Donny Hathaway

Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer and songwriter. Born in Chicago, he was raised in St. Louis by his grandmother. He attended Howard University and studied music after received a fine arts scholarship.

He found work as a songwriter, session musician and producer for Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom Records in Chicago in 1968. The following year he signed with Atco Records and released his first single of note, “The Ghetto, Pt. 1”, which appeared on his critically acclaimed debut LP, Everything Is Everything. However, it was his third album, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, that really established him. Hathaway also wrote the now popular Christmas song, “This Christmas”, which has been performed by Chris Brown, Stevie Wonder, and Diana Ross.

At the peak of his career, Hathaway started suffering from severe bouts of depression, which sometimes interfered with his life and often required hospitalisation. It was discovered that he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and was prescribed medication. The effects of his illness affected his friendship with Roberta Flack and the pair did not release music again until the #2 hit “The Closer I Get To You” in 1978.

On January 13, 1979, Hathaway began a recording session alongside producers/musicians Eric Mercury and James Mtume. Although his voice sounded fine, he acted irrationally and appeared paranoid and delusional. Hathaway kept saying that white people were trying to kill him and had connected his brain to a machine in order to steal his music and sound. Mercury decided the session could not continue, so he sent all the musicians home. A few hours later, Hathaway was found dead on the sidewalk below the window of his 15th-floor room in New York’s Essex House hotel. It was reported that he had jumped from his balcony and his death was later ruled a suicide. Hathaway’s funeral was conducted by Reverend Jesse Jackson and later that year the Whispers recorded “A Song For Donny” as a tribute.

Hathaway’s solo recordings are considered “part of the foundation of American soul music” and have influenced a number of R&B performers. He is considered by some to be the strongest soul singer that ever existed.