Don-E (born Donald McLean, in Brixton, London, England) is a British soul singer, songwriter, musician and producer. Don-E is most well known for his début single, "Love Makes the World Go Round" which reached No. 18 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in 1992.

Career

Don-E's interest in music began when his father, a South London pastor, gave him a home-made guitar for his fifth birthday. After taking an interest in his parents' collection of gospel and soul, he moved onto funk, reggae, jazz and pop. Whilst still only 19, Don-E was signed to Island Records and recorded his debut, ''Unbreakable'', which was released in 1992 shortly after the summer hit, "Love Makes the World Go Round" scaled the international charts. Don-E wrote and produced the album, as well as providing the majority of the instrumentation. UK 'urban jazz' guitarist

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played on two of the album tracks. Following the lack of chart success of his second recording, ''Changing Seasons'', Don-E left Island Records to focus on writing and production for a number of artists in the UK and US. It's during this period Don-E was briefly signed to D'Angelo's record label, along with former

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member Stuart Zender, who together recorded an album under the name Azur. Among the tracks, Don-E and Zender recorded "So Cold" with D'Angelo playing the Fender Rhodes parts – the track later featuring officially on Don-E's ''Natural''. Don-E eventually returned to recording as a solo artist, releasing ''Try This'' in 2005 through leading black music label, Dome Records. The album features a duet with British R&B peer,

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. It was not until the release of his fourth major recording, ''Natural'' in 2008, that Don-E began to gain recognition in the music press once more, aided by the inclusion of some of Britain's top black female performers – all of whom Don-E had previously worked with in the studio. ''Natural'' featured vocals from ex-Sugababes,

Keisha Buchanan Keisha Kerreece Fayeanne Buchanan (; born 30 September 1984) is an English singer and a founding member of the girl group Sugababes alongside Mutya Buena and Siobhán Donaghy. With the Sugababes, she had six number one singles and two number ...

and

Mutya Buena Rosa Isabel Mutya Buena (born 21 May 1985) is an English singer and songwriter who rose to fame as a member of girl group the Sugababes. With the Sugababes, Buena had four UK number one singles, an additional six top-ten hits and three multi-p ...

, plus a duet with

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. Don-E is a regular member of Grace Jones's band, playing keyboard throughout her Hurricane tour. The first of Don-E's two-part ''Ladies Night'' collection was released in 2012, and showcased a number of up-and-coming British black female vocalists.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Unbreakable'' (1992) * ''Changing Seasons'' (1995) * ''Try This'' (2005) * ''Natural'' (2008) * ''Ladies Night Part 1'' (2012) * ''Little Star'' (2013) * ''Future Rare Grooves'' (2014) * ''Future Rares 2'' (2015)

EPs

* ''Sex-E Soul EP'' (2011)

Singles

References

External links

Official website

Discography

UK Vibe Interview 2013
{{Authority control Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Black British musicians English soul singers English songwriters English record producers People from Brixton Musicians from London