The Doobie Brothers are set to release their first new album featuring Michael McDonald in 40 years.
Former lead singer McDonald left the ‘What A Fool Believes’ hitmakers in 1982 – after joining in 1975 as a temporary replacement to Tom Johnston – to focus on his solo career and now he will feature on the band’s newest album, marking the singer’s first contribution of original material with the band since 1980’s ‘One Step Closer’.
The forthcoming LP is called ‘Walk This Road’ and will drop this summer.
The Doobie Brothers announced the news in an end of year Facebook post, in which they wrote: “It’s been a long winding road since those early days but we’re still working together, doing our best to remain creative, and looking forward to bringing our music to you folks out there again next year.”
The new record will feature 10 new songs which are sung by Michael McDonald, founding member Pat Simmons and original vocalist Tom Johnston and the three band members collaborated on writing the tracks.
They added: “John McFee added his incredible musical talents as well. Once more we turned to the amazing John Shanks who produced, wrote, and played on the tracks with us. Fortunately we’re back working with our friends at Warner Brothers/Rhino Records on this release.
“We had a lot of fun recording it and we feel very proud of the results.
“We are so fortunate to have your continued support and thankful for the opportunity you’ve given us to play the music we love and work so hard to create. It’s such a privilege to share the songs that connect us with you, hopefully rekindling happy memories and creating new ones together.”
Since leaving the group in 1982, Michael has returned intermittently for various studio projects, such as the rock band’s 2014 covers album ‘Southbound’ and returned full time in 2019.