best Doobie Brothers songs (A-Z) ↓↓↓

Doobie Brothers info & bio

The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in San Jose, California in 1970. Known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies, the band has been active for over five decades, with their greatest success taking place in the 1970s. The group's current lineup consists of founding members Tom Johnston (guitars, keyboards, harmonica, vocals) and Patrick Simmons (guitars, banjo, recorder, vocals), alongside Michael McDonald (keyboards, synthesizers, vocals) and John McFee (guitars, pedal steel guitar, mandolin, banjo, violin, cello, harmonica, vocals), and touring musicians including John Cowan (bass, vocals), Marc Russo (saxophones), Ed Toth (drums), and Marc Quiñones (percussion, backing vocals). Long-serving former members include guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, bassist Tiran Porter, and drummers John Hartman, Michael Hossack, and Keith Knudsen.

Johnston provided the lead vocals from 1970 to 1975, when they featured a mainstream rock sound with elements of folk, country and R&B. Michael McDonald joined the band in 1975 as a keyboardist and additional lead vocalist, to give some relief to Johnston, who was suffering health problems at the time. McDonald's interest in soul music introduced a new sound to the band. Johnston and McDonald performed together as co-lead vocalists for one album, Takin' It to the Streets, before Johnston left in 1977. Frequent lineup changes followed through the rest of the 1970s, and the band broke up in 1982 with Simmons the only constant member having appeared on all of their albums. In 1987, the Doobie Brothers reformed with Johnston back in the fold. McDonald, who made several guest appearances after their reformation, returned full-time in 2019.

The group's fourteen studio albums include six top-ten appearances on the Billboard 200 album chart, including 1978's Minute by Minute, which reached number one for five weeks, and won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group, and "What a Fool Believes" won three Grammys itself. Their sixteen Billboard Hot 100 top-40 hits include "Listen to the Music", "Jesus Is Just Alright", "Long Train Runnin'", "China Grove", "Black Water" (#1 in 1974), "Takin' It to the Streets", "What a Fool Believes" (#1 in 1979), and "The Doctor", all of which receive rotation on classic hits radio stations. They have also released six live albums and numerous greatest hits compilations, including 1976's Best of the Doobies, certified diamond by the RIAA for reaching album sales of ten million copies. The Doobie Brothers were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020. The group has sold more than 40 million records worldwide.