Scottish singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Donovan Leitch, is one of the most influential figures in the Sixties' explosion of musical creativity. His 2002 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame solidifies Donovan’s ingenuity as “singlehandedly initiat[ing] the psychedelic revolution…” by blending folk, blues, jazz, classical, Latin and Indian elements. Donovan charted a dozen Top 40 hits during his career including some of the era’s most memorable numbers such as “Mellow Yellow”, “Sunshine Superman”, and “Season of the Witch”.

Prior to Donovan’s psychedelic foray, he produced a rather successful career as a folk musician, as evidenced by the two albums released in 1965, What’s Bin Did and What’s Bin Had – renamed Catch the Wind in the United States – and Fairytale.

Although hints of Donovan’s pension for genre-bending experimentation are heard in Fairytale’s “Sunny Goodge Street”, his career achieved catharsis with and after the release of Sunshine Superman in 1966. Donovan’s work during this time period is described as:

[C]oncoct[ing] a fusion of styles before the phrase “world music” was coined to describe such potpourris. His music wasn’t strictly rock or pop, but it worked in those realms at a time when psychedelia overtook all with its exotic, borderless approach.

The singles “Sunshine Superman” and “Mellow Yellow” reached number one and two, respectively, on U.S. charts in 1966.

Outside of his own career, Donovan’s artistic brilliance, industry accolades, and counterculture lifestyle heavily influenced The Beatles' famous period of psychedelic/spiritual exploration. In fact, Donovan traveled along with The Beatles on their well-known 1968 trip to an ashram in Rishikesh, India, to study transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Afterwards, Donovan contributed to a number of The Beatles' most memorable songs, such as “Julia,” “Yellow Submarine,” as well as numerous tracks on the White Album.

The now 72-year-old Donovan continues producing new music and performing live.