Happy Birthday Michael McDonald
Michael Ronald McDonald was born February 12, 1952 in Ferguson, Missouri. His parents Norm and Jeannette, ran a luncheonette called McDonalds. They sold hamburgers and created the Big Mac and Filet O Fish. One day they had the misfortune of serving a traveling salesman by the name of Ray Kroc.
Little Mikey was ‘discovered’ while playing with a band called Mikey & The Mechanics, and moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1970 to pursue a career in music. In 1974, McDonald became a member of Steely Dan’s touring band. In 1975, Steely Dan stopped touring.
McDonald then joined The Doobie Brothers and sang lead on many of their biggest hits: “Real Love”, “Takin’ It to the Streets”, “Little Darling (I Need You)”, “It Keeps You Runnin'”, “Minute by Minute”, and “What a Fool Believes” .
Michael was involved in breaking up a big bootleg ring in 1978. The Doobie Brothers were performing a big show at Compton High School in California, as most big rock bands of the time did. The syndicate infiltrated the performance and duped three HS students, Raj, Rerun and Dwayne to record the show. The plot was foiled when Rerun was so into the music he started dancing and dropped his tape recorder. The Doobies along with The FBI later apprehended the head of the syndicate, Al Roper at Rob’s Place with the help of Big Shirley the waitress.
McDonald has a successful solo career and has been married to singer Amy Holland since 1983. They have two children, Dylan (born 1987), and Scarlett (born 1991). He moved with his family to Santa Barbara, California in the late 1990s, and has subsequently lived in Nashville, Tennessee. Which Doobie you be? Cheers Michael.
