About Dan Fogelberg
Daniel Grayling Fogelberg (August 13, 1951 – December 16, 2007) was an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist widely known for his 1970s and 1980s soft rock hits, including "Longer" (1979), "Same Old Lang Syne" (1980), "Leader of the Band" (1981) and "Run for the Roses" (1982). == Early life and family == Dan Fogelberg was born in Peoria, Illinois, on August 13, 1951. He was the youngest of three sons born to Margaret (née Irvine, 1920–2015), a classically trained pianist, and Lawrence Peter Fogelberg (1911–1982), a band director at Woodruff High School in Peoria, at Pekin Community High School in Pekin, Illinois, and at Bradley University in Peoria. Fogelberg's mother was a Scottish immigrant and his father was of Swedish descent. Fogelberg often related his story of his father having allowed him to "conduct" the Bradley University school band at age 14. In 1981, Fogelberg released the song "Leader of the Band", which was written for and inspired by his father. Using a Mel Bay course book, Fogelberg taught himself to play a Hawaiian slide guitar that his grandfather had given him. He also learned to play the piano. At age 14, he joined a band, the Clan, which covered the Beatles. His second band was another cover band, the Coachmen, who released a single in 1967 with both tracks written by Fogelberg, recorded at Golden Voice Recording studio in South Pekin, Illinois, and released on the Ledger Record label: "Maybe Time Will Let Me Forget" and "Don't Want to Lose Her".
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.