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

-



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. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Per “Dead” Ohlin (January 16, 1969 – April 8, 1991)

-
Image
Born Per Yngve Ohlin (sometime was referred to by friends and family as Pelle), he was later known for his stage name, Dead. Ohlin was born in Stockholm, Sweden and suffered from sleep apnea as a child. There are varying accounts as to how his spleen ruptured when he was 10 years old; some sources state he was in an ice skating accident and other suggest that the cause was from being beaten so horribly due to bullying at school. Regardless of how it occurred, he was taken to the hospital and was for some time clinically dead. The incident greatly affected him afterwards as he became obsessed with death and dying. It has been suggested that Ohlin had a rare mental disorder called Cotard’s Syndrome, in which the afflicted person believes they literally or figuratively dead; in Ohlin’s case this most likely stemmed from the trauma he experienced. Ohlin struggled with depression throughout his short life, which caused him to withdraw further into himself and display behavior t...
Read more

Dave Rubinstein (September 5, 1964 – July 3, 1993)

-
Image
Dave Rubinstein grew up in Forest Hills, Queens and co-founded the punk band Reagan Youth along with his friend Paul Bakija, who played guitar. They both attended the same high school in Queens (Forest Hills High School) as the Ramones did. Rubinstein later became better known for his stage name, Dave Insurgent.   After graduating high school, Reagan Youth released their first EP and toured the US with bands such as the Dead Kennedy’s, Beastie Boys, The Misfits, and Bad Brains on the Rock Against Racism tour. They were an influential band in the NY punk and hardcore scene and regularly performed at CBGB’s, even when they were still in high school.   Their music was sarcastic and political; they used KKK and Nazi Party imagery on their albums and sometimes wore authentic uniforms from the two hate groups on stage. Rubinstein was quite vocal about his views about being anti-racist and anti-fascist. Several members of Rubinstein’s family were holocaust survivors. ...
Read more

Jeff Ward (November 18, 1962 – March 19, 1993)

-
Image
Originally from Chicago, Jeff Ward drummed for a number of bands including the Revolting Cocks, Nine Inch Nails, Lard, Ministry, and Low Pop Suicide. Ward grew up with a family of musicians. His brother Jason played bass and his father was also a drummer.   While living in Phoenix he was in a metal band called Coven of Thieves, which he joined a year before his death.   According to Dan McGuinness, Coven’s lead singer, Ward was frustrated with how he was treated in the music industry. “Jeff wasn’t the kind of guy who would hold a grudge against people; he would still show up and play on a session if he was asked. But he’d say, ‘I can’t believe I have to call and ask for royalties.’ That was a big thing for him: that he would have to track people down just to get paid. I think it’s kind of indicative of the music business in general. It’s the kind of business that can eat you alive.”   Ward struggled with heroin addiction and became discouraged over his inabili...
Read more