ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- "Lonesome" Dave Peverett, who as lead singer of the British blues-rock quartet Foghat produced rock staples such as "Slow Ride" and "Third-Time Lucky," has died of complications from kidney cancer.

He was 56.

Peverett died Monday from pneumonia at an Orlando hospital after a year-long battle with cancer, Foghat's manager, Michael McConnell, said today. His wife, Linda, and their three children were with him.

"Dave was one of the hardest working guys in the business," McConnell said.

Heavily influenced by blues and early rock 'n' roll, Foghat built a large base of fans through frequent touring and produced such hits at "Slow Ride," "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "Driving Wheel" in the 1970s.

Foghat was born from the blues band Savoy Brown. Peverett, drummer Roger Earl and bassist Tony Stevens quit that band and decided to form their own group in 1970. Rod Price became the group's lead guitarist.

The group wanted to take the sound of Savoy Brown a step further and add more of a rock edge to their basic boogie blues. Foghat took their name from a word that Peverett and his brother invented some years earlier in a Scrabble game.

"Offstage he was a quiet and gentle man with a great sense of humor who would share his passion and love for music with anyone who would lend an ear," Earl said in a statement. "Working with Dave for the last 30 plus years was one of the great pleasures I've known."

Foghat's albums included "Fool for the City," "Foghat," "Rock and Roll Outlaws," "Night Shift," and "Stone Blue." It was their seventh album, "Foghat Live," in 1977 that brought them their biggest success, going double platinum.

"It happened suddenly," Peverett said in a 1998 interview with The Associated Press. "I don't think I realized at the time how big the band was. We were still playing and had the same mentality of coming up with songs for the next album. We looked up -- we were headlining big arenas.

"It was nice to go through that and survive it. I think we were pretty levelheaded compared to some people."

The band, which broke up for a time in the 1980s, reunited in 1993 and found new fans that year when "Slow Ride" and the band's version of "I Just Want to Make Love to You" were on the soundtrack of the movie "Dazed and Confused."

Peverett was born April 16, 1943, in Dulwich, England and raised in London.

After he was diagnosed with cancer, he had a kidney removed, underwent radiation and chemotherapy and had thought the cancer was in remission, McConnell said.

A private funeral service will be held Thursday in Orlando.