Rick Davies, singer and co-founder of Supertramp, has died

By The New Obs with AFP

Lead singer and co-founder of British rock band Supertramp Rick Davies ( Breakfast in America ) died Saturday at the age of 81 after a ten-year battle with cancer , the band announced.

Author of numerous hits such as "Goodbye Stranger" and "Bloody Well Right" , Rick Davies, born in 1944 in Swindon, England, died at his home on Long Island in the United States.

The singer and songwriter died "after battling multiple myeloma for over a decade," the band said in a Facebook post published Sunday night. "As co-writer alongside his partner Roger Hodgson, he was the voice and pianist behind Supertramp's most iconic songs, leaving an indelible mark on rock music history," the band added.

In 2015, Rick Davies announced he was suffering from multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer, and began "aggressive treatment" that forced Supertramp to cancel a European tour. He then suffered from the condition for over a decade, and the band never performed again.

Along with singer and bassist Roger Hodgson, he founded this progressive rock band in London in 1969, after placing a small ad for members.

After "Crime of the Century" (1974) and "Crisis? What Crisis?" (1975), Supertramp achieved global success in 1979 with the album "Breakfast in America" , which sold tens of millions of copies and won two Grammy Awards .

On vocals and keyboards, Rick Davies was the only founding member of Supertramp still on board since Roger Hodgson's departure in 1983, shortly after the release of "Famous Last Words" . He was, in theory, no longer allowed to play Hodgson's songs live, such as the hit "The Logical Song" .

The band disbanded in 1988 after a world tour, then reformed in 1996, producing two additional albums and alternating periods of hiatus and touring until 2012.

"After facing serious health issues that prevented him from continuing to tour with Supertramp, (Rick Davis) continued to perform with friends from his hometown under the name 'Ricky and the Rockets,'" the band said in its statement.