Michael McDonald

Michael McDonald has been married to Amy Holland, a singer, since 1983. The couple has two children - Dylan (born in 1987) and Scarlett (born in 1991). The family moved to Santa Barbara in the 1990s.

He has spoken out on his struggles with alcoholism and his recovery from the same.

Michael McDonald was born in Ferguson, Missouri, into an Irish American Catholic family on February 12, 1952.

He attended McCluer High School where he performed in his first band ‘Mike and the Majestics’. He also played in other local groups, including Reebtoors, Jerry Jay and the Sheratons, and the Guild.

McDonald moved to Los Angeles in 1970 to pursue his career in music.

Michael McDonald initially wrote and sang songs for albums of other artists. In 1974, he was hired by Steely Dan as an in-studio member. He also worked as a keyboardist and background singer for the Steely Dan albums.

He also joined hands with the Doobie Brothers in April 1975. This band initially asked him to perform in place of their lead singer Tom Johnston who was ill at that time. However, the band members liked the work of McDonald so much that they asked him to join as a full-time member.

He worked for the band as the lead singer and song writer and took it to great heights, producing smash hits, such as the single ‘What a Fool Believes.’ This song also brought a Grammy Award for him.

He also collaborated with his contemporaries—Toto, Christopher Cross, Bonnie Raitt, Jack Jones, and Kenny Loggins—working as a keyboardist and session vocalist on their songs and albums.

After the separation from the Doobie Brothers in the early 1980s, Michael McDonald continued as a solo artist and released his first album ‘If That's What it Takes’ in 1982.

Michael McDonald first worked as a replacement keyboard artist for the Doobie Brothers. The band was so impressed with him that it asked him to perform as the lead singer as well as song writer. He transformed the group’s music from funky rock to more of a jazzy R&B sound. He initially used his signature style for the Doobie Brothers and produced hits like ‘Taking It to the Streets’ and ‘What a Fool Believes.’

In 1982, he released his solo album – ‘If That's What It Takes.’ The album climbed to number 6 on the US Billboard 200 and number 10 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

In 1983, he gave another Top 20 pop hit ‘Yah Mo B There’ (Grammy Award–winning) for which he worked in collaboration with James Ingram. The single reached number 19 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

In 1986, his single ‘On My Own’ done in partnership with Patti LaBelle shot to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and also on the US Billboard Hot Black Singles.