Legends: Rick Davies - Supertramp

Rick Davies was one of the two lead singer-songwriters in Supertramp, one of the greatest bands of the rock era. In 1979 the band hit their zenith with the album “Breakfast In America”, which sold over 20 million records.

Rick played keyboards and wrote several of the band’s greatest hits. His songs had a blusier, edgier sound to them than those of Roger Hodgson, the other lead songwriter, who wrote more pop oriented songs which he sang in his high tenor voice. Together, however, these two guys provided the yin and yang of Supertramp which defined the band and made them a success.

Rick’s first band, called Rick’s Blues, included Gilbert O’Sullivan on the drums. In August 1969 he placed an ad in Melody Maker seeking to form a new band, and Roger Hodgson auditioned and joined. 

Supertramp’s first successful album was 1974’s “Crime Of The Century”. It contained “Bloody Well Right”, Rick’s first hit.  The band’s breakthrough album was “Breakfast In America”, which contained another Davies hit, “Goodbye Stranger”. 

Like most rock bands, however, creative differences and jealousies eventually split up Supertramp. But for the time that they were together they were a fantastic, creative band - one of the best of the rock era - under the leadership of Rick Davies.