The Doobie Brothers to reunite with Michael McDonald for first album together in over 40 years

6 March 2024, 14:32

The brothers are back together.

For the first time in over forty years, The Doobie Brothers are reuniting with former member Michael McDonald on an original album of new music.

The announcement that will come as music to the ears of long-time fans of the band was revealed on their official Facebook channel.

This is according to The Doobie Brothers' founding member - and only consistent member throughout the band's history - Pat Simmons.

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Addressing their millions of fans and followers, Simmons wrote: "We are very close to finishing up an album's worth of new songs."

"We're lucky once again to have John Shanks producing and Michael McDonald joining in with us on this one!"

It'll mark the band's first original studio release with McDonald since 1980's One Step Closer.

"Tom [Johnston], Michael, John and myself have composed a great bunch of songs that we're really proud of and John McFee is really a stand-out on the tracks," Simmons continued in the post.

"It's the first time in 40 years that Michael has recorded a whole album with the band and in my humble opinion it's turning out to be some of the best music we've ever made together!"

Michael McDonald first departed The Doobie Brothers in 1982, when the golden era lineup all called it a day.

He went on to have a hugely successful solo career, his brand of blue-eyed soul and R&B earning him a Grammy Award for 'Yah Mo B There' in 1984 with James Ingram, as well as five further nominations.

His duet with Patti LaBelle on 1986's 'On My Own' was also a major international hit for McDonald, reaching number one in the US and number two in the UK charts.

Though he hasn't fully contributed to an album of original music for over forty years, McDonald did provide vocals and keyboards on a few songs for 2014's Southbound, an album that reimagined The Doobie Brother's classics.

McDonald re-joined the soft rockers for the 50th anniversary of their formation and the subsequent tour that was initially scheduled for 2020, but eventually kicked off the following year.

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The Doobie Brothers are set to hit the road this year also, the soft rock legends touring nationwide from June with Steve Winwood as the band's special guest support act.

Simmons confirmed in his written post on Facebook that The Doobie Brothers' original lineup was "going into rehearsals sometime in May".

"I'm hoping we'll be able to debut a few of our new songs [on the tour]," he added. "There's some really high-energy stuff that will be fun for us to play and hopefully work well with our better-known tunes."

"We'll keep you posted and let you know how that's workin' out."