1950–1969: early years Hodgson was born in
Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, on 21 March 1950, the son of Charles and Jill Hodgson (née Pomfret), and grew up in
Oxford. He attended
prep school Woodcote House School near
Windlesham, Surrey, where he was the first boy to learn electric guitar, and
public school Stowe School near
Buckingham. Hodgson's first guitar, given to him when he was 12, was a parting gift from his father when his parents divorced. He took it to boarding school with him, where his teacher taught him three chords. He began composing his own music and lyrics and within a year gave his first concert at school with nine original songs at the age of 13. Hodgson's first band at school consisted of him on guitar and his friend Roy Hovey playing snare drums. They were dubbed the "H-bombs" because of their last names. When aged 19, Hodgson made his first appearance in a recording studio as guitarist for People Like Us, a band he joined shortly after leaving boarding school.
1969: Argosy After People Like Us disbanded, Hodgson auditioned for
Island Records, with
Traffic's road manager providing him a foot in the door with the label. Their sole single, "Mr. Boyd" and B-side "Imagine", consisted of two pieces of orchestrated pop (both penned by Hodgson) and was issued in 1969 on the DJM (UK) and Congress (US) record labels. All the songs on Supertramp's
self-titled first album, released in 1970, were composed by Hodgson, Davies, and Palmer. Hodgson and Davies collaborated on the composing while Palmer wrote the lyrics. Palmer left shortly after the album's recording, allowing Hodgson to switch back to guitar (as well as providing keyboards with Davies). From their second album
Indelibly Stamped forward, Hodgson and Davies wrote separately with each singing lead vocals on their own compositions.
Crime of the Century, released in 1974, was the first of their albums to feature the line-up of Hodgson, Davies and new members
Bob Siebenberg (drums),
Dougie Thomson (bass) and
John Helliwell (saxophone, clarinet, keyboards, backing vocals). This line-up would remain unchanged for the remainder of Hodgson's tenure in the group. Hodgson's song "
Dreamer" became the band's first hit and drove the album to the tops of the charts. It was one of the first keyboard songs Hodgson wrote on his new Wurlitzer piano that he bought when he was 19 years old. "Dreamer" was written after setting the keyboard up at his mother's house, at the first opportunity he had to play it. At the time, Hodgson had a two-track tape recorder and made a "very magical" demo of the song on the spot with multiple vocal harmonies, using tin cans, lampshades and cardboard boxes for percussion. He has said he loves playing the song in concert because it "just brings out the dreamer in everyone. So often we let go of that side of ourselves and it kind of reminds the audience and reminds me when I'm singing it, too, to keep that place in us alive." The follow-up
Crisis? What Crisis?, their first album to be recorded in the US, was released in 1975. The album charted on both the UK Top Twenty and the US Top Fifty. By their 1977 release
Even in the Quietest Moments, the band had permanently relocated to the United States. Hodgson's opening song on the album, "
Give a Little Bit", became an international hit single (number 15 US, number 29 UK, number8 in Canada) and was written at 19 or 20 years of age; he introduced it to the band for recording five to six years later. Hodgson has stated the song was inspired by the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love", released during the love and peace movement of the 1960s.
Diana, Princess of Wales loved the song, and Hodgson performed it in her honour at the 2007 Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium. Hodgson said of the performance: "It was very wonderful when the audience all stood up, and the [two] princes also, to sing 'Give a Little Bit' with me. That was a magical moment." Hodgson has said it is a wonderful feeling as an artist to close his concerts with the song: "I look out and people just start hugging each other and they start singing with me. It's a very unifying song with a beautiful, simple message that I'm very proud of and really enjoy playing today." Supertramp released their most successful album,
Breakfast in America, in 1979; by 2010 it had sold over 20 million copies. From that same album, "
The Logical Song", written by Hodgson, is Supertramp's biggest chart hit in both the US and UK. In 1980, Hodgson was honoured with the
Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters for "The Logical Song" being named the best song both musically and lyrically. To this day, "The Logical Song" also has the distinction of being one of the most quoted lyrics in schools. Hodgson composed the song from an autobiographical point of view, inspired by his experience of being sent away to boarding school for ten years. "
Breakfast in America" was written by a young Roger before joining Supertramp. An error on a demo copy credits Rick Davies as the writer, but an addendum corrects it prior to the album's release. Hodgson has said that he wrote it during his late teens at a time when he "had a lot of dreams" and that it "still brings a smile to his face" when he sings it on stage. Prior to writing the song, he was driven to find a
harmonium (also known as a pump organ); he found one at an elderly woman's house in a village in the English countryside, which he bought for 24 pounds. Hodgson brought it home and proceeded to write many songs on it immediately, "Breakfast in America" being one of them - because the harmonium "had a magical quality to it and still does". He had the lyrics written in about an hour in a "stream-of-consciousness" fashion, expressed from a "real joyful, playful place he was in at the time", while "dreaming of having
kippers for breakfast to flying to America and seeing the girls in California, among other things". Hodgson still has the instrument today. The sound on the record is the original harmonium and a grand piano. The live album
Paris was released in 1980.
...Famous Last Words..., released in 1982, included Hodgson's compositions "
It's Raining Again", "Don't Leave Me Now", "C'est le Bon", "Know Who You Are" and "Crazy". Hodgson wrote hits such as "
Give a Little Bit", "It's Raining Again", "
Take the Long Way Home", "
Dreamer", and "Fool's Overture".
1984–present: solo career Roger Hodgson recorded three solo albums at his new home studio, the first before his departure from Supertramp. Titled
Sleeping With the Enemy, it was cut in the months between the release of
...Famous Last Words... and its supporting tour, and mixed during Supertramp rehearsals for the tour in hopes of fitting in some solo promotion while on the road. Hodgson's second album was
Hai Hai (1987). However, just prior to the album's release, Hodgson fell from a loft in his home and broke both wrists, which kept him from promoting the album. Doctors told Hodgson that he would never play music again, but he was doing so within a year and a half. He decided to take a long break from both touring and recording to spend more time with his children. Hodgson played
King Arthur in the
rock opera Excalibur: La Legende Des Celtes and appeared on the album for two songs: "The Elements" and "The Will of God". The project was headed by
Alan Simon and released in 1999. In 2000, Hodgson contributed vocals on the track "The Moon Says Hello" by
Carlos Núñez, on the CD
Mayo Longo. Hodgson's fourth solo effort,
Open the Door, was released in 2000 and continued in the vein of his previous work. He collaborated again with Alan Simon on the album.
AllMusic said of the album, "Fans will be delighted to hear Hodgson returning to the craft of writing high-quality songs"... "
Open the Door is the closest thing to Supertramp since
...Famous Last Words...." In August 2000, Hodgson guested with
Fairport Convention at that year's
Cropredy Festival. He performed "Breakfast in America", "The Logical Song", "Open the Door" and "Give A Little Bit". In 2001, Hodgson toured as a member of
Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band playing guitar and singing, and has since collaborated with Trevor Rabin (who appears on the track "The More I Look" on
Open the Door). Hodgson continued touring, often playing alone, and frequently joined by his band or a full orchestra. He took 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 with return performances in 2011, 2013 and 2017. On 30 November 2005, he held his first concert in England in over 20 years at
Shepherd's Bush, London. While the performance was filmed and scheduled for a DVD release, the plan was scrapped. Instead, the concert recorded at the Place Des Arts in
Montreal, Canada on 6June 2006 was his first DVD, released on 22 August 2006, entitled
Take the Long Way Home—Live in Montreal. In October 2006, the DVD was certified multi-platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association. In May 2006, Hodgson was honored by
ASCAP in recognition of his song "Give A Little Bit" being one of the most played songs in the ASCAP repertoire in 2005. He received another ASCAP award on 9April 2008 for the Gym Class Heroes' song "
Cupid's Chokehold", a remake of Hodgson's "
Breakfast in America", recognized as one of the most played songs in ASCAP's repertoire in 2007. Hodgson participated as a mentor on
Canadian Idol along with
Dennis DeYoung. He continued mentoring several of the finalists during his 2006 Canadian tour. Hodgson performed at the
Concert for Diana at
Wembley Stadium, on 1July 2007. He sang a medley of his most popular songs: "Dreamer", "The Logical Song", "Breakfast in America" and "Give A Little Bit". On 18 September 2007, the DVD
Take the Long Way Home—Live in Montreal was released worldwide, achieving Platinum status in just seven weeks, reaching No.1 in all Canada, and multi-Platinum and Gold in France and Germany. Hodgson toured the US, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Europe and Canada in 2010. Though Hodgson's former bandmates in Supertramp announced a 40th anniversary reunion tour, he was not invited. Hodgson's
Classics Live is a collection of recordings taken from solo, band and orchestra shows from his 2010 world tour. In May 2012, Hodgson was honored by France as a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters. This decoration was established in 1957 by the French Minister of Culture to recognize significant contributions to the arts. Hodgson continued to tour worldwide from 2011-16, including two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, and in 2017 with dates in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, the UK, Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Monaco and Canada. In December 2017, he toured with
Night of the Proms for 17 shows in Germany and Luxembourg. He was accompanied by saxophonist Michael Ghegan;
Emily Bear performed "School" with him. As related by
Subba-Cultcha magazine about Hodgson's concerts: "Alternating between electric keys, a grand piano and several guitars, Hodgson effortlessly weaves the music around his audience giving an almost cathartic emotional release in some cases"... "His instantly recognisable voice and pulsating keys are in as fine a form as you will hear, and the genuine friendliness and personality of Hodgson, comes across in waves from stage to audience." During his concerts, Hodgson often shares stories with the audience of how his songs were written and "connects deeply with the fans in a way few stars of his stature do". In 2018, Hodgson kicked off his Breakfast in America world tour, in honour of the 40th anniversary of Supertramp's
Breakfast in America album.
Rolling Stone reviewed the tour favourably. On 4 June 2019, he was decorated with the
Order of Arts and Letters by
Franck Riester, French minister of Culture, in Paris during a tour at the
Olympia. ==Tours==