Roger Hodgson

Roger Hodgson (born Roger Charles Pomfret Hodgson, on 21 March, 1950, in Portsmouth, England) was one of the two lead vocalists of the rock group Supertramp until 1983. He is recognized for his high-pitched voice, and often somewhat spiritual and lightly philosophical topics.

After his departure from the group in 1983, he released three solo albums, and one live album with 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 group name, which Davies holds the rights to. The same applies also to his first solo album, the epic "In the Eye of the Storm", released in 1984, in which Roger plays almost all the instruments by himself, with little help from session musicians(namely ex-Santana drummer Michael Shrieve who played drums on all but two tracks).

"Hai Hai", released in 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.

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 the tracks; but in the 99% of the cases the main writer of the song 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". After his departure from Supertramp, he has collaborated with other well-known artists, such as Ringo Starr (with whom he toured in 2001 playing guitar for the All-Starr band and performing also his own songs), 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).

In 1987, just prior to releasing his second album "Hai Hai", he fell from a loft in his home and broke both wrists, which disabled him to successfully promote the album. He also took a long break from both touring and recording. In this time, he also turned towards a more spiritual path. He started touring as a solo artist only in 1996, and in 1997 released a live album, "Rites of passage", in which he performs with a full band including the Supertramp sax player John Helliwell.

He also contributed in 1999 with his vocals to the "Excalibur" project by Alan Simon; he sang two songs on the studio album (The Will of God and The Elements), and performed these two songs plus a third one (Dans la meme lumiere) on the "Excalibur" live concert in Rennes in 2000.

Roger is still giving concerts, often playing alone (he can handle guitars and keyboards, so it's often him and an instrument), but from time to time plays with other musicians, or with a full orchestra. 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 for over 20 years, in Shepherd's Bush, London. The performance was filmed, and is scheduled for a DVD release in the summer of 2006.

Roger is also the father of two children from his marriage to Karuna. Daughter Heidi was born on April 11, 1979, in Roger's motor home which the Supertramp road crew mischieviously dubbed his "Granola Bowl" just 10 to 15 minutes before her dad was due on stage with Supertramp. Son Andrew was born in 1981.

Albums

1. In the Eye of the Storm (1984)
2. Hai Hai (1987)
3. Rites of Passage (live) (1997)
4. Open the Door (2000)

External link

• Official Roger Hodgson Homepage
• Fansite: The Roger Hodgson Zoo
• Fansite: The Garden Gate

Hodgson, Roger