Country Joe McDonald, leader of psychedelic folk-rock group Country Joe and the Fish, has died at the age of 84. The news was confirmed by the singer's wife, Kathy. "We are deeply saddened to report the passing of Country Joe McDonald, who died yesterday, March 7, at the age of 84, in Berkeley, California, due to complications from Parkinson’s Disease," a statement read. "At this time, the McDonald Family requests privacy during this very difficult period. Please feel free to leave your condolences, memories and photos here on this post. Thank you."Born Joseph Allen McDonald in Washington, D.C, in 1942, Country Joe served for three years in the Navy before attending university in Los Angeles. After a year, he dropped out and relocated to Berkeley, hoping to become part of the burgeoning folk scene, where he formed Country Joe and the Fish alongside Barry "The Fish" Melton. The group's anti-war, anti-establishment lyrics struck a chord, with I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag, the opening track of the band's 1965 EP Rag Baby Talking Issue No. 1, becoming one of the counter-culture's most popular protest songs and an eventual highlight of the Woodstock movie, preceded by the iconic "fuck cheer," as the audience, prompted by McDonald, shouted out the letters "F-U-C-K.""I love it," McDonald told Rolling Stone. "It’s great, and it really cuts through the bullshit of politics and everything. You know, I was banned from all the municipal auditoriums in America over that cheer. It gave me a lot of problems. "Of course, you couldn’t play it on the radio, you know? So my most famous song couldn’t be played on the radio. Some people lost their jobs for playing it on the radio, but it’s great. It’s a great moment. I’m happy and proud that I could represent the Vietnam War and Vietnam veterans in that moment."
Country Joe and the Fish released five albums before breaking up in 1971, although the original lineup reformed in 1977 for a final album, Reunion. Country Joe also released more than 30 studio and live albums as a solo artist. The most recent, 50, arrived in 2017. McDonald returned to Woodstock for the 25th-anniversary festival in 1994 and took part in the Heroes of Woodstock tour in 2009. He was also scheduled to perform at the 50th-anniversary festival in 2019, but the event was eventually shelved. McDonald's final show was back on home turf the same year at the Surrealistic Summer Solstice Jam at Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA, where Country Joe and the Fish had played alongside Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company and Quicksilver Messenger Service at the historic Human Be-In 52 years earlier. "My goal will never be achieved in my lifetime, of peace and love on the Planet Earth,” he told NBC in 2007, "but I'll do my bit to further it as long as I can and when I'm gone, someone else will pick it up and that's the way it will go."It will be known that I contributed my part, as to the music and the culture of my generation, not just politically, although I added a political, social, moral element when there wasn't one."
