{"id":641658,"date":"2026-05-14T00:55:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T00:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/641658\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T00:55:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T00:55:11","slug":"14-years-ago-today-tom-petty-lost-one-of-his-greatest-idols-a-memphis-born-rock-legend-nicknamed-after-donald-duck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/641658\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Years Ago Today, Tom Petty Lost One of His Greatest Idols, a Memphis-Born Rock Legend Nicknamed After Donald Duck"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While his name may not immediately ring a bell, you\u2019re almost certainly familiar with the work of Donald \u201cDuck\u201d Dunn. A session bassist for Stax Records, Dunn also featured on multiple recordings as a member of the legendary Memphis soul band <a href=\"https:\/\/americansongwriter.com\/4-classic-hit-songs-by-various-artists-featuring-booker-t-jones-in-honor-of-his-80th-birthday\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Booker T. &amp; the M.G.\u2019s.<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>On this day (May 13) in 2012, Donald \u201cDuck\u201d Dunn died in his sleep following a series of shows with longtime friend and iconic guitarist Steve Cropper in Tokyo. He was 70 years old. Today, we\u2019re reflecting on the career of a man who backed up everyone from Otis Redding to Eric Clapton to Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty.<\/p>\n<p>The Life and Career of Donald \u201cDuck\u201d Dunn<\/p>\n<p>Born November 24, 1941, in Memphis, Donald Dunn\u2019s father nicknamed him \u201cDuck\u201d as the two watched a Donald Duck cartoon together one day. \u201cIt was just one of those things that stuck,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/duckdunnremembered.com\/wp\/biography\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">later recalled.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Dunn picked up a ukulele at age 10 and began playing bass by 16. He and childhood friend Steve Cropper formed their first band, The Royal Spades, in high school.\u00a0That group evolved into the Mar-Keys, who signed with Satellite Records (later Stax Records) and scored their first hit, \u201cLast Night\u201d, in 1961.<\/p>\n<p>Shaping the Soul of Memphis<\/p>\n<p>Cropper later left the band for a full-time session gig \u00a0at the Stax studio. He encouraged Donald \u201cDuck\u201d Dunn to follow him, and the two joined Booker T\u2019s MGs.<\/p>\n<p>With Booker T. Jones and drummer Al Jackson Jr., the group would come to define the Memphis soul sound of the 1960s and \u201970s. Their work featured on songs like\u00a0Otis Redding\u2019s \u201cRespect\u201d and \u201cI Can\u2019t Turn You Loose\u201d,\u00a0Sam &amp; Dave\u2019s \u201cHold On, I\u2019m Comin\u2019\u201d, and\u00a0Albert King\u2019s \u201cBorn Under a Bad Sign\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Dunn and Jackson stayed on after Cropper and Jones left Stax Records. Dunn went on to work with Elvis Presley, Muddy Waters, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, and more. His distinctive bass style also featured in the Stevie Nicks-Tom Petty collaboration \u201cStop Draggin\u2019 My Heart Around\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is one of my great idols,\u201d Tom Petty<a href=\"https:\/\/faroutmagazine.co.uk\/musician-tom-petty-called-one-of-the-best-he-ever-met\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> later said<\/a> of Dunn. \u201cHe\u2019s one of the best musicians I\u2019ve ever met.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dunn also played himself in both the 1980 film Blues Brothers and its 1998 sequel. In 1992, he was inducted in the\u00a0Rock and Roll Hall of Fame\u00a0as a member of Booker T. &amp; the M.G.\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>Featured Image By Rick Diamond\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While his name may not immediately ring a bell, you\u2019re almost certainly familiar with the work of Donald&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[89476,277103,88,216,277104],"class_list":["post-641658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-2010s","tag-donald-duck-dunn","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-soul-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}