Ian McDonald, musician and songwriter who co-founded prog pioneers King Crimson and stadium giants Foreigner – obituary
Ian McDonald, the multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, who has died of cancer aged 75, was a founding member of two very different bands, the prog rock trailblazers King Crimson and the more straight-ahead platinum-selling stadium rockers, Foreigner.
Ian Richard McDonald was born on June 25 1946 in Osterley in west London to Keith, an architect and surveyor, and Ada, née May. It was a musical family and he spent his childhood listening to records – classical, dance music, rock’n’roll – and teaching himself the guitar.
He left school aged 15 for a five-year stint as an Army bandsman on clarinet; he also taught himself piano, guitar, flute, saxophone and music theory.
Back in London, he began playing with the Fairport Convention singer Judy Dyble, and they recorded a few tracks with the trio Giles, Giles and Fripp – brothers Michael and Peter on drums and bass, and Robert Fripp on guitar. In 1968 Fripp and Michael Giles joined forces with McDonald, plus the bassist Greg Lake (later of Emerson, Lake and Palmer) and the lyricist Pete Sinfield, to form King Crimson.
They made their first live appearances early in 1969, and in July played to a crowd of between 250,000 and 500,000, opening for the Rolling Stones at their celebrated free concert in Hyde Park; McDonald recalled the hairs in the back of his neck rising as the crowd acclaimed his storming sax solo on 21st Century Schizoid Man.
McDonald had a hand in writing all the songs on their debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King. Released in October that year, it had flavours of jazz, classical and the avant garde, and ranged from the nightmarish Schizoid Man (adapted from a piece McDonald had composed for his Army marching band) to the lilting pastoral of I Talk to the Wind.
While Fripp is rightly celebrated for his unique guitar-playing on the album, McDonald’s flute and the eerie sounds of the Mellotron were its defining features (he also played saxophone, clarinet, vibraphone and other keyboards). But along with Michael Giles, McDonald was unhappy with the experimental direction in which King Crimson was headed, and they left in December 1969, forming a partnership which fell apart after one album.
McDonald – who regretted his hasty decision to quit – spent several years as a session musician, most notably playing the sax solo on T Rex’s No 1, Get it On. He hooked up with King Crimson again, playing alto saxophone on a couple of tracks on their 1974 album Red – which would later figure in Q magazine’s list of the “50 Heaviest Albums of All Time” – and was preparing to rejoin on a permanent basis before Fripp announced that King Crimson were “completely over for ever and ever”.
Fripp had tried to interest his managers in the idea of McDonald taking his place at the band’s helm, but they had rejected the idea.
McDonald moved to New York, then in 1976 joined forces with the former Spooky Tooth guitarist and songwriter Mick Jones (not the Clash guitarist) to form Foreigner. They rehearsed for six months, then in March 1977 released their eponymous debut album – the first of four in a row to be certified five-times platinum in the US.
They were soon headlining sports arenas, and in March 1978 they played to a crowd of 200,000 at the Ontario Motor Speedway. In 1980, however, Jones, seeking greater control and the biggest share of the writing credits, sacked McDonald, along with another co-founder, keyboard player Al Greenwood. “I wouldn’t have left,” McDonald recalled. “I loved the group. It was not my decision.”
In 1996 McDonald played on Steve Hackett’s Genesis Revisited album and also toured with him, and in 2002 he joined other former King Crimson members in 21st Century Schizoid Band. In 2009 he appeared with Robert Fripp on Judy Dyble’s album Talking With Strangers.
He released the solo albums Drivers Eyes (1999) and Take Five Steps (2019), and played in the band Honey West with his son Maxwell on bass. There were also some appearances with Foreigner in 2017 in celebration of their 40th anniversary.
Ian McDonald married Laura Markham, but they divorced, and he is survived by his son.
Ian McDonald, born June 25 1946, died February 9 2022