Ian McDonald, co-founder of King Crimson and Foreigner, dead at 75
Songwriter Ian McDonald, a multi-instrumentalist who helped found King Crimson and Foreigner, died Wednesday. He was 75.
According to a news release, McDonald died “peacefully” at his home in New York City, Rolling Stone reported.
McDonald co-founded Foreigner with Mick Jones and Lou Gramm in 1976 and played various instruments, sang and co-produced the group’s first three albums, the magazine reported. “Foreigner,” in 1977, “Double Vision” in 1978 and “Head Games” in 1979 all cracked the Top 10 in Billboard’s Hot 100 album list. He played on Foreigner tracks like “Hot Blooded,” “Cold as Ice,” “Feels Like the First Time” and “Double Vision,” Variety reported.
Before that, McDonald made his mark as one of the key architects of progressive rock, playing saxophone and keyboards on King Crimson’s 1969 debut album, “In the Court of the Crimson King.”
McDonald also performed as a session saxist on T. Rex’s 1971 album “Electric Warrior,” Rolling Stone reported. He played saxophone on the group’s iconic hit, “Get It On.”
“I’m quite proud of the fact that the two bands I was a founding member of, King Crimson and Foreigner, are still out there playing,” McDonald said in a 2020 interview with Sound & Vision.
Ian McDonald was born in Osterley, Middlesex, in England, on June 25, 1946. He served for five years in the British Army and played in the military jazz band, Rolling Stone reported. He collaborated with Giles, Giles and Fripp, an early project featuring fellow Crimson co-founders Robert Fripp and Michael Giles.
“I was very into things like Stan Kenton and these kind of big bands at the time,” McDonald told Rolling Stone in 2019. “I was still in the Army. I wrote this piece called ‘Three Score and Four,’ and we put it into ‘Schizoid Man’ there. That whole section is mine that I lifted from that score that I had written.”
In later years, McDonald remained proud about his role in King Crimson.
“We were a good band, what can I say?” he told Rolling Stone in 2019. “It was really interesting music, and the live shows were a lot of fun. The improvisations, we just used to go off in really weird places and we’d support each other. … We trusted each other.”
Songwriter Ian McDonald, a multi-instrumentalist who helped found King Crimson and Foreigner, died Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022. He was 75. Here are some memorable photos from his life and career.
1969: Guitarist Robert Fripp (left), drummer Michael Giles, singer and guitarist Greg Lake, multi-instrumental Ian McDonald and lyricist Peter Sinfield, the first lineup of the English rock band "King Crimson," pose for a portrait sitting in a field in 1969.
1974: Photo of Ian McDonald of King Crimson performing live onstage in July 1974.
1976: Portrait of British and American rock band Foreigner as they pose in the photographer’s studio, New York, New York, 1976. Left to Right: Ed Gagliardi, Mick Jones, Dennis Elliott, Lou Gramm, Ian McDonald and Al Greenwood.
1977: Promotional studio portrait of American rock group Foreigner, 1977. From left: Lou Gramm, Ian McDonald, Al Greenwood, Mick Jones and Dennis Elliot.
1978: Ian MacDonald, a member of the rock group Foreigner, attending the prize-giving ceremony of the Gold Disc Awards at the Lee Theatre on April 8, 1978.
1979: Ian McDonald of Foreigner being interviewed by Jimmy Fink for WABC Radio in 1979.
2009: Alan Greenwood and Ian McDonald attend Foreigner: Can’t Slow Down Tour at Nokia Theatre on October 2, 2009, in New York City.
2012: Composer/musician Ian McDonald attends the all-star reading of "Hamlet" at The Players Club on February 21, 2012, in New York City.
2017: Musicians Ian McDonald, Ted Zurkowski, Maxwell McDonald and Tom Curiano of Honey West perform and has their "Honey West" Album Launch at Bowery Electric on May 24, 2017, in New York City.
