Michael McDonald Reunites with the Doobie Brothers

Was it difficult to write about some of your personal struggles?

A lot of what I’m grateful for today, oddly enough, are the things that were direct results of some of the lesser moments in my character, in my life, and things I had to learn the hard way. And sometimes, with a little bit of time, if you live long enough, you wind up being more grateful for those things than what you consider to be the good fortune you wish you had back then. It is the beauty of aging that we can look back, and things are calmer now because we have that perspective.

Speaking of the beauty of aging, are you doing anything intentionally to age well?

I have so many friends who do a much better job at taking care of themselves with exercise and vitamin supplements and sport. I have always hated exercise, and I hate exercise even more now. COVID really took the wind out of my sails. I was a relatively healthy person … then I got COVID a couple of times, and the whole lockdown and the lack of movement … I felt like my health really was compromised during the lockdown.

Are you doing anything now to try to make up for it?

Not much, really, I’m ashamed to admit. I’m looking forward to getting back out on the road, because there’s a certain amount of activity that goes along with that. But I really do need to start exercising. I’m telling myself that. I [will] probably tell myself that about 20 more times today.… Playing live, we put a lot into it, but I’ve just been doing that so long that it’s not as hard for me as getting out and walking 2 miles on the beach. But I love that. What’s really my greatest form of exercise right now is taking my dogs down to the beach.

What are you up to musically?

I’ve been doing some blues records with some older guys that I’ve been friends with for many years. And that’s been fun for me, because I’ve always loved traditional blues. We’ll probably put together a band and play a couple nights a month in L.A. It’s a real fun project for me, keeping me active.

You’ve been married for 41 years [to singer Amy Holland, 70]. What’s your secret?

Marriage, as in anything else in life, comes from reminding yourself to be grateful. We all suffer from wanting to blame circumstances, people, places and things for whatever it is we don’t like about our lives. It’s been a learning curve for both of us. I fell in love with [Amy] when I first met her. She was 16 and I was 19. She had a boyfriend at the time, and I think I had a girlfriend at the time. But we worked together, and it just seemed like fate would always kind of bring us back together over the years. When we got married and we had two beautiful kids, I realized that this is the best part of my life right here. No matter what happens or doesn’t happen, nothing’s going to be as important as this. And we’ve had our moments. We’ve had our times when it was easy for me to blame my wife for what’s wrong with my life. I think I know better than that, and so whenever I give it the smallest amount of thought, I realize that I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have her in my life still.

McDonald is gearing up to head back on tour with Doobie Brothers bandmates Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons and John McFee.

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Are you an AARP member?

Yes, I am. I’ve got a card.… My wife and I, we’re both proud members of AARP. It’s just such a wonderful organization for people our age, because really what it’s about is giving you information and opportunities to keep you living life at its fullest. A couple of my friends are 91, 92 years old. I like to fantasize sometimes that I’ll still be going down to the beach and walking the dogs on the beach — maybe even getting in the water once in a while — when I’m that age.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Not to worry so much — relax and go with the flow. I’m not saying not to work hard and not to put your shoulder into whatever endeavor you choose in life, but to be open to the fact that the path to that is going to probably change drastically, and don’t worry about it.… The pitfalls are really the things you’re going to look back on and reminisce about, and they’re going to cause you the most gratitude in the end.