Donald "Duck" Dunn

Honestly, Duck Dunn might be the most underrated musician in the history of American music — the guy was the heartbeat of the Memphis soul sound and most people couldn't even pick him out of a lineup. As the bass half of Booker T. & the M.G.'s and the go-to session man at Stax Records, he laid the groove under some of the greatest soul recordings ever made: Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave — that deep, locked-in feel you can't quite explain but instantly feel? That's Duck. He made it look effortless, which is exactly the mark of a master. And then he showed up in The Blues Brothers and reminded everyone that serious musicians can still have a blast. Memphis born and Memphis bred right down to his bones, he passed in 2012 at 70, and the pocket he left behind in those recordings will never, ever be filled.

Name (English)

Donald "Duck" Dunn

Name (Japanese)

ドナルド・ダック・ダン

Reading

どなるど・だっく・だん

Born

November 24, 1941 – May 13, 2012

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Sagittarius / Snake

Origin

Memphis, Tennessee, United States

Occupation

record producer / songwriter / actor / musician / bass guitarist

High school

Messick High School

Motto

Private

• Official sitehttps://www.duckdunn.com/
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%89%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AB%E3%83%89%E3%83%BB%E3%83%80%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%83%BB%E3%83%80%E3%83%B3

Tags

• Tennessee
• record producer
• songwriter
• actor

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.