Classic rock band reunites with iconic singer for new album: ‘Playing again is great’

The Doobie Brothers have announced a new album and tour with Michael McDonald, the iconic singer and keyboard player who gave the classic rock band a soulful boost during the 1970s.

Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons, founders of the band in 1970, and longtime member John McFee teamed with McDonald for a 10-track record, “Walk This Road.” Recorded in winter 2024, it’s set for release June 6 via Rhino Records.

The Doobies’ new album focuses on themes of recovery and enlightenment — “waking up to see the important things you’ve been missing,” Simmons said via a press release.

Two tracks from the album, “Walk This Road” and “Call Me,” were released this week. Another song, “Lahaina,” dates back to 2023. (The single and video supported fundraising efforts after devastating fires in Maui.) The Doobie Brothers also announced a “global tour” to support the album, although dates haven’t been confirmed.

McDonald, 72, has toured with the band in recent years, but hasn’t appeared on a Doobies album since 2014’s “Southbound.”

“Getting back in with the guys and playing again is great,” McDonald said in the release. “In my heart I’ve always been a Doobie Brother. We’ve all remained friends over the years. We’ve all been enjoying it tremendously, even more than we thought we would.”

He was a key member of the Doobie Brothers from 1975 to 1982, lending a smoother, blue-eyed soul vibe to albums such as “Takin’ It to the Streets,” “Livin’ on the Fault Line” and “Minute By Minute.”

The Doobie Brothers initially earned fame in the early ‘70s with rock albums such as “Toulouse Street” and “The Captain and Me,” and radio hits such as “Listen to the Music,” “China Grove,” “Black Water” and “Long Train Runnin‘.”

With McDonald on board, however, the Doobies found a new audience in the adult contemporary genre, releasing hit singles and signature songs such as “What a Fool Believes,” “Minute By Minute,” “Echoes of Love,” “Takin' It to the Streets,” “Real Love,” “Little Darling (I Need You)” and more.

The Doobie Brothers in January 1976, visiting a temple in Kyoto, Japan.(Photo by Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images)

The Doobie Brothers split in the early ‘80s as McDonald launched a solo career. The band reformed a couple of times in the years that followed, with Simmons and Johnston on board. The Doobies returned to full-scale touring in 1993 with the two founding members at the helm.

During the ‘90s and 2000’s, McDonald performed with the Doobies occasionally, for TV appearances, special concerts, awards shows and the like. He returned to the fold for a 50th anniversary tour with the Doobie Brothers that launched in 2021. Songs from several periods in the band’s history were on the agenda during that trek, from “Rockin’ Down the Highway” to “You Belong to Me.”

“We’ve been killing it every night,” Simmons told AL.com’s Lawrence Specker in 2022, when the tour made two stops in Alabama. “It’s been really well-rehearsed and doing all the songs everybody wants to hear, I think. Or most of them anyway. We’ve just been having a lot of fun.”

READ: As Doobie Brothers head for Alabama, things are runnin’ their way

The Doobie Brothers, from left, Patrick Simmons, Michael McDonald on keyboards, Tom Johnston and John McFee, play at Oak Mountain Amphitheatre in Pelham on Sept. 2, 2022. (Photo by Greg Garrison/AL.com)

Although the Doobies’ next tour will feature songs from “Walk This Road,” the band will make sure to emphasize greatest hits, a publicist says. The group has played in Alabama several times over the years, and has a devoted fan base in the state.

McDonald has performed here as a solo artist, as well, including a 2015 show at Iron City in Birmingham. (”Nostalgia, star power and skill,” AL.com said in its review. “Longtime fans of McDonald’s music could listen, reminisce and appreciate. They don’t call it classic rock for nothing.”)

The Doobie Brothers were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020, and have two Grammy Awards to their credit. McDonald, Johnston and Simmons are among the 2025 inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, honoring their music with the Doobie Brothers.

“For over five decades, The Doobie Brothers have been known for delivering mind-blowing, roots based, harmony-laden, guitar-driven rock and roll,” the Songwriters Hall of Fame website says. “Beginning with their multi-million-selling sophomore collection ‘Toulouse Street,’ the Doobies have 3 multi-platinum, 7 platinum, and 14 gold albums. ‘Best of the Doobies’ has sold more than12 million copies — a rare ‘diamond record.’”

See the Doobie Brothers perform “Walk This Road” in October 2024 in the video below.