Richard Donald Barnes (born December 3, 1952) is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

vocalist and guitarist and one of the founding members of the

Southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculat ...

band

38 Special 38 Special may refer to: * .38 Special The .38 Special, also commonly known as .38 S&W Special (not to be confused with .38 S&W), .38 Smith & Wesson Special, .38 Spl, .38 Spc, (pronounced "thirty-eight special"), or 9x29mmR is a rimmed, cent ...

. Barnes performed lead vocals on nearly all of the group's biggest hits, including " Rockin' into the Night", "

Hold On Loosely "Hold On Loosely" is a song by American Rock music, rock band 38 Special (band), 38 Special and the first track from their fourth studio album ''Wild-Eyed Southern Boys''. Release Released as the lead single from the album, the song reached No. ...

", "

Caught Up in You "Caught Up in You" is the first single released from Southern rock band 38 Special's 1982 album, '' Special Forces''. It became their first #1 on the ''Billboard'' Top Tracks Classic Vinyl is a Sirius XM Radio channel focusing on classic rock ...

", "If I'd Been the One", "Back Where You Belong", "Like No Other Night", "Somebody Like You", " Teacher Teacher", "Back to Paradise", "You Keep Runnin' Away", "Fantasy Girl" and more. Barnes left the band in 1987, with the song "Back to Paradise" (from the movie '' Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise'') being his final hit with the band. He was replaced by

Max Carl Max Carl Gronenthal (born January 29, 1950) is an American rock singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter. He is the co-lead singer of the classic rock band Grand Funk Railroad. In addition, he spent several years as the keyboardist and l ...

. Barnes recorded a solo album ''Ride the Storm'' in 1989, but it was not released due to the record label (A&M Records) being sold. It featured many of the top session musicians of the time, such as

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (; April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work with the rock band Toto but is one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working on ...

and

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004, and 2016 at the Co ...

. The album was co-produced by singer-songwriter Martin Briley. Barnes rejoined 38 Special in 1992 and has remained with them ever since. As of 2021, he is the only original member still with the band. His solo album was released on June 30, 2017, on MelodicRock Records."Don Barnes of 38 Special Continues to 'Ride the Storm'."
Broadway World. August 18, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.

Discography

Solo albums

* ''Ride the Storm'' (2017) (recorded in 1989)

with 38 Special

* ''

'' (1977) * '' Special Delivery'' (1978) * '' Rockin' into the Night'' (1979) * '' Wild-Eyed Southern Boys'' (1981) * ''

Special Forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

'' (1982) * '' Tour de Force'' (1983) * ''

Strength in Numbers Strength may refer to: Physical strength *Physical strength, as in people or animals *Hysterical strength, extreme strength occurring when people are in life-and-death situations *Superhuman strength, great physical strength far above human ca ...

'' (1986) * ''

Resolution Resolution(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Resolution (debate), the statement which is debated in policy debate * Resolution (law), a written motion adopted by a deliberative body * New Year's resolution, a commitment that an individual mak ...

'' (1997) * '' A Wild-Eyed Christmas Night'' (2001) * ''

Drivetrain A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...

'' (2004)

References

External links

38 Special website

Don Barnes live photos
American rock singers American rock guitarists American male guitarists Lead guitarists 38 Special (band) members 1952 births Living people 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers {{US-rock-singer-stub