{"id":51220,"date":"2025-09-08T17:47:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T17:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/51220\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T17:47:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T17:47:11","slug":"supertramp-frontman-and-co-founder-dies-aged-81-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/51220\/","title":{"rendered":"Supertramp frontman and co-founder dies aged 81 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rick Davies, the co-founder, vocalist and songwriter for the British band Supertramp, has died aged 81.<\/p>\n

The musician died at home on Long Island last week \u201cafter a long illness\u201d, the band said in a statement released on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Davies, who wrote and sang hits including Goodbye Stranger and Bloody Well Right, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer<\/a> concentrated in bone marrow that affects white blood cells, in 2015. His diagnosis and need for \u201caggressive treatment\u201d meant the band had to cancel a reunion tour around Europe later that year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Supertramp Partnership is very sad to announce the death of the Supertramp founder Rick Davies after a long illness,\u201d read the band\u2019s statement on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had the privilege of knowing him, and playing with him for over 50 years. We offer our sincere condolences to [Davies\u2019 wife and the band\u2019s manager] Sue Davies.\u201d<\/p>\n

On social media, the band remembered Davies\u2019 \u201cwarmth, resilience, and devotion to his wife Sue\u201d and credited him as \u201cthe voice and pianist behind Supertramp\u2019s most iconic songs, leaving an indelible mark on rock music history\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis soulful vocals and unmistakable touch on the Wurlitzer became the heartbeat of the band\u2019s sound \u2026 Rick\u2019s music and legacy continue to inspire many and bears testament to the fact that great songs never die, they live on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in Swindon in 1944, Davies was a musician from a young age, developing a love of music after listening to Gene Krupa\u2019s Drummin\u2019 Man, first training as a drummer and later as a keyboardist. In 1969 he placed an advertisement in Melody Maker for musicians to join the new band he was forming, to which musician Roger Hodgson replied. After a brief period performing as Daddy, the group renamed themselves Supertramp, with Davies and Hodgson serving as frontmen.<\/p>\n

\"Supertramp:Supertramp: Richard Davies, Roger Hodgson, Richard Palmer, Robert Millar and David Winthrop. Photograph: PA Wire <\/p>\n

Supertramp\u2019s breakthrough came with Bloody Well Right, written by Davies, and they grew more and more successful, with hits including Give a Little Bit and The Logical Song, both written and sung by Hodgson with Davies on keys.<\/p>\n

Their 1979 album Breakfast in America has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and won two Grammy awards. The album included hits The Logical Song, Take the Long Way Home and the titular track.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Paddy Casey: \u2018I remember hearing Supertramp and crying in the bath because it was amazing\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Davies was the only original member still in the band, with Hodgson having left in 1983 to pursue a solo career amid a series of creative disputes.<\/p>\n

Hodgson and Davies\u2019 company Delicate Music continued to distribute the band\u2019s publishing royalties until 2018. Other members of Supertramp sued Hodgson and Davies over royalties in 2021, but settled with Davies in 2023. Just last month, a US judge ordered Hodgson to give three members of the band songwriting royalties on three songs.<\/p>\n

Davies continued to perform even after his cancer diagnosis, often under the name Ricky and the Rockets.<\/p>\n

Davies is survived by his wife, Sue, who has been Supertramp\u2019s manager since 1984. \u2013 Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rick Davies, the co-founder, vocalist and songwriter for the British band Supertramp, has died aged 81. The musician…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[18,117,19,17,37726,37727],"class_list":{"0":"post-51220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-rick-davies","13":"tag-supertramp"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}