List of Steely Dan members

Walter Becker and Donald Fagen formed Steely Dan in 1972 with guitarist Denny Dias.

Becker and Fagen met in 1967 at Bard College, in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. As Fagen passed by a café, The Red Balloon, he heard Becker practicing the electric guitar.[1] In an interview, Fagen recounted the experience: "I hear this guy practising, and it sounded very professional and contemporary. It sounded like, you know, like a black person, really."[1] He introduced himself to Becker and asked, "Do you want to be in a band?"[1] Discovering that they enjoyed similar music, the two began writing songs together.

Steely Dan was formed in when Dias placed an ad in The Village Voice[2] in the summer of 1970 that read: "Looking for keyboardist and bassist. Must have jazz chops! Assholes need not apply".[3] Fagen and Becker responded to the advertisement, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, Jim Hodder and David Palmer also joined, Palmer joined as a second lead vocalist because of Fagen's occasional stage fright, his reluctance to sing in front of an audience, and because the label believed that his voice was not "commercial" enough.

Can't Buy a Thrill, Steely Dan's debut album, was released in 1972. Its hit singles "Do It Again" and "Reelin' In the Years" reached No. 6 and No. 11 respectively on the Billboard singles chart. Along with "Dirty Work" (sung by David Palmer), the songs became staples on radio. Because of Fagen's reluctance to sing live, Palmer handled most of the vocal duties on stage. During the first tour, however, Katz and Becker decided that they preferred Fagen's interpretations of the band's songs, persuading him to take over. Palmer quietly left the group while it recorded its second album.

Released in 1973, Countdown to Ecstasy was not as commercially successful as Steely Dan's first album. Becker and Fagen were unhappy with some of the performances on the record and believed that it sold poorly because it had been recorded hastily on tour.

Michael McDonald joined the band on their final tour of the 70s and later contributed backing vocals to the band's releases until their initial breakup.

Pretzel Logic was released in early 1974. During the previous album's tour, the band had added vocalist-percussionist Royce Jones, vocalist-keyboardist Michael McDonald, and session drummer Jeff Porcaro.[4] Porcaro played the sole drum track on one song, "Night By Night" on Pretzel Logic (Jim Gordon played drums on all the remaining tracks, and he and Porcaro both played on "Parker's Band"), reflecting Steely Dan's increasing reliance on session musicians (including Dean Parks and Rick Derringer). Jeff Porcaro and Katy Lied pianist David Paich would go on to form Toto. Striving for perfection, Becker and Fagen sometimes asked musicians to record as many as forty takes of each track.[5] Pretzel Logic was the first Steely Dan album to feature Walter Becker on guitar. "Once I met [session musician] Chuck Rainey", he explained, "I felt there really was no need for me to be bringing my bass guitar to the studio anymore".[5]

A rift began growing between Becker-Fagen and Steely Dan's other members (particularly Baxter and Hodder), who wanted to tour. Becker and Fagen disliked constant touring and wanted to concentrate solely on writing and recording. The other members gradually left the band, discouraged by this and by their diminishing roles in the studio. However, Dias remained with the group until 1980's Gaucho and Michael McDonald contributed vocals until the group's twenty-year hiatus after Gaucho. Baxter and McDonald went on to join The Doobie Brothers. Steely Dan's last tour performance was on July 5, 1974, a concert at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in California.[6]

Becker and Fagen recruited a diverse group of session players for Katy Lied (1975), including Porcaro, Paich, and McDonald, as well as guitarist Elliott Randall, jazz saxophonist Phil Woods, saxophonist/bass-guitarist Wilton Felder, percussionist/vibraphonist/keyboardist Victor Feldman, keyboardist (and later producer) Michael Omartian, and guitarist Larry Carlton—Dias, Becker, and Fagen being Steely Dan's only original members.

The Royal Scam was released in May 1976. Partly because of Carlton's prominent contributions, it is the band's most guitar-oriented album. It also features performances by session drummer Bernard Purdie.

Featuring Michael McDonald's backing vocals, "Peg" (No. 11) was the album's first single, followed by "Josie" (No. 26) and "Deacon Blues" (No. 19). Aja solidified Becker's and Fagen's reputations as songwriters and studio perfectionists. It features such jazz and fusion luminaries as guitarists Larry Carlton and Lee Ritenour; bassist Chuck Rainey; saxophonists Wayne Shorter, Pete Christlieb, and Tom Scott; drummers Steve Gadd, Rick Marotta and Bernard Purdie; pianist Joe Sample and ex-Miles Davis pianist/vibraphonist Victor Feldman and Grammy award-winning producer/arranger Michael Omartian (piano).

Becker and Fagen took a break from songwriting for most of 1978 before starting work on Gaucho. The project would not go smoothly: technical, legal, and personal setbacks delayed the album's release and subsequently led Becker and Fagen to suspend their partnership for over a decade.[7] Gaucho was finally released in November 1980. Despite its tortured history, it was another major success. The album's first single, "Hey Nineteen", reached No. 10 on the pop chart in early 1981, and "Time Out of Mind" (featuring guitarist Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits) was a moderate hit in the spring.

Steely Dan disbanded in June 1981.[8] Becker moved to Maui, where he became an "avocado rancher and self-styled critic of the contemporary scene."[9] He stopped using drugs, which he had used for most of his career.[10][11][12] Meanwhile, Fagen released a solo album, The Nightfly (1982), which went platinum in both the U.S. and the UK and yielded the Top-20 hit "I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World)".

In 1986, Becker and Fagen performed on Zazu, an album by former model Rosie Vela produced by Gary Katz.[13] The two rekindled their friendship and held songwriting sessions between 1986 and 1987, leaving the results unfinished.[14] On October 23, 1991, Becker attended a concert by New York Rock and Soul Revue, co-founded by Fagen and producer/singer Libby Titus (who was for many years the partner of Levon Helm of The Band and would later become Fagen's wife), and spontaneously performed with the group. Becker produced Fagen's second solo album, Kamakiriad, in 1993.

Becker and Fagen reunited for an American tour to support Kamakiriad, which sold poorly despite a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. With Becker playing guitar, an album of the tour, called Alive in America, was recorded at various dates between August 19, 1993, and the September 19, 1994, personnel included pianist Warren Bernhardt, guitarists Georg Wadenius and Drew Zingg, bassists Tom Barney, saxophonists Cornelius Bumpus, Chris Potter and Bob Sheppard, percussionist/vibraphonist Bill Ware, backing vocalists Catherine Russell, Diane Garisto and Brenda White-King and drummers Dennis Chambers (1994 dates) and Peter Erskine (1993 dates).[15] The duo continued to tour in 1996 with some shows in 1995,[16] tour personnel included Tom Barney (Bass), John Beasley (piano and Keyboards), Ricky Lawson (drums), Wayne Krantz (guitar), Cornelius Bumpus (saxophone), Michael Leonhart (trumpet), Ari Ambrose (saxophone), Michelle Wiley (backing vocals) and Carolyn Leonhart (backing vocals).[17] After this activity, Becker and Fagen returned to the studio to begin work on a new album.

Jon Herington started performing with the band in 1999 and has since become a staple of their live sound.

In 2000, Steely Dan released their first studio album in 20 years: Two Against Nature. In the summer of 2000, they began another American tour, followed by an international tour later that year. The tour featured guitarist Jon Herington, who would go on to play with the band over the next two decades. Other musicians included saxophonists Ari Ambrose, Bob Sheppard, Chris Potter and Cornelius Bumpus, vocalists Carolyn Leonhart, Cynthia Calhoun and Victoria Cave, trombonist Jim Pugh, trumpeter Michael Leonhart, bassist Tom Barney, drummer Ricky Lawson and keyboardist Ted Baker.[18] In June 2000 the band released Plush TV Jazz-Rock Party which documents a recording of a PBS In the Spotlight show recorded in January 2000, personnel included Ted Baker (piano), Jon Herington (guitar), Tom Barney (bass), Cornelius Bumpus and Chris Potter (saxophone), Michael Leonhart (trumpet), Jim Pugh (trombone), Ricky Lawson (drums) and Carolyn Leonhart, Cynthia Calhoun and Victoria Cave (vocals).[19] In March 2001, Steely Dan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[20][21]

In 2003, Steely Dan released Everything Must Go. In contrast to their earlier work, they had tried to write music that captured a live feel. Becker sang lead vocals on a Steely Dan studio album for the first time ("Slang of Ages" — he had sung lead on his own "Book of Liars" on Alive in America). Fewer session musicians played on Everything Must Go than had become typical of Steely Dan albums: Becker played bass on every track and lead guitar on five tracks; Fagen added piano, electric piano, organ, synthesizers, and percussion on top of his vocals; touring drummer Keith Carlock played on every track, the album also included touring members Ted Baker (keys), Jon Herington (guitar), Chris Potter (saxophone), Michael Leonhart (trumpet), Jim Pugh (trombone), Carolyn Leonhart, Cindy Mizelle and Catherine Russell (backing vocals).[22] The tour for this album included Carolyn Leonhart, Cindy Mizelle and Cynthia Calhoun (vocals), Cornelius Bumpus (saxophone), Jim Pugh (trombone), Jon Herington (guitar), Keith Carlock (drums), Michael Leonhart (trumpet), Ted Baker (keyboards), Tom Barney (bass) and Walt Weiskopf (saxophone).[23]

Keith Carlock has been the band's touring drummer since 2006, and is the band's longest tenured drummer in any capacity.

To complete his Nightfly trilogy, Fagen issued Morph the Cat in 2006, in that same year the band toured with former member Michael McDonald. The tour band included Jon Herington (guitar), Freddie Washington (bass), Keith Carlock (drums), Jeff Young (keyboards and backing vocals), Walt Weiskopf (saxophone), Michael Leonhart (trumpet), Jim Pugh (trombone), Roger Rosenberg (baritone sax), Carolyn Leonhart and Cindy Mizelle (backing vocals).[24] The tour continued in 2007 as the Heavy Rollers tour with the same personnel,[25] and into 2008, as the Think Fast tour, with the addition of Nelson Foltz on trumpet and Tawatha Agee on vocals.[26] That year Becker released a second album, Circus Money.

The Rent Party tour started in June 2009 and featured Carolyn Leonhart, Catherine Russel and Tawatha Agee (vocals), Freddie Washington (bass), Jim Beard (keyboards), Jim Pugh (trombone), Jon Herrington (guitar), Keith Carlock (drums), Michael Leohart (trumpet), Roger Rosenberg and Walt Weiskopf (saxophone).[27] In the same month the Left Bank Holiday tour also started and continued into July touring Europe, the tour included the same personnel as the Rent Party[28] which started again later in July 2009 and concluded in November.[29]

In July 2011, the Shuffle Diplomacy Tour started and included musicians Keith Carlock (drums); Jon Herington (guitar); Freddie Washington (bass); Jim Beard (keys); Michael Leonhart, Walt Weiskopf, Roger Rosenberg and Jim Pugh (horns); plus background singers Carolyn Leonhart, Cindy Mizelle, and Catherine Russell.[30] The Mood Swings: 8 Miles to Pancake Day Tour began in July 2013 and featured an eight-night run at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.[31] Musicians included Carolyn Leonhart, Catherine Russell and La Tanya Hall (vocals), Freddie Washington (bass), Jim Pugh (trombone), Keith Carlock (drums), Michael Leonhart (trumpet and Roger Rosenberg and Walt Weiskopf (saxophone).[32]

Jamalot Ever After, their 2014 United States tour, ran from July 2 in Portland, Oregon to September 20 in Port Chester, New York.[33] Its band included Keith Carlock on drums, Freddie Washington on bass, Jim Beard on keyboards, Jon Herington on guitar, Michael Leonhart on trumpet and keys, Jim Pugh on trombone, Roger Rosenberg on baritone saxophone, Walt Weiskopf on saxophone and vocalists La Tanya Hall, Carolyn Leonhart, and Cindy Mizelle.[34] 2015's Rockabye Gollie Angel Tour included opening act Elvis Costello and the Imposters and dates at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, it featured the same band as previous tours.[35] The Dan Who Knew Too Much tour followed in 2016, with Steve Winwood opening. Steely Dan also performed at The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with an accompanying orchestra, the tour band was the same.[36]

Becker died from complications of esophageal cancer on September 3, 2017.[37] In a note released to the media, Fagen remembered his longtime friend and bandmate, and promised to "keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band."[38] After Becker's death, Steely Dan honored commitments to perform a short North American tour in October 2017 and three concert dates in the United Kingdom and Ireland for Bluesfest on a double bill with the Doobie Brothers.[39] The band played its first concert following Becker's death in Thackerville, Oklahoma, on October 13.[39] In tribute to Becker, they performed his solo song "Book of Liars", with Fagen singing the lead vocals, at several concerts on the tour.[40] The backing band was retained.[41]

In 2018, Steely Dan performed on a summer tour of the United States with The Doobie Brothers as co-headliners.[42] The band also played a nine-show residency at the Beacon Theatre in New York City that October.[43] the band included Jim Beard (keys), Freddie Washington (bass), Jon Herrington (guitar), and Keith Carlock (drums).[44] In February 2019, the band embarked on a tour of Great Britain with Steve Winwood,[45] the included Ari Ambrose, Roger Rosenberg and Walt Weiskopf (saxophone), Carolyn Leonhart, Catherine Russell, Jamie Leonhart, La Tanya Hall and Nicki Richards (vocals), Connor Kennedy of The Nightflyers (guitar, vocals), Freddie Washington (bass), Jim Beard (keys), Jim Pugh (trombone), Jon Herrington (guitar, electric sitar) and Keith Carlock (drums).[46]

In July 2023, the Eagles announced Steely Dan would be the special guest of their The Long Farewell tour running from September to November 2023.[47]