Richard Donald Barnes (born December 3, 1952) is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

vocalist and guitarist and one of the founding members of the

Southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...

band

38 Special 38 Special or 0.38 Special or .38 Special, may refer to: * .38 Special, a revolver cartridge Music * 38 Special (band), an American rock band ** ''38 Special'' (album), the 1977 debut album of the band 38 Special * .38 Special (song), a 2022 ...

. Barnes performed lead vocals on nearly all of the group's biggest hits, including "

Rockin' into the Night ''Rockin' into the Night'' is the third studio album by the Southern rock band 38 Special, released in 1979. The title track, written by three members of Survivor, became the band's first big hit (peaking at #43 during a nine-week run on the ''B ...

", " Hold On Loosely", " Caught Up in You", "If I'd Been the One", "Back Where You Belong", "Like No Other Night", "Somebody Like You", " Teacher Teacher", "Back to Paradise", "You Keep Runnin' Away" and "Fantasy Girl". Barnes left the band in 1987 with the song "Back to Paradise" (from the movie '' Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise'') being his final hit with them. He was replaced by

Max Carl Max Carl Gronenthal (born January 29, 1950) is an American rock singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter. He is the co-lead singer of the classic rock band Grand Funk Railroad. In addition, he spent several years as the keyboardist and lea ...

. Barnes recorded a solo album ''Ride the Storm'' in 1989 but it was not released due to the record label (

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

) being sold. It featured many of the top session musicians of the time, such as

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer. He is best known for being the co-founder and drummer of the rock band Toto, but is also one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working on hundr ...

and

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer, studio guitarist, and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004 ...

. The album was co-produced by singer-songwriter Martin Briley. Barnes rejoined 38 Special in 1992 and has remained with them ever since. As of 2021, he is the only original member still with the band. His solo album was released on June 30, 2017, on MelodicRock Records."Don Barnes of 38 Special Continues to 'Ride the Storm'."
Broadway World. August 18, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.

Discography

Solo albums

* ''Ride the Storm'' (2017) (recorded in 1989)

with 38 Special

* ''

'' (1977) * '' Special Delivery'' (1978) * ''

'' (1979) * '' Wild-Eyed Southern Boys'' (1981) * ''

Special Forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

'' (1982) * '' Tour de Force'' (1983) * '' Strength in Numbers'' (1986) * '' Resolution'' (1997) * '' A Wild-Eyed Christmas Night'' (2001) * ''

Drivetrain A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) or transmission system, is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the driv ...

'' (2004)

References

External links

38 Special website

Don Barnes live photos
American rock singers American rock guitarists American male guitarists American lead guitarists 38 Special (band) members 1952 births Living people 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers {{US-rock-singer-stub