Dan Fogelberg, 1951-2007

Dan Fogelberg, the folk-pop titan of ’70s and ’80s adult-contemporary radio, died Sunday after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was 56.

A few Fogel-facts: 

1. Fogelberg launched legendary manager Irving Azoff’s career. In the early ’70s, Azoff was managing REO Speedwagon in Illinois when he heard Fogelberg playing at a frat party. Azoff decided he needed to take this folkie to Los Angeles and start working the guy. By the end of the decade, Azoff was managing Eagles and Steely Dan, and by 1983, he was running MCA. That’s right: with just the power of his (non) rocking, Dan Fogelberg set the tone of the music business for the next three decades.

2. Did more for flute than Zamfir, but not as much as Jethro Tull. In 1978, having recorded three albums but not yet going great guns, Fogelberg decided to record a duet album with flautist Tim Weisberg — this was at a time when left-field side projects with the appearance of financial disaster were not discouraged by the industry. The album was a big hit, and FogelWeisberg scored a huge mellow-rock single with “The Power of Gold.” Try something that crazy in 2007, and before you know it, Doug Morris will exile you to a permanent engagement at a Holiday Inn in Kuala Lumpur.