Singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg, famed for the soaring vocals and elegant instrumentation of tunes such as โLongerโ and โA Love Like This,โ died on Sunday, three years after being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. He was 56.
โHe fought a brave battle with cancer and died peacefully at home in Maine with his wife Jean at his side,โ said a posting on his Web site (danfogelberg.com).
โHis strength, dignity and grace in the face of the daunting challenges of this disease were an inspiration to all who knew him.โ
Fogelberg, a native of Peoria, Illinois, broke into the music industry in the early 1970s, at a time when it was embracing introspective songwriting, or โsoft rock,โ by such acts as the Eagles and America.
Fogelberg, who distinguished himself with his angelic vocals and lyrics that celebrated beauty and romance, hit his commercial and creative peak in 1981 with โThe Innocent Age,โ which yielded three top-10 singles, โHard to Say,โ โSame Old Lang Syneโ and โLeader of the Band.โ
His most recent release, โFull Circle,โ came out in 2003. The following year, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, and urged men over the age of 50 to get tested for the disease.