Country Joe McDonald, the American singer and songwriter best known as the lead singer and co-founder of Country Joe and the Fish and for writing “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag,” died on March 7, 2026.
Born Joseph Allen McDonald on January 1, 1942, in Washington, D.C., he was a musician and film composer who helped lead the 1960s psychedelic folk-rock group and wrote some of its best-known songs, including “Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine.” After the group broke up in 1971, he continued performing as a solo artist and carried on writing songs that reflected his political views.
Joseph Allen “Country Joe” McDonald (January 1, 1942 – March 7, 2026) was an American singer, songwriter, musician and film composer, who was the lead singer and co-founder of the 1960s psychedelic folk-rock group Country Joe and the Fish. He wrote some of the group’s most well-known songs, including “Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine” and “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag”, the latter a protest song against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.