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Donovan is a successful folk singer with several Top-40 hits including “Mellow Yellow,” “Sunshine Superman,” “Epistle to Dippy,” “There is a Mountain,” “Wear Your Love Like Heaven,” “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” Jennifer Juniper, “Lalea,” “Atlantis” and “Riki Tiki Tavi.” He was even invited to work with The Beatles to write “Yellow Submarine”.

Donovan’s musical style has spread to many other musicians including John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Page, and Brian Jones. Although most of Donovan’s fame came during the 1960’s, he has recently released a new album called “Beat Caf”, a boxed set called “Try for the Sun: The Journey of Donovan”, and a book called “The Autobiography of Donovan: The Hurdy Gurdy Man”.

Donovan’s passion for music started very early in life. He was born in Scotland in 1946 to a father who loved poetry. Donovan didn’t learn until later in life that his father was one of only a handful who read poetry to their sons. Even before Donovan was old enough to understand the words and meanings, he was able to appreciate the metered sound of poetry.

His love for poetry blossomed into music as Donovan got older. Music and poetry are a sisterhood as far as Donovan is concerned. Each creates a rhythmic balance through movement of air. This balance harmonizes every tribe of the world. Even the simplest poetry has more flow than the most complex of story writing.

Donovan left home at age 15 to hitchhike with Gypsy Dave. They played in local clubs until he was 17 years old. When he returned home, Donovan was approached about recording demos at Tin Pan Alley in London. He knew this was his chance to become a folk singer. It was his chance to protest and sing about civil rights.

Donovan’s life isn’t entirely caught up in the music scene. In 1968, he traveled to India for the first time to learn about Transcendental Meditation techniques along with The Beatles, Mike Love, and Mia Farrow. It’s something that stuck with him, because today, he’s leading the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace’s musical wing.

Donovan began walking his spiritual path almost as early as his musical one. It was the reading of “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac as a teenager that set his mind in motion. Reading about Buddhism and Zen only made him thirst for more. He then read about Alan Watts, Christmas Humphries, Suzuki, Taoism, Hinduism, Vedas, and Celtic Mythology. Poetry, art, music, and spirituality will always be centers of Donovan’s life.

Donovan’s successes came after a long line of obstacles. Even as a child, he was teased because he was a shy book-lover and because he had a limp from polio. Later in life he faced lawsuits, a drug arrest, and broken hearts, but none kept him from his passion to change the world through song.