Dan Fogelberg, RIP, Age 56

NEW YORK —AP- Dan Fogelberg, the singer and songwriter whose hits “Leader of the Band” and “Same Old Lang Syne” helped define the soft-rock era, died Sunday at his home in Maine after battling prostate cancer. He was 56.His death was announced Sunday in a statement by Anna Loynes of the Solters & Digney public relations agency, and was also posted on the singer’s Web site.”Dan left us this morning at 6:00 a.m. He fought a brave battle with cancer and died peacefully at home in Maine with his wife Jean at his side,” it read. “His strength, dignity and grace in the face of the daunting challenges of this disease were an inspiration to all who knew him.”Fogelberg discovered he had advanced prostate cancer in 2004. In a statement then, he thanked fans for their support: “It is truly overwhelming and humbling to realize how many lives my music has touched so deeply all these years. … I thank you from the very depths of my heart.”

He’s one I’ll personally miss. His music was a part of my broadcast life for a long time. I’d always considered the album that he and Tim Weissburg made, “Twin sons of different mothers” to be one of the best I’ve ever heard.  It was one of 20 he made in his life. (“The power of gold” is a favorite) I have most of his albums here.

And yeah, I know, real men aren’t supposed to like soft rock. Forget that nonsense. I like ALL music if it’s done right. Dan’s always was.

56?

Far too young. The moral of the story, is get those checkups, guys.

I awoke this morning to a shattering sound
And I went downstairs and found these shards of glass strewn all around
And there upon the floor I found this poor broken dove
And it made me realize how very fragile is this life that we so love

I came back up to bed and I held you so tight
And I prayed up to the Father, oh I prayed with all my might
That He’d always keep you with me, that He’d always keep you safe
And when I went downstairs I found that dove had somehow up and flown away
…

There’s so much we take for granted, there’s so much we never say
We get caught up in the motion of just a living day to day
We are fettered to the future, we are prisoners of the past
And we never seem to notice ’til our lives have finally slipped right through our grasp

Rest in peace, Dan.