Leader of the Band
| "Leader of the Band" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Dan Fogelberg | ||||
| from the album The Innocent Age | ||||
| B-side | "Times Like These" | |||
| Released | December 1981 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:15 (single version) 4:48 (album version) | |||
| Label | Full Moon/Epic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Dan Fogelberg | |||
| Producer(s) | Dan Fogelberg, Marty Lewis | |||
| Dan Fogelberg singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| Dan Fogelberg - Leader of the Band (from Live: Greetings from the West) on YouTube | ||||
"Leader of the Band" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg for his 1981 album The Innocent Age. The song was written as a tribute to his father Lawrence Fogelberg, a musician and leader of a band who was still alive when the song was released. Before Lawrence's death in August 1982, he granted many media interviews because of the song.
The single was released in late 1981 and peaked at no. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1982. It became Fogelberg's second no. 1 song on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, following his 1980 hit "Longer". On the Radio & Records charts, "Leader of the Band" peaked at no. 2 on the CHR/Pop chart, and hit no. 1 on the AC chart.