Michael McDonald

"Yah Mo B There", a duet with James Ingram, won the 27th Annual Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

Michael H. McDonald (born February 12, 1952) is an American singer, keyboardist and songwriter known for his distinctive, soulful voice and as a member of Steely Dan (1973–1974), and the Doobie Brothers (1975–1982, 1987, 2019–present).

McDonald wrote and sang several hit singles with the Doobie Brothers, including "What a Fool Believes", "Minute by Minute", and "Takin' It to the Streets."

McDonald has also performed as a prominent backing vocalist on numerous recordings by artists including Steely Dan, Christopher Cross, and Kenny Loggins.

McDonald was born on February 12, 1952, into a Catholic Irish American family in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.

McDonald attended McCluer High School, where he played in local bands, including Mike and the Majestics, Jerry Jay and the Sheratons, the Reeb-Toors/Younger Brothers and the Guild.

In 1970, while playing with a band called Blue, he was discovered in an Illinois night club by RCA staff producer Rick Jarrard, who offered him a record contract and brought him to Los Angeles.

McDonald became a member of Steely Dan's touring band in 1973, singing lead and backing vocals.

McDonald became one of the many in-studio adjunct members of the band, providing backing vocals on tracks for 1975's Katy Lied.

McDonald was recruited by the Doobie Brothers in April 1975, initially as a temporary replacement for their lead vocalist Tom Johnston after he became ill during a national tour.

McDonald's work with the band proved so successful that they decided to retain him as a full-time member.

He appeared on subsequent Steely Dan recordings, including 1976's The Royal Scam and 1977's Aja.

He also played keyboards on some Steely Dan tracks.

McDonald co-wrote "You Belong to Me" with Carly Simon, which is on the Doobie Brothers' studio album Livin' on the Fault Line (1977).

McDonald continued to provide backing vocals for Steely Dan through their 1980 release, Gaucho.

As a member of the Doobie Brothers, McDonald sang lead vocals on some of the band's best-known songs, such as "Real Love", "Takin' It to the Streets", "Little Darling (I Need You)", "It Keeps You Runnin'", "Minute by Minute", and "What a Fool Believes" (which became a number-one single in the U.S. and earned him a 1980 Grammy Award for Song of the Year along with co-writer Kenny Loggins).

At the same time, McDonald appeared as a session vocalist and keyboardist for various artists, including Christopher Cross, Stephen Bishop, Jack Jones, Bonnie Raitt, the band Toto, and Kenny Loggins.

McDonald's solo career consists of nine studio albums and a number of singles, including the 1982 hit "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)".

During his career, McDonald has collaborated with a number of other artists, including James Ingram, David Cassidy, Van Halen, Patti LaBelle, Lee Ritenour, The Winans, Aretha Franklin,Toto, Grizzly Bear, Joni Mitchell, and Thundercat.

He has also recorded for television and film soundtracks.

McDonald has reunited as a guest performer with the Doobie Brothers several times since the band's initial dissolution in 1982.

After the Doobie Brothers' first farewell tour, McDonald released his first solo studio album, If That's What It Takes, in 1982, on the Warner Bros. label.

The album featured the hit singles "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)" and "I Gotta Try", the latter co-written with Kenny Loggins, who also recorded it that same year for his fourth album High Adventure.

He continued to collaborate with other artists during this period.

McDonald co-wrote Van Halen's top-20 hit "I'll Wait", from their biggest-selling album 1984.

In 1985, he released his second studio album No Lookin' Back, his first time co-producing an album.

He also wrote or co-wrote all of the tracks and featured a minor hit with the title track, cowritten by Kenny Loggins.

By June 1986, the album had met with little success, but McDonald then had a huge boost with the release of the single "Sweet Freedom", which appeared on the soundtrack to the Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines film Running Scared, and was McDonald's last top-10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The No Lookin' Back album was then re-released in some markets with the new hit single included, as well as a few songs remixed.

In 2006, he joined Steely Dan on the band's summer tour, both as the opening act and as part of the band.

He reteamed with them for the track "Don't Say Goodbye" on the band's thirteenth studio album, World Gone Crazy (2010).

In March 2014, he reunited with the band to record a new album featuring the greatest hits of their 40-plus-year career.

This project was completed in conjunction with Sony Music Nashville.

On the album, McDonald shares lead vocals with Sara Evans for "What a Fool Believes", the duo Love and Theft for "Takin' It to the Streets", and Amanda Sudano-Ramirez for "You Belong to Me."

The album titled Southbound was released on November 4, 2014, as the Doobie Brothers' fourteenth studio album.

On November 5, 2014, McDonald and the Doobie Brothers were featured musical guests on the 47th annual Country Music Association Awards to celebrate the release of Southbound. They were joined by Hunter Hayes, Jennifer Nettles, and Hillary Scott in their performance of "Listen to the Music".

At the end of the awards ceremony, they were also joined by host Brad Paisley for "Takin' It to the Streets".

As he recalled in a 2016 interview:

"I literally threw my piano in the back of my Pinto and drove down to where they were rehearsing and auditioned. Remarkably I got the gig, not because of my keyboard playing but because I could sing all the high parts. I could tell that appealed to Donald (Fagen)—'cause I could sing like a girl."

McDonald is the recipient of five Grammy Awards, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Doobie Brothers in 2020.