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Rick Davies, the co-founder and frontman of British rock band Supertramp, has died, the band said in a tribute statement on its website .

He was 81.

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Davies died on Saturday after a more than 10-year battle with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, the band said.

The musician was born in 1944 in Swindon, England, and fell in love with music as a child by listening to Gene Krupa's "Drummin' Man," which inspired a lifelong appreciation of multiple genres of music, the band said, including jazz, blues and rock 'n roll.

Davies formed Supertramp in 1969 alongside fellow band member Roger Hodgson. Together as co-writers they produced hits including "Goodbye Stranger" and "

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