Rick Davies Dies: Supertramp Co-Founder Was 81

Promotional portrait of the rock band Supertramp, circa 1981. L-R: John Helliwell, Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson, Bob Siebenberg and Dougie Thomson — Hulton Archive/Courtesy of Getty Images

Rick Davies, co-founder of Supertramp, has passed away at the age of 81 after years of health challenges due to cancer. The band confirmed his death in a statement, sharing that he died at his home on Long Island on September 5, 2025.

“The Supertramp Partnership is very sad to announce the death of the Supertramp founder, Rick Davies after a long illness,” the statement reads. “Rick passed away at his home on Long Island on September 5th. We had the privilege of knowing him, and playing with him for over fifty years. We offer our sincere condolences to Sue Davies.”

Davies was the steady heartbeat of Supertramp, shaping the group’s sound with his deep, soulful voice and songwriting style. While Roger Hodgson’s higher tenor carried hits like “The Logical Song,” it was Davies who gave the band grit with songs such as “Goodbye Stranger” and “Bloody Well Right.” Even after Hodgson walked away in 1983, following years of creative tension and legal disputes over royalties, Davies kept the band alive for decades.

Born in Swindon, England, on July 22, 1944, Davies was drawn to music from a young age. He started as a drummer before moving to keyboards, eventually leading a local group called Rick’s Blues. That band included a then-unknown Gilbert O’Sullivan on drums, who later credited Davies as an important influence. In 1969, determined to launch a new project, Davies placed an ad that caught Hodgson’s attention. The two clicked musically despite their different backgrounds, and after a brief stint under the name Daddy, they settled on Supertramp in early 1970.

The group signed with A&M Records and built a steady following with albums like Crime of the Century in 1974, which featured Davies’ “Bloody Well Right.” By 1977, Hodgson had delivered “Give a Little Bit” on Even in the Quietest Moments, but the true breakthrough came two years later with Breakfast in America. The album was a worldwide smash, fueled by “The Logical Song” and Davies’ own “Goodbye Stranger.” Suddenly, Supertramp was everywhere.

Although the group never matched that level of commercial success again, Davies guided Supertramp through four more albums, ending with 2002’s Slow Motion. He continued to tour under various lineups, even performing as recently as 2022 with Ricky and the Rockets. His health struggles became public in 2015 when he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, but he carried on with music whenever he could.