Charles Roger Pomfret Hodgson (born 21 March 1950) is an English singer, musician and songwriter, best known as the former co-frontman and founding member of the progressive rock band Supertramp.

[2][3][4] Hodgson composed and sang the majority of the band’s hits, including "Dreamer", "Give a Little Bit", "Take the Long Way Home", "The Logical Song", "It's Raining Again", and "Breakfast in America".

In 1983, Hodgson left Supertramp and moved his family away from Los Angeles to live a simpler lifestyle close to nature.

When aged 19, Hodgson made his first appearance in a recording studio as guitarist for People Like Us, a band he joined shortly after leaving boarding school.

[9] After People Like Us disbanded, Hodgson auditioned for Island Records, with Traffic's road manager providing him a foot in the door with the label.

[8]: 26–28  Island set him up in a recording studio as vocalist for the one-off "flower power" pop band Argosy, which also included Reginald Dwight (later known as Elton John), Caleb Quaye and Nigel Olsson.

[10] Their sole single, "Mr. Boyd" and B-side "Imagine", consisted of two pieces of orchestrated pop (both penned by Hodgson) and was issued in 1969 on the DJM (UK) and Congress (US) record labels.

After the break-up of Argosy, Hodgson, responding to an advert placed in Melody Maker by Rick Davies, auditioned for the guitarist spot in the progressive rock band Supertramp.

[12] Palmer left shortly after the album's recording, allowing Hodgson to switch back to guitar (as well as providing keyboards with Davies).

[13][14] Crime of the Century, released in 1974, was the first of their albums to feature the line-up of Hodgson, Davies and new members Bob Siebenberg (drums), Dougie Thomson (bass) and John Helliwell (saxophone, clarinet, keyboards, backing vocals).

At the time, Hodgson had a two-track tape recorder and made a "very magical" demo of the song on the spot with multiple vocal harmonies, using tin cans, lampshades and cardboard boxes for percussion.

Prior to writing the song, he was driven to find a harmonium (also known as a pump organ); he found one at an elderly woman's house in a village in the English countryside, which he bought for 24 pounds.

He had the lyrics written in about an hour in a "stream-of-consciousness" fashion, expressed from a "real joyful, playful place he was in at the time", while "dreaming of having kippers for breakfast to flying to America and seeing the girls in California, among other things".

...Famous Last Words..., released in 1982, included Hodgson's compositions "It's Raining Again", "Don't Leave Me Now", "C'est le Bon", "Know Who You Are" and "Crazy".

[8]: 119–137 In 1981, Hodgson moved his family from Los Angeles to northern California, where he built a home studio and began contemplating solo recordings.

[8]: 167–175  The rest of Supertramp remained in Los Angeles and the geographic separation created a rift between them and Hodgson; feuding was virtually non-existent, but the group harmony was lost.

Hodgson felt increasingly constrained in the group context, and during the tour for ...Famous Last Words... he made the decision to leave Supertramp.

[38] Hodgson played King Arthur in the rock opera Excalibur: La Legende Des Celtes and appeared on the album for two songs: "The Elements" and "The Will of God".

AllMusic said of the album, "Fans will be delighted to hear Hodgson returning to the craft of writing high-quality songs" ... "Open the Door is the closest thing to Supertramp since ...Famous Last Words... ."

In 2001, Hodgson toured as a member of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band playing guitar and singing,[39][40] and has since collaborated with Trevor Rabin (who appears on the track "The More I Look" on Open the Door).

He took part in the Night of the Proms concert series in Belgium and Germany in late 2004, as well as the rock festival Bospop in 2005 with return performances in 2011, 2013 and 2017.

[47] Hodgson continued to tour worldwide from 2011-16, including two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, and in 2017 with dates in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, the UK, Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Monaco and Canada.

"[50] During his concerts, Hodgson often shares stories with the audience of how his songs were written and "connects deeply with the fans in a way few stars of his stature do".

[53] On 4 June 2019, he was decorated with the Order of Arts and Letters by Franck Riester, French minister of Culture, in Paris during a tour at the Olympia.