Singer Dan Fogelberg loses battle to cancer

Singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg passed away Sunday after losing a battle to prostrate cancer

The 56-year-old helped define the soft-rock era in the 1970's and 80's.

His hits included "Leader of the Band," "Same Old Lang Syne," "Hard To Say" and "Go Down Easy."

Fogelberg discovered he had advanced prostate cancer in 2004.

Fogelberg''s music was powerful in its simplicity. He didn't rely on the volume of his voice to convey his emotions; instead, they came through in the soft, tender delivery and his poignant lyrics.

Songs like "Same Old Lang Syne" -- in which a man reminisces after meeting an old girlfriend by chance during the holidays -- became classics not only because of his performance, but also for the engaging storyline.

Fogelberg put out his first album in 1972.

His songs tended to have a weighty tone, reflecting on emotional issues in a serious way.

But in an interview with the (Milwaukee)Wisconsin, Journal Sentinel in 1997, he said it did not represent his personality.

"That came from my singles in the early '80s," he reflects. "I think it probably really started on the radio. I'm not a dour person in the least. I'm actually kind of a happy person. Music doesn't really reflect the whole person.

Later in his career, he would write material that focused on the state of the environment, an issue close to his heart.

Fogelberg's last album was in 2003 "Full Circle," his first album of original material in a decade.