Dan Fogelberg Keeps On Delighting Fans

Saturday, July 18, 1998

By JIM ROGALSKI, Hearst Newspapers

It's been 19 years since a 28-year-old Dan Fogelberg earned immortality with his No. 2 hit single "Longer," which has been used at more weddings than a polka band.

The man with the sensitive, introspective lyrics and satin voice hasn't had a Top 30 hit since 1982 when "Make Love Stay" and "Missing You" were released on his smash Greatest Hits album, which went triple platinum.

The album capped a string of eight consecutive album that went either gold or platinum. But the years since have not been as successfully. The singer's last four albums have failed to reach the benchmark of 500,000 copies sold.

Despite the lack of mega-hits through most of the 1980s and 1990s, Fogelberg - a fit and boyish-looking 47 and still as feverishly private as ever - has maintained a huge and loyal following of fans, some of whom travel in caravans for up to 10 hours or more to see his concerts.

Fogelberg has stated several times that when he reaches the age of 50, he will "take a long, hard look at my career and decide if I want to keep doing this."

That has created a bit of a feeding frenzy among his most loyal fans, who will go to great lengths to see his shows and try to learn about him before he literally sails off into the sunset on one of his many boats.

Fogelberg said in a telephone interview that he wants to explore his painting and sailing talents when he finally retires from the music industry.

On his current tour, which raps up July 25 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Fogelberg is promoting the album "Portrait," which chronicles songs from all 15 of his album. It also includes five never-before-released songs.

"I've got another studio album in me," said the singer, who is on the second leg of his summer tour. "I don't know when I'm going to get to it, but there's no hurry."

No hurry, he said, because he's currently working on a Christmas album for 1999 release, as well as a live album from last summer's acoustic tour.

"Not your traditional Christmas album," he said. It will explore his Celtic roots, he explained, using traditional Scottish instruments like lutes, as well as his guitar.

"Those two will keep me pretty busy up to 2000, probably," he said. "At that point I'll look at making another studio album and say, 'Is this the last one or do I want to keep doing this?'"

It is the thought of a final Fogelberg album that has fans like Susan Wilcox, 31, of Warensburg, Mo., scrambling to see as much of the singer as possible.

She discovered Fogelberg when she was 13 years old and has been a dedicated fan ever since. In early July she traveled 11 hours on a train to catch his concert in Chicago, knowing that there are an ever-dwindling number of opportunities to see him perform.

"His music is so totally different from anyone else. It's intelligent. It's introspective. It's beautiful," she says.

Fogelberg said it's that type of connection with his fans that has helped keep him going all these years.

"When songs reach people in a much deeper way than just commercial, it's very gratifying," he said.

But having such an ability to touch people with his lyrics has been a double-edged sword for Fogelberg, who is also is an accomplished guitarist.

"The biggest frustration of my career has been that I've done all my own guitar playing over the years and don't get recognized for it," he said. "People come to my shows and say, 'I had no idea you played lead guitar.'"

Whatever the reason fans enjoy Fogelberg, his popularity shows no signs of fading into the past.

There are numerous active Fogelberg Web pages on the Internet with message boards and chat rooms where fans share their kinship and discuss anything Fogelberg related, from contemplating the meaning of his lyrics to mourning the day he chooses to hang up his guitar for other pursuits.

Tim Connelly runs one of the most active Fogelberg message boards out of his Wilmington, N.C. home. He says the board receives an average of 50 posts per day from people, some from as far away as Australia and the United Kingdom.

"We just love his music," Connelly said in a phone interview. "His lyrics are so enlightening and have a philosophical impact on people."

Although Fogelberg is not packing them into 20,000-seat stadiums like he used to, he is having little trouble filling smaller venues of up to 5,000 seats or more.

After the July 25 show in Fort Lauderdale, it's back to his Colorado ranch where he'll continue working on the Christmas and live albums in his private studio, and sailing whenever he can at his summer home in Maine.