Donald Maynard Dokken (born June 29, 1953) is an American singer and musician. He's best known for being the lead singer, occasional guitarist, and founder of the

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam r ...

band

Dokken Dokken is an American glam metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. It split up in 1989 and reformed four years later. The band had several hit singles which charted on the Billboard Hot 100, such as " Alone Again", " In My Dreams", and " Burn ...

. He is known for his

vibrato Vibrato (Italian language, Italian, from past participle of "wikt:vibrare, vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch (music), pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. ...

-laden, melodic vocal style which has made him an influential figure in American heavy metal/glam metal. After enjoying mainstream success with Dokken, he parted ways with the band in 1988 and pursued a solo career. His 1990 solo album, '' Up from the Ashes'', spawned two singles and achieved modest success. He released his second solo album, titled ''

Solitary Solitary is the state of being alone or in solitude. The term may refer to: * shortened form of solitary confinement * Solitary animal, an animal that does not live with others in its species * Solitary but social, a type of social organization in ...

'', in 2008, which was a stylistic departure from his Dokken material. Don reformed Dokken in the early 1990s and has been continuing on with the band ever since. He is the only remaining original member of Dokken.

Biography

Early success

In the late 1970s, Don Dokken was playing in a Los Angeles-based band called ''Airborn'', and had the opportunity to reach a record deal in Germany. After seeing the band ''Xciter'' with future bandmates George Lynch and Mick Brown, he tried to recruit them for a new band. Lynch and Brown were not interested in joining forces with him when he first contacted them. Don, with the help of one of Xciter's songs, secured the deal in Germany and convinced Lynch and Brown, along with bassist Juan Croucier, to join him in Dokken soon after he received it. During his time in Germany, Dokken befriended the German hard rock band

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

, and sang with them in rehearsals for their '' Blackout'' album while lead vocalist Klaus Meine was being treated for nodes on his vocal cords. Don has stated that he recorded scratch vocals for "No One Like You", "You Give Me All I Need", and "Dynamite". Don also stated, "I was just helping Klaus out", and "You’ll never hear those

racks Rack or racks may refer to: Storage and installation * Amp rack, short for amplifier rack, a piece of furniture in which amplifiers are mounted * Bicycle rack, a frame for storing bicycles when not in use * Bustle rack, a type of storage bin m ...

�� because it’s not fair to the Scorpions." Meine recovered and returned to record the album. In 1983, America saw the release of the first Dokken album, '' Breaking the Chains'', which got a moderate reception. After Juan Croucier left the band to join

Ratt Ratt is an American glam metal band formed in San Diego, California, in the 1970s, that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum, and multi-platinum by the RIAA. The group is bes ...

, Jeff Pilson was brought in for their second release, '' Tooth and Nail'', and at this time metal fans and critics began to take notice of the band. Don's strong, melodic vocals, coupled with Lynch's blazing guitar playing, guided Dokken to national fame.

Solo release

In the late 1980s, however, personal tension between Dokken and Lynch took its toll on the band. In 1988, after the Monsters of Rock Tour and a further platinum album, Don Dokken decided to break up the band and they went on their separate ways. Don Dokken originally wanted to continue on under the Dokken moniker, but since the other three members shared partial ownership over the Dokken name, he was forced to put out his next album under his own name, and it became known as his first solo album. The album, titled '' Up from the Ashes'', was released in 1990, and was very similar to the Dokken catalog. This project was a

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

of sorts, made up of guitarists

John Norum John Norum (born 23 February 1964) is a Norwegian-Swedish guitarist and one of the founders of the rock band Europe. Concurrent to his role with Europe, he also maintains a career as a solo artist. Biography As an infant, Norum moved with his p ...

(of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

fame) and Billy White (of

Watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

fame), bassist Peter Baltes (of

Accept Accept may refer to: * Acceptance, a person's assent to the reality of a situation etc. * Accept (band), a German heavy metal band ** ''Accept'' (Accept album), their debut album from 1979 * ''Accept'' (Chicken Shack album), 1970 * ACCEPT (or ...

fame), and drummer

Mikkey Dee Micael Kiriakos Delaoglou (born 31 October 1963), known professionally as Mikkey Dee, is a Swedish musician, best known as the last drummer for British heavy metal band Motörhead from 1992 until its dissolution in 2015. Dee also played temporari ...

(of

King Diamond Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto s ...

and

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

and

). John Norum's drummer Hempo Hildén was initially part of the band but was replaced by Dee before the album was recorded. Baltes had previously been a member of Dokken during the late 1970s for a brief period. Two music videos were made for the singles "Mirror Mirror" and "Stay", respectively. Also, during the late 1980s and early 1990s, Don spent time as a producer for the metal band XYZ. He also made a guest appearance on the German progressive metal band

Vanden Plas Vanden Plas is the name of coachbuilders who produced bodies for specialist and up-market automobile manufacturers. Latterly the name became a top-end luxury model designation for cars from subsidiaries of British Leyland and the Rover Group, ...

's ''

Spirit of Live ''Spirit of Live'' is the first live album by the progressive metal band Vanden Plas. The song "Kiss of Death" features Don Dokken as guest on lead vocals and "Rainmaker" features Patrick Rondat as guest on lead guitar. Track listing #"I Can See ...

'' album as the vocalist for their live performance of Dokken's "Kiss of Death", the studio version of which can be found on Vanden Plas's ''Far Off Grace'' album.

Dokken reunion

Around late 1993, Don started to talk with Mick Brown, who had recently left George Lynch's new group, Lynch Mob. They joined up with Jeff Pilson, and started to write new songs. In 1994, they sent what they had written to George Lynch, who was impressed with the material. Together, they decided to reunite and tour again. This reunion lasted for three years and resulted in two new Dokken albums, an acoustic live disc, and a full live concert recorded in Japan in 1995. In the late 90s, Dokken once again parted ways with George Lynch, gained guitarist

Reb Beach Richard Earl "Reb" Beach Jr. (born August 31, 1963) is an American rock guitarist. He is a member of the bands Winger and Whitesnake. Career After graduating from Fox Chapel Area High School and attending Berklee College of Music in the ear ...

, and later kicked off a new era with guitarist

after the departure of Reb Beach. That union didn't last long, as Norum soon departed to re-unite with

. Norum was briefly replaced by Italian guitarist

Alex De Rosso Dokken is an American glam metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. It split up in 1989 and reformed four years later. The band had several hit singles which charted on the Billboard Hot 100, such as " Alone Again", " In My Dreams", and " Burn ...

for the live tour until 2003 when Don managed to find a permanent replacement in guitarist/lawyer

Jon Levin Jon Levin (born March 18, 1966) is an American musician and the current guitarist for heavy metal band Dokken. Biography Early years Jon Levin was involved with music very early on in life. He began playing piano at age four, trumpet by age ...

. Since 1994, Dokken has released six studio albums, two live albums, a Greatest Hits album, as well as their first two DVDs. Don Dokken released a new solo album titled ''

'' in 2008, and Dokken released a new album titled ''

Lightning Strikes Again ''Lightning Strikes Again'' is the tenth studio album by the American heavy metal band Dokken. It was originally scheduled for release on October 24, 2007, in Japan and on October 29 worldwide, but was postponed until 2008. The album was event ...

'' during the same year. On March 1, 2010, the band Dokken's second greatest hits album, aptly titled Greatest Hits, was digitally released to

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

and

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

. The physical album with additional tracks was released in US by

Cleopatra Records Cleopatra Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1992 by Brian Perera. The record label has since grown into a family of labels, including Hypnotic Records, Purple Pyramid Records, Dea ...

May 4, 2010, and in Japan May 11, 2010, by

King Records (Japan) , commonly known as King Records, is a Japanese record company founded in January 1931 as a division of the Japanese publisher Kodansha. It initially began operating as an independent entity in the 1950s. It later became part of the Otowa Grou ...

. On September 22, 2010, in an interview with BraveWords.com, Don Dokken revealed that he would be undergoing vocal surgery, to correct problems with nodes and tears in his vocal chords. February 4, 2011, Anchorage, Alaska was Dokken's first show since surgery. In addition to the vocal chord surgery, Dokken underwent treatment for cancer around the same time. He has since recovered and his voice has seen great improvement over the past few years.

Discography

Studio albums

Tribute album appearances

* ''

Hear 'n Aid Hear 'n Aid was a charity record recorded by a large ensemble of 40 heavy metal musicians and released in 1986. The project was organized by Ronnie James Dio, Jimmy Bain, and Vivian Campbell, all from the band Dio. Proceeds from the album wer ...

'' – "Stars" (1986) * ''Smoke on the Water – A Tribute to Deep Purple'' (1994) (lead vocals on "Fireball") * ''Humanary Stew: A Tribute to Alice Cooper'' (1999) (lead vocals on "Eighteen") * ''Frankie Banali and Friends – 24/7/365: The Tribute to Led Zeppelin'' (2007) (lead vocals on "Kashmir")

Other appearances

* '' Great White – Out of the Night'' (1983) (backing vocals on ''On Your Knees'') * ''Sexist – Demo'' (1983) (backing vocals) * ''

Twisted Sister Twisted Sister was an American heavy metal band originally from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York. Their best-known songs include " We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock", both of which were associated with m ...

– Come Out and Play'' (1985) (backing vocals) * ''

Herman Rarebell Herman Rarebell (born 18 November 1949 as Hermann Josef Erbel) is a German musician, best known as the drummer for the hard rock band Scorpions from 1977 to 1995, during which time he played on eight studio albums. Aside from playing drums, Rare ...

– Herman Ze German and Friends ''(1986) (lead vocals on ''I'll Say Goodbye'', ''Destiny'', and ''Hard Sensation'') * ''Munetaka Higachi with Dream Castle'' – ''Free World'' (1997) (lead vocals on ''Tell Me True'') * ''

–

'' (2000) (lead vocals on ''Kiss of Death'') * ''

Eizo Sakamoto is a Japanese musician, singer and songwriter who was born in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture. He is most famous for being the lead vocalist of heavy metal band Anthem. In the 1990s he started up the band Animetal which performed heavy metal co ...

– Shout Drunker'' (2002) (lead vocals on ''Crescent Moon'') * ''

Kelly Keeling Kelly Keeling was born on June 25, 1966, and is an American musician and songwriter. Keeling started playing at the age of 14 and began his career as the lead singer of the American heavy metal band Baton Rouge. Throughout his career Keeling ...

– Giving Sight To The Eye'' (2005) (backing vocals) * ''Paris Keeling – End of Ride Revisited'' (2009) (lead vocals on ''I've Found'', ''Tears Of Heaven'') * ''United Rockers 4U – One Family'' (2011) * ''Alex De Rosso – Lions & Lambs'' (2013) (lead vocals on ''Disappear'') * ''Herman Rarebell & Friends – Acoustic Fever'' (2013) (lead vocals on ''You Give Me All I Need'') * ''

'' – ''Herman's Scorpions Songs'' (2014) (lead vocals on ''You Give Me All I Need'') * ''Wolfpakk (Michael Voss & Mark Sweeney)'' – ''Rise of The Animal'' (2014) (lead vocals on ''Running out of Times'') * ''D.H. Cooper'' – ''Destiny'' (2015) (lead vocals on ''I'll Say Goodbye', 'Hard Sensation' and ''Destiny'')

Production

* '' Great White – Out of the Night'' (1983) * '' XYZ – XYZ'' (1989) * ''

Antix antiX () is a Linux distribution based on Debian Stable. It is comparatively lightweight and suitable for older computers, while also providing cutting edge kernel and applications, as well as updates and additions via the apt-get package sy ...

– Get Up, Get Happy (''1984) * ''

Saint Vitus Vitus (), whose name is sometimes rendered Guy or Guido, was a Christian martyr from Sicily. His surviving hagiography is pure legend. The dates of his actual life are unknown.Basil Watkins, ''The Book of Saints: A Comprehensive Biographical D ...

– C.O.D.'' (1992) * ''Maxx Explosion – Forever'' (2013)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dokken, Don 1953 births American heavy metal singers American male singers American people of Norwegian descent Record producers from California Dokken members Living people Musicians from Manhattan Beach, California Singers from Los Angeles Glam metal musicians