Working In Harmony

Meet Dolette McDonald

Many people run into their co-workers in the morning if they happen to go to the same gym.

But few people have Sting as their co-worker.

“I was on tour with the Police and then two of Sting’s solo tours,” recalls Dolette McDonald. “I’d get up and be the first one in the gym every day. Sting would come to work out and see me there, and then he started getting up earlier to get there first! It became a friendly competition.”

As a backing vocalist for some of the biggest acts of the 1980s, McDonald has plenty of stories like that to tell. (“David Byrne was a little odd, but that’s part of what made him so fun to be around,” she says.) But her story brought her to Savannah, where she now enjoys leading her own band.

“I sing at The Grey every month, and that’s a three-hour gig,” she says. “That’s not easy for a 73-year-old! I love it, but it’s not easy.”

A New Wave

McDonald’s vocal instincts became apparent early, when she was growing up in Newark, New Jersey.

“My music teacher in grammar school taught us Broadway songs,” McDonald recalls. “We were singing Oklahoma! and I added a harmony. My teacher stopped playing piano and said, ‘Who did that?’”

McDonald’s mother asked her to sing in different churches throughout her childhood, and she developed her skills further in a fine arts high school. By 17, she was headed to New York City with enough typing skills to get a day job, but no other plan.

Her voice would soon be discovered, however. McDonald found gigs on the cabaret circuit, singing background vocals for Cissy Houston. She met a musician named Busta Jones, who asked her to sing on his album. Jones had been working with the Talking Heads, who were about to expand their touring group from the original four-piece band to a nine-person ensemble. He asked McDonald about joining the group as a backing vocalist.

“I said, ‘What is a Talking Head?’” McDonald recalls with a laugh. “I was a product of church music and R&B. I’d never listened to new wave. But Busta said, ‘You can do this.’”

After that tour, McDonald’s gift for harmony and support of the main performer got the attention of other big acts, such as her eventual workout buddy Sting and his group The Police, as well as Steve Winwood and Don Henley. That time in her life was a whirlwind, none of which was planned by McDonald.

“My life has been built on all the angels that helped me along the way, because I didn’t have a clue,” she says.

Off The Rollercoaster

In the 1990s, McDonald sang backing vocals for Juan Gabriel, a Mexican singer-songwriter who was among Latin America’s best-selling artists. But after almost two decades of performing, McDonald was looking for something new—stability.

“I felt like I was on a rollercoaster and couldn’t get off,” she says. “So I moved to Naples, Florida, and looked for a stable job.”

Though her résumé had nothing on it besides singing, McDonald’s career had taught her a whole lot about hotels. She tried to enter the hospitality industry and was repeatedly turned away until she met the general manager of a boutique hotel who was a big Talking Heads fan.

“He said, ‘If you’re serious about this, I will mentor you,’” McDonald says. “I said, ‘I just need someone to give me a chance.’”

McDonald says she took to the new career “just like music.” By the time of her retirement from hospitality 12 years later, she was director of front office operations for a high-end resort in Captiva, Florida, with a staff of 100 people.

A Different Energy

Visits to see friends in Savannah gave McDonald a taste of what she was missing in Naples—a vibrant music and foodie scene, more diversity and a different energy. She now calls Savannah home and enjoys the freedom to say yes only to the projects she is passionate about, and to pass on any more grueling tour offers.

One thing that has never changed—from the new wave days of the 80s to retirement in Savannah—is McDonald’s commitment to start the day in the healthiest way possible.

“I get up and drink 18 ounces of water, meditate for a half-hour, walk four miles, and then do some stretching,” McDonald says. “I used to be a runner, but my body eventually said, ‘Don’t run anymore,’ and I listened.”

In her resolve to stay healthy, McDonald even faced a longtime fear. Having almost drowned as a child, she never wanted to try swimming again. But knowing it could give her similar benefits to running, she found an instructor who could help her overcome her fear of the water and learned to swim at 68 years old. She now swims laps every other day in the warmer months.

“Consistency is the key,” she says. “Occasionally I can’t do my routine, for instance if I have an appointment. But that’s okay because I do it so often that if I miss one, it’s not the end of the world. And whenever I see my doctor, he says, ‘Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.’”

Top/first photo courtesy of Robert Bell

Second photo courtesy of Drew Miller, Cullen Studios

Third photo courtesy of John Alexander Photography, Savannah Jazz