Michael Hossack

Michael Hossack (17 October 1946, Paterson New Jersey - 12 March 2012) was a drummer for the band The Doobie Brothers from 1971-74 and again from 1987-2010. Hossack played alongside Hartman on the band's breakthrough albums Toulouse Street in 1972, The Captain and Me in 1973 and What Were Once Vices are Now Habits in 1974, which spawned the band's first #1 hit, "Black Water".

In 1975, Hossack helped form the band Bonaroo which released one album then disbanded shortly afterwards. In 1976, he had a brief stint with a band called DFK (Les Dudek, Mike Finnigan and Jim Krueger). In 1977, Hossack became a partner in Chateau Recorders studio in North Hollywood.

In 1987, former Doobie member Keith Knudsen called Hossack and and asked if he would participate in a series of benefit concerts for veterans of the Vietnam War. Being a veteran himself, Hossack agreed and the Doobie Brothers (after a five-year hiatus) were back together again. Due to the huge success of these concerts, the Doobie Brothers decided to reform with the original band members Pat Simmons, Tom Johnston, John Hartman, Tiran Porter and Michael Hossack. Not long afterwards, they were offered a recording contract from Capitol Records. Since then, Hossack's unique style can be heard on the albums Cycles, Brotherhood, Rockin' down the Highway: The Wildlife Concert, Sibling Rivalry, Live at Wolf Trap and World Gone Crazy.

On Friday, June 22, 2001, (in the midst of a spring-summer tour for their album Sibling Rivalry) while heading to a show at Caesars Tahoe in Lake Tahoe, Hossack suffered multiple fractures from a motorcycle accident on Highway 88 and had to be airlifted to a Sacramento-area hospital where he underwent surgery. After months of healing and grueling physical therapy, Hossack was back with the band. He was a permanent fixture until he developed cancer in 2010 and had to take a leave of absence to focus on his health. After a long illness, Hossack died on March 12th at 7:30pm at his home in Dubois, Wyoming.