Roger Hodgson Loses Supertramp Royalty Appeal as Long Rift With Rick Davies Resurfaces

Roger Hodgson, the former voice and co-founder of Supertramp, has lost his latest legal appeal in a battle over publishing royalties with his ex-bandmates – reigniting decades of tensions that have haunted the group since his split from Rick Davies in the early 1980s.

A ruling handed down this week by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Los Angeles overturns Hodgson’s 2024 courtroom victory, where a jury had sided with him in his quest to end a 1977 royalty-sharing agreement. That agreement, signed at the height of Supertramp’s fame, ensured Hodgson’s fellow bandmates – bassist Dougie Thomson, saxophonist John Helliwell and drummer Bob Siebenberg – received an ongoing cut of the band’s songwriting royalties despite not being credited as writers.

The appeals court found that the jury should never have been allowed to rule on the matter, reinstating the band’s claim and restoring their share of Hodgson’s publishing income.

Hodgson stopped payments in 2018, arguing that the 40-year-old agreement had run its course. The move set off years of bitter litigation, with his former bandmates claiming that the agreement was intended to last for the life of the band’s catalogue.

At stake are royalties from some of the most recognisable songs of the classic rock era. Among them:

The Logical Song
Dreamer
Give a Little Bit
Take the Long Way Home
Breakfast in America
School
It’s Raining Again

These tracks, many written and sung by Hodgson, remain staples on classic rock radio and continue to generate significant publishing income more than four decades after their release.

While the current courtroom drama centres on Hodgson’s former rhythm section, the dispute cannot be separated from his long and fraught relationship with Rick Davies, the other creative half of Supertramp.

Hodgson and Davies co-founded the group in London in 1969, quickly establishing a unique double-frontman dynamic. Unlike most bands, Supertramp was effectively two singer-songwriters operating under one name: Hodgson providing the soaring melodies and introspective lyrics, Davies bringing bluesier grit and grounded narratives.
That balance propelled Supertramp to superstardom. The 1974 breakthrough Crime of the Century set the tone, with Hodgson’s Dreamer and Davies’ Bloody Well Right sitting side by side. The dual identity reached full stride on 1977’s Even in the Quietest Moments and exploded with 1979’s Breakfast in America, which sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.

But by 1983, the partnership had fractured. Hodgson quit after the release of …Famous Last Words…, frustrated by creative differences and an inability to reconcile his vision for the band with Davies’ direction. From that point forward, Supertramp became Davies’ project alone.

The split was never amicable. Hodgson claimed for years that Davies had promised not to play Hodgson’s signature songs if Supertramp toured without him, a promise Hodgson alleged was later broken. Davies, meanwhile, downplayed the notion, insisting fans came to hear the songs regardless of who sang them.

For fans, the absence of a reunion became one of rock’s great what-ifs. Hodgson pursued a successful solo career with albums like In the Eye of the Storm (1984) and Open the Door (2000), while Davies kept Supertramp alive on the road and in the studio. Yet neither side ever fully recaptured the creative spark of their collaboration.

This latest ruling has now brought that decades-long division into the financial spotlight. With the appeals court siding against Hodgson, royalties from Supertramp’s golden-era catalogue will once again be shared among the surviving members.

The band’s lawyers celebrated the decision, saying it “preserved our clients’ legacy for themselves and their heirs while restating common sense California law.”

Hodgson, however, has yet to comment publicly, though insiders suggest the verdict may be the final chapter in his efforts to reclaim full ownership of his contributions.

Despite the courtroom battles and the bitter rift between Hodgson and Davies, Supertramp’s music continues to endure. Their blend of progressive rock sophistication and pop accessibility remains unmatched, with Breakfast in America standing as one of the best-selling albums of the late 1970s.

Songs like The Logical Song and Give a Little Bit have transcended generations, used in films, commercials and covered by contemporary artists, ensuring the royalties in question will remain valuable for decades to come.

The irony is not lost on fans: a band that once sang about harmony, understanding and taking the long way home now finds itself in protracted disputes over money and legacy. For Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies, the creative marriage that birthed Supertramp’s greatest music ended long ago, but the arguments over who owns that legacy remain as bitter as ever.

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Tagged as: 70s, Rick Davies, rock, Roger Hodgson, Supertramp, UK