# Multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald, founding member of Foreigner and King Crimson, dies at 75 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death, music\ **Created:** [February 15, 2022, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-instrumentalist-ian-mcdonald-founding-member-of-foreigner-and-king-crimson-dies-at-75/959489 "2022-02-15T00:34:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-instrumentalist-ian-mcdonald-founding-member-of-foreigner-and-king-crimson-dies-at-75/959489/1 "2022-02-15T00:34:51Z")
He sort of flew under the radar for most of his career, although he certainly had his day in the sun with Foreigner. Here’s a really nice tribute. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ATtB922bq8I/hqdefault.jpg "A Tribute to Ian McDonald (1946-2022)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATtB922bq8I) RIP. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-instrumentalist-ian-mcdonald-founding-member-of-foreigner-and-king-crimson-dies-at-75/959489/2 "2022-02-15T01:47:41Z")
And so another damn good musician passes. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-instrumentalist-ian-mcdonald-founding-member-of-foreigner-and-king-crimson-dies-at-75/959489/3 "2022-02-15T01:48:55Z")
I’ve liked him since the first King Crimson. I also was a fan of his McDonald and Giles album [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/LMff9CM7yPU/maxresdefault.jpg "McDonald and Giles - McDonald and Giles (Full Album 1971)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMff9CM7yPU) ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-instrumentalist-ian-mcdonald-founding-member-of-foreigner-and-king-crimson-dies-at-75/959489/4 "2022-02-16T01:37:33Z")
Indeed, RIP. Had the M+G album too; especially liked the opening track. (or suite, I guess) My favourite moment is when he returned to King Crimson after a six-album absence, on the _Red_ album, blowing hard in “One More Red Nightmare”: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cLoQADJnGr4/maxresdefault.jpg "King Crimson - One More Red Nightmare") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLoQADJnGr4) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-instrumentalist-ian-mcdonald-founding-member-of-foreigner-and-king-crimson-dies-at-75/959489/5 "2022-02-16T01:48:34Z")
Great flutist. Here he is playing _Talk to the Wind_ with KC. (I should have listed this in the “Most beautiful songs” thread in CS.) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8nMuA2y0kyA/hqdefault.jpg "Steve Hackett - Ian Mcdonald - John Wetton \\ I Talk To The Wind") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nMuA2y0kyA) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-instrumentalist-ian-mcdonald-founding-member-of-foreigner-and-king-crimson-dies-at-75/959489/6 "2022-02-16T02:30:41Z")
Back when I worked at the grocery store, the overnight crew would often turn the music to channels that are not generally used as grocery-store music, and one day, I heard this while opening the pharmacy at 7:55am. I’ve never taken hallucinogenics, but it almost made me want to. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ukgraQ-xkp4/maxresdefault.jpg "King Crimson - The Court Of The Crimson King") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukgraQ-xkp4) RIP Ian McDonald and Greg Lake. In this case, the management didn’t change the channel, which in this case was 1970s progressive, and we also heard the 17-minute version of “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” The other pharmacist, who was about 15 years my senior (i.e. he would be a 70-something by now) started telling me the story behind that song, and I replied that I already knew it. We got busy, and sure enough, 15-odd minutes later, we heard that organ progression at the end.