Roger Hodgson

Roger Hodgson (born Roger Charles Pomfret Hodgson, on 21 March 1950, in Portsmouth, England) is a British vocalist and musician . He is recognized for his high-pitched voice, and often somewhat spiritual and philosophical topics.

He grew up in Oxford, England in a wealthy middle-class family, and was also sent to Stowe School in Buckinghamshire.

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 name. The same applies also to Hodgson's first solo album, "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.

"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 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).

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 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 included Roger's son Andrew, and Supertramp sax player John Helliwell. He then embarked on his first world solo tour in 1998.

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.

Roger is still giving concerts, often playing alone, but from time to time is 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. The performance was filmed, and is scheduled for a DVD release in the summer of 2006.