Rick Davies, the influential cofounder, vocalist, and keyboard player of the English rock band Supertramp, died on Sept. 5 at the age of 81.
A representative for the band confirmed Davies’ death to Variety on Sunday, noting the singer-songwriter died at his home on New York’s Long Island after a long battle with multiple myeloma.
Supertramp is one of the most dynamic and original bands to rise out of the U.K. after the Beatles and the Rolling Stones took over the world. Davies’ idiosyncratic songwriting combined with cofounder and singer Roger Hodgson’s distinctive voice made for several bestselling albums, chart-topping singles, and a legacy that sees Supertramp songs used widely in film, television, and beyond.
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Davies was born in Swindon, England, in 1944 to a hairdresser and merchant navy seaman. His passion for music was kindled at a young age, and as soon as he could leave the house, he was performing live, joining his first band (Vince and the Vigilantes) in 1959 and forming his own for the first time in 1962 (Rick’s Blues).
It wasn’t until 1969, when Davies was 25, that he put out a call for a collaborator that altered the course of his life. Roger Hodgson, a posh young guitarist whose post-private school rearing clashed with Davies’ own humble origins, wound up gelling with Davies, and Supertramp was born — after a few months under the moniker of Daddy.
Though Hodgson took the lead on most songs on Supertramp’s freshman effort, 1970’s self-titled album, Davies began to sing more and more, eventually writing and providing the voice for some of the band’s most indelible hits, like “Bloody Well Right” and “Goodbye Stranger.”
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While other members came and went, Davies and Hodgson remained the band’s core and key creative ingredients for over a decade. In that time, the band broke through to commercial success with the singles “Dreams” and “Bloody Well Right” off the 1974 album Crime of the Century, and 1977’s In the Quietest Moments included the hit “Give a Little Bit.”
In 1979, Breakfast in America spawned the chart-topping hits “The Logical Song,” “Goodbye Stranger,” and “Take the Long Way Home.” Breakfast in America led to Supertramp winning two Grammy awards and became their bestselling album, reaching 4x Platinum certification.
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Creative differences led to a bitter falling out between Davies and Hodgson, who left the band in 1983. Assorted legal disputes plagued the once fruitful creative partnership, sinking them into litigation that lasted decades, to as recently as April when a U.S. judge ordered Hodgson to give three other members of the band songwriting royalties on three songs.
Davies remained the band’s anchor in the decades between, releasing four albums subsequent to Hodgson’s exit and continuing to perform the band’s music live in a variety of settings. Though Davies planned to reunite the band for a tour in 2015, it was canceled when the musician was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of cancer that attacks plasma cells.
Davies leaves behind his wife Sue, whom he married in 1977. In 1984, Sue stepped up to serve as their band manager, a position she’s held onto ever since.
