Fans who love The Doobie Brothers have more than just upcoming tour dates to be excited about. The famous rock band got back together with its main members in 2019 for a 50th anniversary tour that started in 2021 due to the pandemic delay. They’ve been touring since then. Recently, they announced a bunch of tour dates for 2024. The group, which now includes Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, Michael McDonald, and John McFee, will also release a new album. This will be their first album with McDonald in 44 years.
Simmons and Johnston, who are both 75 years old, talked about their plans for the new album in an interview with Billboard. They’re thrilled to make music with McDonald again, who was in the band from 1975 to 1982. They last recorded with him on the 1980 album “One Step Closer.” Simmons suggested making a new album since they were already touring so much, and everyone thought it was a good idea.
They talked about how great it feels to work with McDonald in the studio after all these years. McDonald hadn’t recorded with Johnston since 1975. Simmons said it’s exciting to see them working together now.
They haven’t named the album yet, and there’s no release date. But Simmons said they’ve finished writing the songs and they’re about halfway done. They mentioned one song called “Walk This Road,” which features vocals from McDonald and Johnston and a guest appearance by Mavis Staples.
It’s not clear if they’ll play new songs during their tour, but they’ll be touring North America from June 15 to August 30, covering some cities they missed before.
McDonald is also releasing a memoir called “What a Fool Believes” on May 21. He worked on it with actor Paul Reiser. McDonald said he initially wasn’t sure if there was a story to tell, but as they worked on it, he started to understand his own story better.
