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IMDbPro

Steely Dan

  • Music Artist
  • Composer
  • Actor
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Walter Becker, Donald Fagen, and Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band founded in 1971 in New York by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Initially the band had a stable lineup, but in 1974, Becker and Fagen retired from live performances to become a studio-only band, opting to record with a revolving cast of session musicians. Rolling Stone has called them "the perfect musical antiheroes for the seventies".

Becker and Fagan played together in a variety of bands from their time together studying at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. They later moved to Los Angeles, gathered a band of musicians, and began recording albums. Their first album, Can't Buy a Thrill (1972), established a template for their career, blending elements of rock, jazz, Latin music, R&B, blues and sophisticated studio production with cryptic and ironic lyrics. The band enjoyed critical and commercial success through seven studio albums, peaking with their top-selling album Aja, released in 1977. After the group disbanded in 1981, Becker and Fagen worked sporadically on solo projects through the 1980s, though a cult following remained devoted to the group's work. Since reuniting in 1993, Steely Dan has toured steadily and released two albums of new material, the first of which, Two Against Nature, earned a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Their final album of new studio material was 2003's Everything Must Go, though the band has continued to release compilations, box sets, and live albums on a regular basis. After Becker's passing in 2017, Fagen reluctantly continued the group with himself as the sole official member.

They have sold more than 40 million albums worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2001. VH1 ranked Steely Dan at No. 82 on their list of the 100 Greatest Musical Artists of All Time. Rolling Stone ranked them No. 15 on its list of the 20 greatest duos of all time.
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  • Awards
    • 3 wins & 6 nominations

Photos26

Walter Becker of Steely Dan performs during the band's 'Jamalot Ever After Summer Tour 2014' at Concord Pavilion on July 10, 2014 in Concord, Calif.
Walter Becker, Donald Fagen, Jeffrey Baxter, Denny Dias, Jim Hodder, and Steely Dan
Walter Becker, Donald Fagen, Denny Dias, Michael McDonald, and Steely Dan
Walter Becker, Donald Fagen, and Steely Dan
Walter Becker, Donald Fagen, and Steely Dan
Donald Fagen and Steely Dan
Walter Becker and Steely Dan
Donald Fagen and Steely Dan
Donald Fagen and Steely Dan
Donald Fagen and Steely Dan
Walter Becker, Donald Fagen, and Steely Dan
Walter Becker, Donald Fagen, and Steely Dan

Known for

Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds in R.I.P.D. (2013)
R.I.P.D.
5.6
  • Soundtrack("Hey Nineteen")
  • 2013
Zodiac (2007)
Zodiac
7.7
  • Soundtrack("Deacon Blues")
  • 2007
Kate Hudson in Almost Famous (2000)
Almost Famous
7.9
  • Soundtrack("Reeling in the Years")
  • 2000
Kirsten Dunst and Ryan Gosling in All Good Things (2010)
All Good Things
6.3
  • Soundtrack("Daddy Don't Live In That New York City No More", "Do It Again", "Don't Take Me Alive")
  • 2010

Credits

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IMDbPro

Composer

  • Transference: Book of Liars
    • Composer (original music by)
    • Pre-production
  • Judith Wellner in Hole Up (2008)
    Hole Up
    • Composer (performer)
    • Short
    • 2008
  • Jam session - Kikujiro no natsu koshiki kaizokuban (1999)
    Jam session - Kikujiro no natsu koshiki kaizokuban
    • Composer
    • 1999
  • FM (1978)
    FM
    • Composer
    • 1978

Actor

  • Kent Osborne in Build the Wall (2020)
    Build the Wall
    • 2020
  • David Letterman, Regis Philbin, Barbara Gaines, Biff Henderson, Alan Kalter, and Paul Shaffer in Late Show with David Letterman (1993)
    Late Show with David Letterman
    • Themselvs
    • TV Series
    • 2000

Personal details

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  • Official sites
    • Apple Music
    • Deezer
  • Other works
    Album: "Can't Buy a Thrill"
  • Publicity listings
    • 6 Articles
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Walter Becker, Co-Founder and Co-Songwriter, guitarist of Steely Dan died on September 3, 2017.

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