Supertramp

In 1969, keyboard player Rick Davies was offered the financial backing of Dutch millionaire Stanley Miesegaes to form his own band after his previous band ceased to please him. After placing an advert in Melody Maker, Davies appointed Roger Hodgson as bassist, Richard Palmer on guitar and Keith Baker on drums, forming a brand new band called Daddy. Baker didn't last long on drums and was replaced by Robert Millar and, wanting to avoid confusion with a similarly named band, they changed their name to Supertramp. Supertramp's self-titled debut album, released in 1970, featured the tracks "Surely", "Home Again" and "Nothing to Show", making the world of progressive rock sit up and take notice of their sound. By the release of their second album, a line-up change had affected the band, with Frank Farrell coming in on bass and Kevin Currie on drums. Further personnel changes were made throughout the '70s, but it was Crime of the Century in 1974, with singles "Dreamer"/"Bloody Well Right" and "School", that gave them their commercial breakthrough, followed by Crisis? What Crisis? (1975) and Even in the Quietest Moments (1977, including "Give a Little Bit"). This success, however, was eclipsed in 1979 by Breakfast in America, a number one in the US and number three in the UK, selling over 20 million copies and featuring massive hits "The Logical Song", "Breakfast in America" and "Goodbye Stranger". Hodgson quit the band in 1982 to go solo while Supertramp continued with Davies as front man, releasing albums ...Famous Last Words (1982), Brother Where You Bound (1985) and Free as a Bird (1987). They split in 1988 but reformed with Davies in 1996 with the Some Things Never Change album followed by Slow Motion in 2002. A hiatus of eight years allowed the band to do their own thing before reuniting in 2010 with a European tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of their first record. Supertramp played what turned out to be its last concert on 15 November 2012 in Madrid. After the tour the band went quiet again until 2015 when they announced another European tour, titled Supertramp Forever. Before the tour could begin however, the band announced that Davies had been diagnosed with cancer and that all forthcoming shows would be cancelled while he was undergoing treatment. Diagnosed with multiple myeloma, Davies died from cancer at his home in Long Island, on September 6, 2025, at the age of 81.