Supertramp founder Rick Davies dies aged 81 after cancer battle

Rick Davies, co-founder of British rock band Supertramp, has died aged 81 after a battle with cancer.

The news was shared in a statement to media reading, "The Supertramp Partnership is very sad to announce the death of the Supertramp founder, Rick Davies after a long illness.

"Rick passed away at his home on Long Island on September 5th. We had the privilege of knowing him, and playing with him for over fifty years. We offer our sincere condolences to Sue Davies," it said, as per Variety.

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Davies formed Supertramp in 1970 alongside Roger Hodgson, with Hodgson being on vocals, keyboards and guitars and Davies taking on vocals and keyboard.

The rest of the classic lineup, which lasted from 1973 to 1983, consisted of Dougie Thomson on bass, Bob Siebenberg on drums and John Helliwell on saxophone.

Together they created hits such as their album Breakfast in America and their biggest hit, The Logical Song, written by Hodgson.

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Davies wrote and sang some of their iconic songs like Goodbye Stranger and Bloody Well Right.

When Hodgson split from the band and went solo in 1983 – due to creative differences and songwriting royalties that kept them in court as recently as last month – it was Davies that was the glue that kept it together.

He led them for four more albums, with the last being Slow Motion in 2002, though they continued to perform together for 20 more years – often under the name Ricky and the Rockets.

Davies was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, in 2015.

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