"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.
Dan often related his memory of his father allowing him to "conduct" the school band when he was only four years old. At the time, Fogelberg senior may have been a band director at Bradley University in Peoria.