Don Was

Don Was is one of the most successful record producers in contemporary music. He has worked with an eclectic array of gifted artists, ranging from The Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, Ziggy Marley, Bob Seger, Al Green, Garth Brooks, Ringo Starr, Iggy Pop, Lyle Lovett, Kris Kristofferson, Joe Cocker, Hootie and The Blowfish, Amos Lee and Willie Nelson to Elton John, Stevie Nicks, George Clinton, Randy Newman, The Black Crowes, Carly Simon, Travis Tritt, Brian Wilson, Jackson Browne, The Barenaked Ladies, Old Crow Medicine Show, Roy Orbison, George Clinton, Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, Richie Sambora, The Presidents of The United States, B.B. King, Paul Westerberg, Poison, Cheb Khaled, Stone Temple Pilots, Kurt Elling, Delbert McClinton, Lucinda Williams, Elizabeth Cook, Todd Snider and The B-52’s. He has received multiple Grammy Awards including Producer of the Year in 1995. Albums produced by Mr. Was have sold more than 90 million copies worldwide.

The Detroit-born Mr. Was began his career as a musician and songwriter. Along with childhood friend, David Was, he founded the group Was (Not Was) scoring three Top Ten Pop Singles and receiving one Grammy nomination. Their album, What Up, Dog, was named to Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of the 100 Best Albums of the Decade and the group was voted Best R&B Band in 1989’s Playboy Jazz & Pop poll.

In 1988, Don produced the B-52’s comeback smash, the Grammy-nominated Love Shack. The following month, he produced Bonnie Raitt’s album, Nick of Time, which won four Grammy awards, including Mr. Was’ first for Album of the Year. A documentary that he directed and produced, I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times, about former-Beach Boy Brian Wilson debuted at The Sundance Film Festival and won the San Francisco Film Festival’s Golden Gate Award. Mr. Was received the British Academy Award (BAFTA) for Best Original Score in recognition of his compositions for the film, Backbeat.

His songs have been covered by an broad group of artists-ranging from George Michael to P.J. Harvey. Along with comedian Paul Riser, he wrote the popular theme to the TV show Mad About You.

Recently, he has produced new records for Jill Sobule, Ziggy Marley, Todd Snider, Elizabeth Cook, Kris Kristofferson, Lucinda Williams and Saul Hernandez as well as the re-issue of The Stones’ classic, Exile on Main Street. He continues to perform live with Was (Not Was), hosts a weekly radio show for the Sirius XM Outlaw Country channel called The Motor City Hayride and produces original music videos for his Wasmopolitan Cavalcade of Recorded Music website at mydamnchannel.com.