A prominent part of the soundtrack to our times, over the course of his career Michael McDonald has maintained incredible popularity and has been awarded numerous accolades and honors in both personal and professional arenas. He has won an impressive five Grammys and earned innumerable chart successes and sales feats, yet all the while McDonald remains the artist's artist and an enduring presence
in popular music. Michael McDonald combines yuletide favorites such as “White Christmas” and the more modern Stevie Wonder Motown classic “What Christmas Means to Me” with a few of his signature hits like “I Keep Forgettin” for a perfect blend of holiday cheer. McDonald’s soulful, throaty baritone infuses the popular yuletide songs with a unique vocal styling that adds the perfect twist to everyone’s holiday season!
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Doobie Brothers: McDonald was recruited by the band The Doobie Brothers in April 1975 when lead singer Tom Johnston became ill during a national tour. His time with the band proved so successful that they decided to retain him as a full-time member. As a member of the Doobie Brothers he recorded some of the band's best-known songs such as Real Love, Takin’ It to the Streets, Little Darling, 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 he appeared as a session singer and piano player for artists such as Christopher Cross, Stephen Bishop, Jack Jones, Bonnie Raitt, the rock band Toto and Kenny Loggins. McDonald co-wrote You Belong to Me with Carly Simon which appeared on the album Livin' on the Fault Line. Steely Dan: Michael McDonald became one of the many in-studio adjunct members of the group Steely Dan, providing back-up vocals on tracks for 1975's Katy Lied. He would return 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 continued to do background vocals for Steely Dan through their 1980 release, Gaucho. He was part of Steely Dan’s touring band in the 1970s, playing keyboards and singing backup.
