Produced by Dann’s longtime friend Bill Cuomo (Kim Carnes, Steve Perry, Trace Adkins, KISS, Lynyrd Skynyrd), the lilting, piano-driven ballad boldly tackles the reality of abortion – not from a controversy seeking, politically charged point of view, but with a sense of sorrow and compassion for the emotional and spiritual repercussions, and the loss of innocence that a young woman experiences after making the difficult choice. The stark black and white video features Dann singing the heart-rending lyrics intercut with beautiful images he selected, illustrating moments from that once-innocent life, the graceful movements of a ballerina (“a way to bring beauty to the pain,” he says) and, at one point, her hands clasped in prayer.

“I wrote ‘Lesson in Love’ a handful of years ago, along with a bunch of other songs that I eventually recorded for my double album LIFE, but then set it aside,” Dann says. “Six months ago, I really felt God talking to me, telling me I had to cut this song and share it with the world. I’m a purpose driven person, an all or nothing guy. So, once I committed to it, I reached out to Bill, who I’d known since the 80s, when both of us were at the same studios, working on sessions for other artists. I wrote it like I do all my songs on guitar, but Bill had the wonderful idea to turn it into a piano ballad. I wrote it long before abortion again became the political hot potato it is this year – and if people find it a controversial subject for an AC pop song…hey, at my age, I have nothing to lose.”

Though “Lesson in Love” finds Dann telling the story about what a woman goes through, he pulled some of the song’s raw emotions from hard lessons earlier in his life, decisions he regrets to this day – especially from the perspective of a loving father with four sons. “All I want is for people to remember me as a spiritual being on a human journey, who overcome a lot of adversity to help other people,” he says. “I hope the song and video will impact people’s lives. As a man, I can’t imagine what a woman must go through when faced with this moral decision, and I will never condemn anyone for it. I think it’s between her and God…but if one woman hears the song and decides not to get an abortion and has the opportunity to fall in love with her child, then what I’ve written will have served a greater purpose.”

“Lesson in Love” follows on the heels of Life, Dann’s long in the making collection which streams as a prolific output of 19 of Dann’s most compelling songs ever, but was conceived with the old school double album approach in mind, where the first LP/CD is LIFE REFLECTIONS, and the second is LIFE REVEALED. Leading up to the project’s release in September 2020 – six months after Kenny’s passing – Dann scored #1 radio hits on the FMQB AC chart in 2017-18 with the lead singles “Love Is the Fire” and “Just One of Those Days.”

LIFE marks Dann’s first commercial full length set since STILL RUNNIN’ in 1987 on MCA Records – a significant milestone album that was released after having moved to Nashville from L.A. to pursue recording opportunities.  Says Dann, “After the release of the album, I was offered a lowball deal for my publishing, encouraged by my label head and producer.  I grew up in the music business and I knew the value of publishing.  They wanted it all for pennies, and when I refused, my career in Nashville was canceled.  I came back to Los Angeles with my artistic integrity intact, and continued my songwriting career.”

Life definitely threw Dann some unexpected curveballs, and there was a time when he stepped away from music and bounced around a bit, saying, “I guess I never knew where home was.” All these experiences, plus years of industry and personal ups and downs – including a raw look at his emotional childhood being raised by a mother with mental illness - are part of Dann’s critically acclaimed, powerfully revealing 2011 biography “Love, Laughter and Rage,” which includes a foreward written by Kenny. It’s an intimate, plain-spoken way for readers to understand the forces that defined and drove Dann’s life, and where his passion for music began.

Thinking about his family’s multi-generational love affair with music, he now says, “Anytime the Rogers men of Apple Springs, Texas got together, there was always a good time to be had. My grandfather Floyd was a fiddle player and his brothers all played guitar -- and my great grandfather played string instruments at barn dances. And in my generation, I would say everything good that ever happened in my life and career was because of my two heroes – my dad and Kenny.”

While Kenny, one of eight children, became the legend in the family; his oldest brother and Dann’s father, Lelan Rogers, also made a mark on the music industry – from serving as A&M Records’ first radio promoter and being International Records’ first national promo guy, to producing Lightnin’ Hopkinds, The 13th Floor Elevators, Big Al Downing, Esther Phillips and Bettye LaVette. Dann caught the singing and songwriting bug by osmosis from all the unique artists Lelan worked with spending time in the house.  Dann was hooked, and by his mid-teens, was having his own songs recorded by major artists. At 15, his “My Merry Go Round” became a hit for Johnny Nash, and no less than John Lennon (another of Dann’s idols) called it “the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard.”

Soon thereafter, Dann became a staff writer with the likes of Nash and Bob Marley at Cayman Music, and also began writing songs for himself to record – enhanced by his developing guitar skills under the mentorship of Ike Turner. Dann’s collaborators in those early days included Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, Burton Cummings of The Guess Who, and members of ELO. Caring more about the hard work of writing and recording in the studio than chasing fame and fortune on the road, Dann never pitched songs directly to artists. In fact, one he had originally tossed in the trash was recorded by Glen Campbell.  Dann also wrote Dottie West’s “If It Takes All Night” produced by Larry Gatlin.  Others who became fans and encouraged him along the way include Johnny Cash, Prince and Lionel Richie.

“I always considered myself a true artist in that I never wrote songs strictly to make money,” Dann says. “To me, music is an art form, a mode of expression, and my way of being accepted as a person.” In the early 2010s, after too long away from writing and recording – during which time he did everything from real estate to recording jingles and voiceovers for a radio station – Dann undertook the discipline of fasting to see if he still “had it” as a songwriter and artist. All the songs that ended up on LIFE as well as “Lesson in Love” were the creative fruits from this unique period.

“I came to my current hometown of Newport Beach for the first time, rented a funky little apartment surrounded by only a metal chair, cafeteria table, pillow, blanket, an air mattressand eight guitars, and I went on a 40 day fast. I only allowed myself juice, broth and water. In these 40 days,” he adds, “I challenged myself to answer that question: Do I still have it in me to do music? And the songs fell right out.”
Dann continues, “After the fast, I went into the studio and cut about 20 vocal demos in one day – then took my time over the following years to develop them into the project whose title actually says it all -- Life.”