Donald Baldwin (born June 22, 1951) is an American drummer best known as a member of

Jefferson Starship Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight RIAA certification, gold or Music rec ...

(1982–1984; 2008–present) and its continuation

Starship A starship, starcraft, or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for interstellar travel, traveling between planetary systems. The term is mostly found in science fiction. Reference to a "star-ship" appears as early as 1 ...

(1984–1989).

Early life

Baldwin was raised in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

. He attended Ellwood P. Cubberley High School and graduated in 1969.

Career

Baldwin began his career as a drummer in 1971. He began playing for

Elvin Bishop Elvin Richard Bishop (born October 21, 1942) is an American blues and rock music singer, guitarist, bandleader, and songwriter. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 2015, and in ...

in 1973, where he worked with his future Jefferson Starship bandmate Mickey Thomas on the hit single "

Fooled Around and Fell in Love "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" is a song written and performed by blues guitarist Elvin Bishop with Mickey Thomas on lead vocals. It appeared on Bishop's 1975 album ''Struttin' My Stuff'', and was released as a single the following year. Back ...

". When the Elvin Bishop band disbanded, Baldwin joined the Santa Cruz band Snail and gigged around the Bay Area (including a stint with

Pablo Cruise Pablo Cruise is an American pop/ rock band from San Francisco currently composed of David Jenkins (guitar and vocals), Cory Lerios ( keyboards and vocals), Sergio Gonzalez (drums), Larry Antonino (bass and vocals), and Robbie Wyckoff (vocal ...

) until 1982. He also played for artists such as

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 ...

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

Eddie Money Edward Joseph Money ( Mahoney; March 21, 1949September 13, 2019) was an American singer and songwriter who, in the 1970s and 1980s, had eleven Top 40 songs, including " Baby Hold On", " Two Tickets to Paradise", " Think I'm in Love", " Shakin' ...

, and

Paul Rodgers Paul Bernard Rodgers (born 17 December 1949) is an English-Canadian singer. He was the lead vocalist of numerous successful rock bands, including Free (band), Free, Bad Company, The Firm (rock band), the Firm and The Law (English band), the L ...

. After

Aynsley Dunbar Aynsley Thomas Dunbar (born 10 January 1946) is an English drummer. He has worked with John Mayall, Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, Journey, Jefferson Starship, Nils Lofgren, Eric Burdon, Shuggie Otis, Ian Hunter, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Mick Ron ...

left

in 1982, Baldwin replaced him and joined his old bandmate Thomas; he made his recorded debut with the band on the '' Nuclear Furniture'' LP in 1984. He remained with the band, which soon took the name

following

Paul Kantner Paul Lorin Kantner (March 17, 1941 – January 28, 2016) was an American rock musician. He is best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and a secondary vocalist of Jefferson Airplane, a leading psychedelic rock band of the counterculture of ...

's departure, through the recording of their studio album, ''

Love Among the Cannibals ''Love Among the Cannibals'' is the third album, released in 1989, by rock band Starship. It was the first album after Grace Slick's departure from the band, and their last full-length studio release until '' Loveless Fascination'' in 2013. The ...

''. In September 1989, Baldwin assaulted Thomas while Starship was on tour in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

. Thomas's injuries required reconstructive surgery on his face and head, and Baldwin was fired from the band. From February 1994 until its demise in April 1995, Baldwin drummed for the

Jerry Garcia Band The Jerry Garcia Band was a San Francisco Bay Area rock band led by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Garcia founded the band in 1975; it remained the most important of his various side projects until his death in 1995. The band regularly tour ...

and then for Eddie Money. Baldwin rejoined Kantner's reformed Jefferson Starship in early 2007, taking over for the departing

Prairie Prince Charles Lempriere "Prairie" Prince (born May 7, 1950) is an American drummer and visual artist. He came to prominence in the 1970s as a member of the San Francisco–based rock group The Tubes, was a member of Jefferson Starship from 1992 to ...

, and he performed on the tour in support of the 2008 studio album '' Jefferson's Tree of Liberty''. Baldwin tours with Jefferson Starship as well as playing drums for Lydia Pense as a member of Cold Blood. In 2017, former Jefferson Starship band member

Craig Chaquico Craig Clinton Chaquico (or Chaquiço, ; born September 26, 1954) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and composer. From 1974 to 1990 he was lead guitarist for the rock bands Jefferson Starship and Starship (band), Starship. In 1993, he started ...

filed suit against the other remaining members of the band, including

David Freiberg David Freiberg ( ; born August 24, 1938) is an American musician best known for contributing vocals, keyboards, electric bass, rhythm guitar, viola and percussion as a member of Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane, and Jefferson St ...

and Baldwin, over the use of the Jefferson Starship band name on tour billings and merchandise, citing a 1985 agreement to retire the band name. On December 4, 2018, the lawsuit concerning the use of the name Jefferson Starship was dismissed after an undisclosed settlement was reached between Chaquico and the current members of the band.

References

External links

Starship biography on MP3.com
* Donny Baldwin on Allmusic* ttps://us.imdb.com/name/nm2684358/ Donny Baldwin on the Internet Movie Database* American rock drummers Living people Pablo Cruise members Jefferson Starship members Jerry Garcia Band members JGB (band) members 20th-century American drummers 1951 births 21st-century American drummers American male drummers Drummers from California {{US-rock-drummer-stub