The Clan.  His second band was another cover combo, The Coachmen, who in 1967 released two singles, written by Fogelberg, on Ledger Records: "Maybe Time Will Let Me Forget" and "Don't Want To Lose Her."

After graduating from high school in 1969, he studied theater arts and painting at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and began performing as a solo acoustic player in area coffeehouses, It was at the Red Herring Coffeehouse, where he made his first solo recordings as part of a folk festival recording in 1971.

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He was discovered that year by Irving Azoff. (Azoff started his music-management career promoting another Champaign-Urbana act, REO Speedwagon.)

Azoff sent Fogelberg to Nashville to hone his skills, where he became a session musician and recorded his first album  Home Free.  Fogelberg's second album was much more successful; the 1974 Joe Walsh–produced album Souvenirs. The song "Part of the Plan" became Fogelberg's first hit.

After Souvenirs, Fogelberg released a string of gold and platinum albums, including Captured Angel in 1975, and Nether Lands two years later.

His 1978 Twin Sons of Different Mothers was the first of two collaborations with jazz flautist Tim Weisberg. 1979's Phoenix reached the Top 10, with "Longer" becoming a #2 pop hit - and a wedding standard. Dan followed up with "Heart Hotels" which also became a top 20 hit.

The Innocent Age, released in October 1981, was Fogelberg's critical and commercial peak. This double-album song cycle included four of his biggest hits: "Leader of the Band," "Hard to Say," "Run for the Roses," and "Same Old Lang Syne," based on a real-life accidental meeting with a former girlfriend.

In May 2004, Fogelberg was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. He underwent therapy and achieved a partial remission, which did not eliminate his cancer but reduced it and stopped its spread.

On August 13, 2005, his 54th birthday, Fogelberg announced the success of his cancer treatments. He said that he had no immediate plans to return to making music but was keeping his options open.

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