McDonald was recruited by the band The Doobie Brothers in April 1975 when lead singer Tom Johnston became ill during a national tour. His time with the band proved so successful that they decided to retain him as a full time member.
As a member of the Doobies, he recorded some of his most well-known songs, such as "Takin' It to the Streets", "Little Darling", "It Keeps You Runnin'", "Minute by Minute" and "What a Fool Believes" (which became a number one single in the U.S. and earned him a 1980 Grammy Award for Song of the Year). At the same time he appeared as a session singer and piano player for artists like Christopher Cross, Jack Jones, Bonnie Raitt, the rock band Toto and Kenny Loggins.
[edit] Solo career
This Is It
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"This Is It", written and sung together with Kenny Loggins.
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After the Doobies' first farewell tour, McDonald compiled some of his earlier songs in the 1982 release That Was Then: The Early Years which has never been issued on CD. His first solo album, If That's What It Takes, also released in 1982, featured the hits "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)," a duet with his sisters Kathy and Maureen, and "I Gotta Try," a song co-written with Kenny Loggins, who recorded it as well.
McDonald co-wrote Van Halen's Top 20 hit "I'll Wait", from their landmark 1984 album. McDonald co-wrote "You Belong to Me" with Carly Simon.
"Yah Mo B There", a duet with James Ingram, won him the 1985 Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.[2] He followed that up with "On My Own", a duet with Patti Labelle, which reached #1 on the U.S. charts in 1986. That same year he also performed the single "Sweet Freedom" that appeared on that summer's hit movie Running Scared soundtrack.
McDonald's 1990 album Take It to Heart featured a minor hit with the title song, co-written with Diane Warren. The following year he joined the New York Rock and Soul Revue, put together by Steely Dan's Donald Fagen. 1991's "Ever Changing Times" with Aretha Franklin, a duet on Arista Records, had moderate success and radio play (peaking at #19 on US R&B charts). In 2003, he earned two Grammy nominations for his album Motown, a tribute to the Motown sound.
In 2008 McDonald released his 'SoulSpeak' album. Which (in addition to including three new songs penned by McDonald himself) featured his interpretations of 11 carefully-selected soul-inspired songs. Ranging from universal evergreens like Dionne Warwick's 'Walk On By' and Stevie Wonder's 'Living For The City' to lesser-known numbers like Van Morrison's atmospheric 'Into The Mystic' and the late-Sixties Chicago soul of Tyrone Davis' 'Baby Can I Change My Mind'.[3]
McDonald has reunited as a guest performer with the Doobies several times since their initial dissolution in 1982, and joined Steely Dan on their 2006 summer tour, both as the opening act and as part of the band.[4]
Gary "Lil G" Jenkins
Gary began singing in church at the age of seven, which earned him a role as a featured soloist on BET's The Bobby Jones Gospel Show for many years. By the age of nine, Gary had mastered the guitar after only a few lessons[citation needed] and had self taught an assortment of keyboards, drums and guitars.
While attending Tennessee State University (TSU) in Nashville, Gary majored in music, with an emphasis in piano and voice. As a member of the prestigious TSU Jazz Collegians, he was selected to accompany Dizzy Gillespie on piano during Gillespie's visit to the school. He also appeared in several opera productions and performed with the TSU marching band.
In 1992, Gary answered an audition call and earned the role as lead singer for Keith Sweat's newly-formed R&B group, Silk. Their career began with the success of "Freak Me" and "Lose Control" from Silk's 1992 debut album Lose Control. Their career spanned the globe for nearly ten years, with more than five million records sold. The success of their second album, Silk, led to the follow-up, Tonight. Remaining consistent, they released their fourth album, Love Session in 2001. The group gained national recognition with his appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Live with Regis and Kathi Lee, MTV, BET, Soul Train, Jenny Jones, Ricki Lake, Moesha, Showtime At The Apollo and Motown Live among others. Achieving international acclaim, Gary has toured throughout the world in such countries as Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, France, the Netherlands and Germany.
With unresolved dissension among the group members mounting after the folding of their record label, Elektra, Gary resigned from the group in 2002. Over the following 18 months, Gary wrote, recorded and produced (with live instruments) his first independent solo project, The Other Side.
Gary also studied theater in school, co-starring in Hello, Dolly! and Harvey. He made his professional debut in 1997 in the production of Sneaky. He has since appeared in numerous nationally touring stage plays including Fake Friends, Perilous Times, Secret Lovers, Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion, What Men Don't Tell and Whatever She Wants.
Gary is a member of the R&B supergroup, Blayse, along with Marc Nelson and Tony Grant formerly of Az Yet and Terrell Phillips formerly of Blackstreet. The group has yet to release a single.
After appearing with Silk during Keith Sweat's "Sweat Hotel" tour in 2006 and subsequent release of the concert footage on the DVD "Sweat Hotel", Jenkins reunited with Silk and began touring and recording in late 2007.
Ohhhh No. This one is not fair. I don't know what to do. Damn Paki.
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