Michael McDonald (musician)

== Solo career ==
After the Doobie Brothers' first farewell tour, McDonald released his first solo studio album, ''[[If That's What It Takes (album)|If That's What It Takes]]'', in 1982, on the [[Warner Records|Warner Bros.]] label.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/michael-mcdonald-songs|title=Top 15 Michael McDonald Songs|author=Giles, Jeff|date=February 12, 2015 |access-date=February 12, 2016}}</ref> The album featured the hit singles "[[I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)]]" and "I Gotta Try", the latter co-written with Kenny Loggins, who also recorded it that same year for his fourth album ''[[High Adventure]]''.

He continued to collaborate with other artists during this period. McDonald co-wrote [[Van Halen]]'s top-20 hit "[[I'll Wait]]", from their biggest-selling album ''[[1984 (Van Halen album)|1984]]''. "[[Yah Mo B There]]", a duet with [[James Ingram]], won the [[27th Annual Grammy Awards|27th Annual Grammy]] for [[Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals|Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/Winners/Results.aspx?title=&winner=Michael%20McDonald&year=0&genreID=0&hp=1 |title=– Grammy winners |publisher=Grammy.com |date=February 8, 2009 |access-date=April 12, 2010}}</ref> In 1985, he released his second studio album ''[[No Lookin' Back]]'', his first time co-producing an album. He also wrote or co-wrote all of the tracks and featured a minor hit with the [[No Lookin' Back (song)|title track]], cowritten by Kenny Loggins. By June 1986, the album had met with little success, but McDonald then had a huge boost with the release of the single "[[Sweet Freedom (song)|Sweet Freedom]]", which appeared on the soundtrack to the [[Billy Crystal]] and [[Gregory Hines]] film ''[[Running Scared (1986 film)|Running Scared]]'', and was McDonald's last top-10 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. The ''No Lookin' Back'' album was then re-released in some markets with the new hit single included, as well as a few songs remixed. The single "[[On My Own (Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald song)|On My Own]]", a duet with [[Patti LaBelle]], reached number one on the U.S. charts in 1986. Mid that year, he performed as a backing vocalist on the rock band Toto's studio album ''[[Fahrenheit (Toto album)|Fahrenheit]]'', appearing on the hit single "[[I'll Be Over You]]" and its accompanying video. On August 22, 1986, McDonald appeared in an episode of ''[[The Young and the Restless]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Goldstein|first1=Patrick|title=Pop Eye|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1986-08-17/entertainment/ca-16307_1_sweet-freedom|access-date=November 14, 2017|work=Los Angeles Times|date=August 17, 1986}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Reichardt|first1=Nancy M|title=What Happened Last Week On Your Favorite Soaps|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=August 23, 1986|quote=The Young and the Restless: Lauren, Traci, Danny and guest Michael McDonald gave a successful concert to benefit unwed teenage mothers.}}</ref> Later that year, he provided backing vocals on the [[Wang Chung (band)|Wang Chung]] song "A Fool and His Money" from their studio album ''[[Mosaic (Wang Chung album)|Mosaic]]''. In 1987, McDonald did a featured collaboration, titled "Love Has No Color"'','' with [[Gospel music|gospel]] quartet [[the Winans]] from their studio album ''[[Decisions (The Winans album)|Decisions]]''.

In 1990, McDonald released his third studio album, ''[[Take It to Heart]]'', which featured a minor hit with the title track, co-written by [[Diane Warren]]. The following year, he joined [[the New York Rock and Soul Revue]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-09-12/entertainment/ct-live-0913-dukes-of-rhythm-review-20100912_1_chestnuts-dukes-steely-dan|title=Fagan, McDonald and Scaggs roast a collection of rock and soul chestnuts|date=September 12, 2010|author=McKeough, Kevin|access-date=February 12, 2016}}</ref> put together by Steely Dan's lead vocalist [[Donald Fagen]] and featuring other artists such as [[Boz Scaggs]] and [[Phoebe Snow]]. In 1991, he released the single "Ever Changing Times", a duet with [[Aretha Franklin]].

In 1999, McDonald recorded the song "Eyes of a Child", a comedic ballad written by [[Trey Parker]], for the ''[[South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (soundtrack)|South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut]]'' soundtrack. It was also used at the ending credits for the movie. The same year, he sang backing vocals on [[the Warren Brothers]]' single "[[Better Man (The Warren Brothers song)|Better Man]]", from their studio album ''[[Beautiful Day in the Cold Cruel World]]''.<ref>{{cite AV media notes |title=Beautiful Day in the Cold Cruel World |author=The Warren Brothers |year=1998 |type=CD insert |publisher=BNA Records |id=67678}}</ref> He also provided lead vocals for one of three studio tracks on ''[[Chicago XXVI: Live in Concert]].''