Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_music>;  scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz>; , pop <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_music>; , psychedelia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_rock>; , and world music <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_music>; . He currently lives with his family in County Cork <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Cork>;  in Ireland.[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donovan#cite_note-0>;

Donovan came to fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965 with a series of live performances on the pop TV series, Ready Steady Go! <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ready_Steady_Go%21>; , and his popularity spread to the US and other countries. After signing with the British label Pye Records <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pye_Records>;  in 1965, he recorded a handful of singles and two albums in the folk music vein. After extricating himself from his original management contract, he began a long and successful collaboration with leading independent record producer Mickie Most <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickie_Most>; , scoring a string of hits in the UK, the US, Australia and other countries. His successful records in the 1960s included the UK hits "Catch the Wind <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_the_Wind>; " and "Colours <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colours_%28Donovan_song%29>; " in 1965, while "Sunshine Superman <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Superman>; " topped the US Billboard Hot 100 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100>;  chart the following year, and reached number two in Britain. Donovan was the first artist to be signed to CBS/Epic Records by then-new Administrative Vice President Clive Davis <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Davis>; , who later became head of the CBS Record empire.

Donovan was one of the leading British recording artists of his day. He produced a series of hit albums and singles between 1965 and 1970.[2] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donovan#cite_note-pc48-1>;  He became a friend of leading pop musicians including Joan Baez <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Baez>; , Brian Jones <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Jones>; , and The Beatles <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles>; . He influenced both John Lennon <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon>;  and Paul McCartney <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_McCartney>;  when he taught them his finger-picking <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger-picking>;  guitar style in 1968.[3] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donovan#cite_note-2>;  Donovan's commercial fortunes waned after he parted ways with Mickie Most in 1969, and he left the music industry for a time.

He continued to perform and record sporadically in the 1970s and 1980s, but gradually fell from favour. His gentle musical style and hippie <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippies>;  image was scorned by critics, especially after the advent of punk rock <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punk_rock>; . Donovan withdrew from performing and recording several times during his career, but he underwent a revival in the 1990s with the emergence of the rave <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rave>;  scene in Britain. Late in the decade, he recorded the 1996 album Sutras <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutras_%28album%29>; with producer and long-time fan Rick Rubin <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Rubin>;  and in 2004 released a new album, Beat Cafe <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_Cafe>; . Donovan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_and_Roll_Hall_of_Fame>;  in 2012.