Donovan P. Leitch
| Donovan | |
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Donovan performing on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1969.
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| Born |
Donovan Philips Leitch 10 May 1946 Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland |
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| Years active | 1964–present |
| Spouse(s) | Linda Lawrence (m. 1970) |
| Partner(s) | Enid Karl (1966-70) |
| Children | 5 (1 adopted); including Donovan Leitch and Ione Skye |
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| Website | donovan |
Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), better known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish-born singer, songwriter and guitarist. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music (notably calypso). He has lived in Scotland, Hertfordshire (England), London and California, and, since at least 2008, in County Cork, Ireland, with his family. Emerging from the British folk scene, Donovan reached fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965 with live performances on the pop TV series Ready Steady Go!.
Having signed with Pye Records in 1965, he recorded singles and two albums in the folk vein, after which he signed to CBS/Epic Records in the US - the first signing by the company's new vice-president Clive Davis - and became more successful internationally. He began a long and successful collaboration with leading British independent record producer Mickie Most, scoring multiple hit singles and albums in the UK, US, and other countries.
His most successful singles were the early UK hits "Catch the Wind", "Colours" and "Universal Soldier" in 1965. In September 1966 "Sunshine Superman" topped America's Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week and went to number two in Britain, followed by "Mellow Yellow" at US No.2 in December 1966, then 1968's "Hurdy Gurdy Man" in the Top 5 in both countries, then "Atlantis", which reached US No.7 in May 1969.
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