About Don-E
Don-E was a British songwriter, record producer and musician.
Don-E (born Donald McLean, in Brixton, London, England) is a British soul singer, songwriter, musician and producer. Don-E is most well known for his début single, "Love Makes the World Go Round" which reached No. 18 in the UK Singles Chart in 1992.
Career Don-E's interest in music began when his father, a South London pastor, gave him a home-made guitar for his fifth birthday. After taking an interest in his parents' collection of gospel and soul, he moved onto funk, reggae, jazz and pop.
Whilst still only 19, Don-E was signed to Island Records and recorded his debut, Unbreakable, which was released in 1992 shortly after the summer hit, "Love Makes the World Go Round" scaled the international charts. Don-E wrote and produced the album, as well as providing the majority of the instrumentation. UK 'urban jazz' guitarist Ronny Jordan played on two of the album tracks.
Following the lack of chart success of his second recording, Changing Seasons, Don-E left Island Records to focus on writing and production for a number of artists in the UK and US. It's during this period Don-E was briefly signed to D'Angelo's record label, along with former Jamiroquai member Stuart Zender, who together recorded an album under the name Azur. Among the tracks, Don-E and Zender recorded "So Cold" with D'Angelo playing the Fender Rhodes parts – the track later featuring officially on Don-E's Natural.
Don-E is a regular member of Grace Jones's band,
Discography Studio albums Unbreakable (1992) Changing Seasons (1995) Try This (2005) Natural (2008) Ladies Night Part 1 (2012) Little Star (2013) Future Rare Grooves (2014) Future Rares 2 (2015) 30 (2023)
EPs Sex-E Soul EP (2011)
Singles Year SongUK 1992 "Love Makes the World Go Round" 18 "Peace in the World" 41 "Oh My Gosh" — 1993 "Crazy" — 1995 "Rhythm of Life" — "Fakin' the Funk" 82 1996 "Call Me" — 1998 "Delicious" (with Deni Hines) 52 "—" denotes releases that did not chart.
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Important facts
Frequently asked questions
Who was Don-E?
British soul singer, songwriter, musician
When was Don-E born?
Don-E was born in Brixton.
What was Don-E's occupation?
Don-E was a songwriter, record producer and musician.
What nationality was Don-E?
Don-E was British.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Don-E. https://biography.guide/don-e/
MLA: "Don-E." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/don-e/.
Chicago: "Don-E." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/don-e/.
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