Country Joe McDonald, who fronted Country Joe and the Fish and became a Woodstock legend in the 1960s, has died.
“Country Joe” McDonald, a Woodstock Festival legend and frontman for the band Country Joe and the Fish, has died at the age of 84.
According to a statement from the band posted on their official Facebook page, the singer, whose real name was Joseph Allen McDonald, died on Saturday, March 7, in Berkeley, California, due to complications from Parkinson’s disease.
The band said they were “saddened” to hear of MacDonald’s death, adding that MacDonald was “surrounded by his family.”
No further details were disclosed. USA TODAY contacted a McDonald’s representative for more information.
“McDonald was widely known as one of the defining voices of the 1960s counterculture movement. His music blended folk, rock, and political commentary, capturing the spirit of a generation deeply influenced by social upheaval, the civil rights movement, and the Vietnam War,” the official obituary shared by the band reads.
McDonald was the lead singer and co-founder of the 1960s psychedelic folk-rock group Country Joe and the Fish, and wrote some of the group’s most enduring songs, including “I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rags,” a protest song against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
“Come on, strong men, come on/Uncle Sam needs your help again/He’s in dire straits/All the way to Vietnam,” he sings in a satirical anti-war anthem. “Put down your book and pick up your gun / We’re going to have a hell of a time.”
The song became a battle cry, immortalized with the infamous f-word cheer during a performance at Woodstock in 1969.
In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2019 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his career-defining festival performance, McDonald reflected on how the cheers “gave me a lot of trouble.”
“Of course we couldn’t get it on the radio, right? So my most famous song couldn’t be played on the radio. Some people lost their jobs to get it on the radio, but that’s great. It’s a great moment,” he told the outlet. “I was so happy and proud to represent the Vietnam War and Vietnam veterans in that moment. It was so powerful.”
MacDonald told Rolling Stone magazine that he “never thought about the historical significance” of the performance, but now he does. “But I believe that the Woodstock festival, the movie, and the album changed everything about America. And that change is still happening, right? The challenge between the customs and tastes of the World War II generation and the Woodstock generation is still going on. That battle is still going on.”
McDonald was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in El Monte, California. After serving three years in the U.S. Navy as a teenager, he returned to California and immersed himself in the Bay Area’s burgeoning folk and protest music scene.
In the mid-1960s, he co-founded Country Joe and the Fish with guitarist Barry Melton in Berkeley, and the band quickly became one of the best-known bands of San Francisco’s psychedelic rock movement. Their debut album, released in 1967, was genre-defining “electronic music for mind and body.”
MacDonald’s official obituary states: “Throughout his career, MacDonald has used music as a platform for political and social commentary.” “Aside from the Vietnam War, his work has also addressed environmental issues, civil rights, and humanitarian causes. After Country Joe and the Fish disbanded in 1971, he continued to record and perform as a solo artist, producing albums and touring internationally for decades.”
In his last interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 2019, McDonald said the next chapter of his life will be outside the spotlight. “I’m retired now,” he said. “I did a series of performances[recently]and it’s over. It’s over. I’m fully retired.
“I’ve been thinking about retirement for the past few years, but right now I’m just looking at my grandchildren and being home and interacting with my neighbors.”
