"Leader of the Band" is a song written by Dan Fogelberg from his 1981 album The Innocent Age. The song was written as a tribute to his father, Lawrence Fogelberg, a musician and the leader of a band, who was still alive at the time the song was released. Lawrence died in August 1982. Released as a single at the end of 1981, the tribute peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1982. It became Fogelberg's second #1 song on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, following his 1980 hit "Longer".