He would-and still does-retain a sizeable following and status as an Ensemble Dark Horse cult hero, continuing to tour the world and experimenting with new songs, ideas, and sounds. During his stay, Donovan would pass on his finger-picking style to Paul McCartney and John Lennon, which the two used to write songs that would end up on what would be known as The White Album.Ĭome the wane of the flower power movement at the close of the '60s did Donovan's own popularity share much the same fate, his chart success gradually dwindling until the mid-'70s when he stopped charting altogether. Notably, he was part of the famed group of artists that traveled to India to learn transcendental meditation from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi among them all four Beatles, Prudence Farrow, and Mike Love of The Beach Boys. Perhaps spurred on by this snag on his path, Donovan reinvented himself for the first time with his 1966 album Sunshine Superman, codifying (if not serving as the Trope Maker) parts of the framework of the new-fangled "psychedelic" music that would explode into the mainstream shortly thereafter.ĭonovan continued to release seminal works throughout the '60s - albeit returning to his more humble musical roots as psychedelia grew farther and farther away from his own sensibilities - in his own unique style, exploring genres such as jazz, blues, and calypso along the way. They had, in fact, both drawn inspiration from traditional Irish balladry Dylan himself, as well as Joan Baez, came to Donovan's defense, but unfortunately, he seems unable to ever live it down. He was quickly deemed by the media a Bob Dylan copycat on account of the many similarities "Catch the Wind" had to Dylan's songs of the period such as "Blowin' in the Wind". As chance would have it, Donovan found his creative muse in music, eventually becoming a skilled guitarist he was well known for his a distinctive "clawhammer" finger-picking style, taught to him by banjo virtuoso Derroll Adams, whom Donovan idolized.ĭonovan became an overnight sensation after a fateful appearance on Ready, Steady, Go!, scoring an early hit with "Catch the Wind". Though Donovan's father was a factory lifer, his love of classic English poetry was a large influence on the young Donovan, one that can be heard throughout his discography. Though a self-professed contemporary bard in the classic sense of the term-most well-known for simple, acoustic balladry on the guitar-Donovan was, and remains, a hugely eclectic artist, making a majority of his albums Genre Roulettes that experiment to a greater degree than his inexorable public image as a long-haired, tunic-clad "hippie" - a term that the man himself seems to dismiss to some extent - would suggest.īorn and raised in the ruins of post-war factory town Edinburgh, as a teenager, Donovan-inspired by the writings of beat poets such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, along with books on eastern philosophies-left home to live like a Bohemian, together with his Heterosexual Life-Partner Gypsy Dave (or "Gyp", for short). When he was a baby, a sample of him crying was used as the opening sound on his dad’s album, For Little Ones.Donovan Philips Leitch (born ) is a Scottish singer-songwriter who, in the mid-to-late 1960s, attained worldwide fame as an icon of the burgeoning "flower power" movement, chiefly through songs espousing the virtues of love and altruism. He fathers 2 children a daughter with Kirsty named Violet (born 2004) and son with Libby named Donovan III (born 2015).ĭonovan is a Jew, taking after his mother’s faith. He is the big brother of Ione Skye and has 2 paternal half-sisters, Astrella and Oriole. He is the son of Scottish singer Donovan Leitch and estranged wife, American model Enid Karl. He previously had relationships with Susanna Hoffs for 3 years from 1989 and Gwyneth Paltrow for 2 years from 1993. They were married in 1997 but separated in 2011. They got engaged just 2 months after he received divorce papers from his ex-wife Kirsty Hume. He was also frontman for the band Camp Freddy from 2006.ĭonovan is straight and has been married to Libby Mintz since 2015 after a year of engagement. He co-formed the band, Nancy Boy in the early 90s and released an eponymous album in 1996 and Promosexual (1995). He also produced 6 episodes of Breaking Band in 2015. He has starred in the films I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), The Blob (1988), Glory and Cutting Class (both 1989) and Love Kills (1988). He made his acting debut in his high school senior year in the film, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo (1985). has evolved from his days of a model into unaccomplished actor and a singer.īorn in London but raised in California, Donovan lived a basic life of an American youth until he was signed on to big modeling agencies like Elite and Ford and began to model in his teenage years.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |