Rick Davies, the founding member of the 1970s British rock band Supertramp, has died at age 81.
The rocker died at his Long Island home Friday following a decadelong battle with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, the band revealed.
The group’s surviving members paid their respects to Davies in a heartfelt statement on social media.
The “Goodbye Stranger” hitmakers wrote of Davies on Facebook Sunday, “We had the privilege of knowing him, and playing with him for over fifty years. We offer our sincere condolences to Sue Davies,” the musician’s wife, “with whom he shared over five decades.”
“As co-writer, along with partner Roger Hodgson, he was the voice and pianist behind Supertramp’s most iconic songs, leaving an indelible mark on rock music history,” the statement went on. “His soulful vocals and unmistakable touch on the Wurlitzer became the heartbeat of the bands’ sound.”
The tribute quoted the songwriter’s lyrics from their 1979 track: “Goodbye stranger it’s been nice / Hope you find your paradise.”
Davies founded the band in 1970 alongside Roger Hodgson.
The duo recruited Dougie Thomson, Bob Siebenberg and John Helliwell, and they performed together from 1973 to 1983.
The band’s other hits include “Give a Little Bit,” “Breakfast in America,” “Take the Long Way Home” and “The Logical Song.”
The group also received a total of four Grammy nods during their time together, including for Album of the Year for 1979’s “Breakfast in America.”
Two of their albums were certified diamond in Canada, propelling them to global stardom.
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However, the group began to fall apart shortly after the release of their 1982 album “Famous Last Words,” with Hodgson quitting over creative differences.
Still, Davies and the other remaining members stayed together until the release of their final album, “Slow Motion,” in 2002.
In 2015, Davies — who was born in Swindon, England, in 1944 — was diagnosed with cancer. The diagnosis happened just as the band had planned a 25-date European tour.
The group was forced to pull the plug on their reunion, with Davies shifting his focus fully onto his treatment.
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