Supertramp Biography

Supertramp is a band with beginnings of the most unusual nature – it was spearheaded by a rock fan with enormous economic resources. In the late 1960’s, Stanley August Miesegaes, a Dutch millionaire, heard a musician by the name of Rick Davies performing in his current band. Immediately taken by Davies talents, Miesegaes invited Davies to join a band he was interested in financing. It was a clear business arrangement – Davies would handle the music and the acquisition of talent, and Miesegaes would fund the endeavor. Davies agreed.

Rick Davies placed ads in local London papers and found his band mates. Supertramp did not begin with the most auspicious start; the band embarked on an unsuccessful tour and initially disbanded. But Davies persisted, finding new musicians Bob Benberg John Helliwell, and Dougie Thomson as replacements, and Supertramp released their second album, Crime of the Century. The album shot to number one in the UK, and laid the foundation for future success in America. The singles “Dreamer” and “Bloody Well Right,” both released in 1985, did chart in the Untied States, and so Supertramp embarked on their first US tour.

Their next endeavor, Crisis?, didn’t make it to the charts but received airplay in the US.  Even in the Quietest Moments fared better on its release in 1977, and featured the hit single “Give a Little Bit.” But Breakfast in America became Supertramp’s breakthrough, reaching number one on a worldwide scale and selling over four million copies in the United States. The Album featured the hit singles "The Logical Song,” "Goodbye Stranger,” and "Take the Long Way Home." Paris came next, featuring “It’s Raining Again,” and Supertramp seemed to have solidified their status as rock stars.

In 1985, Supertramp released Brother Where You Bound, which contained the group’s most successful single, “Cannonball,” and that same year they launched a US tour lasting six months. Supertramp released one more album in the 1980’s, Free As a Bird (1987), before taking a nearly decade-long hiatus. The band resurfaced in 1997, however, and released Some Things Never Change. Slow Motion followed in 2002, but then it appeared that Supertramp was disbanding for good.

In the new millennium Supertramp did re-form, however, with the lineup of Rick Davies, Bob Siebenberg, John Helliwell, Carl Verheyen, Cliff Hugo, Lee Thornburg, Jesse Siebenberg, Gabe Dixon, and Cassie Miller.  The band performed thirty-five concerts in 2010, and continued to tour into 2011.