Leo Sayer was an aspiring singer/songwriter in 1972, working with another capable drummer-writer-producer, David Courtney, and managed by a former U.K. pop star named Adam Faith. Courtney and Sayer were working together in a band called Patches, but it was as a songwriting team where they saw their best shot at fame.
Faith had enough clout to get demos by Sayer and Courtney recorded at a studio owned by the Who's Roger Daltrey. When Daltrey stopped by to see how the sessions were going, he was blown away by the material he heard.
In the end, Daltrey recorded several of the Sayer-Courtney originals for his first solo album, released in 1973. "Giving It All Away" would become Daltrey's first solo recording outside of the Who and a Top 5 smash hit. It would also launch the duo's songwriting career in earnest. A #4 U.S. hit called "The Show Must Go Own" would be released by Three Dog Night, and shortly thereafter, Sayer landed a solo deal with Chrysalis Records. His first LP, Silverbird, would reach #2 in the UK.
Sayer hit #1 in the U.K. with "The Show Must Go On," and then had a hit on both sides of the Atlantic with "Long Tall Glass (I Can Dance)," from his follow-up Just A Boy LP. His third album, 1975's Another Year would result in the break-up of his songwriting partnership with Courtney midway through recording. Sayer would pick up his composing with Frank Furrell, a former member of Supertramp.
Sayer had a good run of pop hits internationally until the early 1980s. He continued to perform and record, and in 2000 he relocated to Australia, where he has his strongest fan base. He became an Australian citizen in January of 2009.