Roger Hodgson

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Roger Hodgson (born Charles Roger Pomfret Hodgson, on 21 March 1950, in Portsmouth, England) is a British vocalist and musician, and he was one of the founding members of the progressive rock group Supertramp. He is recognized for his high-pitched voice, which became a trademark for Supertramp, and often writes about somewhat spiritual and philosophical topics.

1 Roger Hodgson and Supertramp
2 Going solo
3 Discography
- 3.1 Albums
- 3.2 DVDs
4 External links

[edit] Roger Hodgson and Supertramp

As a copyright agreement similar to Lennon/McCartney with The Beatles, almost all Supertramp songs were credited to Davies and Hodgson, regardless of who actually wrote them, but in 99% of the cases the main writer was also the lead singer. Roger Hodgson is the main writer of worldwide known single hits such as "The Logical Song," "Dreamer," "Give A Little Bit," "Breakfast in America", and "It's Raining Again".

[edit] Going solo

After his departure from Supertramp in 1983, he has collaborated with other well-known artists, such as Ringo Starr (with whom he toured as a member of the All-Starr Band in 2001 playing lead guitar), as well as Trevor Rabin (that appear also on a "Open the Door" track) and Jon Anderson of Yes fame (co-writing the single "Walls", on the album Talk).

Roger Hodgson has released three solo studio albums, and one live album with both Supertramp songs and his own material. His last album to date, Open the Door (2000), is considered by fans to be much more true to the "Supertramp" style than Rick Davies' latest, more bluesy Slow Motion album, which was published under the Supertramp name. The same applies also to his first solo album, In the Eye of the Storm, released in 1984, in which he plays almost all the instruments himself, with little help from session musicians.

His second album, Hai Hai from 1987 was instead a more synthpop-oriented album, in the vein of the mid-80s trends, but it also maintains a songwriting style true to Hodgson's standards.

In 1987, just prior to the release of Hai Hai, Roger Hodgson fell from a loft in his home and broke both wrists, which disabled him from successfully promoting the album. He also took a long break from both touring and recording. In this time, he also turned towards a more spiritual path. In 1997, Hodgson released a live album entitled "Rites of Passage", in which he performs with a full band including his son Andrew, and Supertramp sax player John Helliwell. He then embarked on his first world solo tour in 1998.

Roger Hodgson also appears on the album Excalibur: la legende des celtes for two songs: "The Elements," and "The Will of God." The project, headed by Alan Simon, was released in 1999.

In 2000, Roger Hodgson contributed vocals on a track titled "The Moon Says Hello" by Carlos Nunez, on the CD Mayo Longo.

Roger Hodgson is still giving concerts, often playing alone, but from time to time he's joined by other musicians or has a full orchestra accompanying him. He has taken part in the Night of the Proms concert series in Belgium and Germany in late 2004, as well as the rock festival, Bospop in 2005.

On November 30, 2005, he held his first concert in England in over 20 years, at Shepherd's Bush, London. While that performance was filmed and scheduled for a DVD release, the plan has since been scrapped. Instead, the concert recorded at the Place Des Arts in Montreal, Canada on June 6, 2006 will be his first DVD release on August 22, 2006, entitled Take The Long Way Home - Live In Montreal.

Roger Hodgson grew up in Oxford, England in a wealthy middle-class family, and was also sent to Stowe School in Buckinghamshire. He was married to Karuna on March 7, 1979, and had two children, daughter Heidi, and son Andrew. The couple divorced in 2005. He currently resides in Nevada City, California.