Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 - January 13, 1979)

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Although not a rock and roller, you would be hard pressed to say you have never heard this man's voice or a piece of music he composed or arranged.  Donny Hathaway’s style of singing jazz, blues, gospel and soul influenced musical artists such as Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, Amy Winehouse, Victor Wooten, and John Mayer. He was a major contributing force to the 70’s funk and soul music scene and garnered respect and high demand from others in the industry.

Born in Chicago and raised in a St. Louis housing project, Hathaway was raised by his grandmother, a professional gospel singer who encouraged him to sing gospel at church when he was only 3 years of age. In college he met his lifelong friend, singer Roberta Flack, whom he later recorded multiple duets with.

In addition to the 5 albums of his own he worked on, Hathaway did soundtrack work for the TV show Maude and either composed, arranged, or performed for artists such as Willie Nelson, Joe Cocker, Don Ho, Diana Ross, and Curtis Mayfield. 

Hathaway suffered from both depression and paranoid schizophrenia throughout his adult life and as a result, was hospitalized multiple times. His persistent mental health issues paired with heroin addiction made it increasingly difficult for him to play in front of large audiences. In an interview with his daughters Eulaulah and Donnita, they commented that he did relatively well when he took his medication but when he didn’t he became impossible for their mother to deal with. On January 13th 1979, Hathaway was to start a recording session with artists James Mtume and Eric Mercury. Although his voice sounded good, his behavior became so erratic and bizarre that the session had to be cancelled. Mtume stated in an interview that Hathaway believed “white people” were trying to kill him and had connected his brain to a machine in order to steal his music from him. Hours later Hathaway jumped from the 15th floor of his room at the Essex House hotel in New York at the age of 33. 


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