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Steely Dan
artist

Steely Dan

Steely Dan is a jazz rock artist from United States formed in 1972. 41 releases are catalogued on Riffiter.

Jazz Rock · United States · Best jazz rock albums

4.1 /5
23 ratings
41
Releases
1972–2023
Active years
1972
Formed

Discography

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Aja cover4.5

Most popular

Aja

1977 · 7 tracks

Singles & EPs

6

Live & compilations

17

Community

More about Steely Dan

Honors

1
  • Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

    ×1

    Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

    • 2001

Award data from Wikidata; photos via Wikimedia Commons — click a photo for its author and license.

About

Steely Dan is an American rock band consisting of core members Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop. Rolling Stone has called them "the perfect musical antiheroes for the Seventies." The band's music is characterized by complex jazz-influenced structures and harmonies played by Becker and Fagen along with a revolving cast of rock and pop studio musicians. Steely Dan's "cerebral, wry and eccentric" lyrics, often filled with sharp sarcasm, touch upon such themes as drugs, love affairs, and crime. The pair is well known for their near-obsessive perfectionism in the recording studio, the most extreme example being that Becker and Fagen used at least 42 different studio musicians, 11 engineers, and took over a year to record the tracks that resulted in 1980's Gaucho - an album that contains only seven songs.

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Steely Dan toured from 1972 to 1974, but in 1975 became a purely studio-based act. The late 1970s saw the group release a series of moderately successful singles and albums. They disbanded in 1981, and throughout most of the next decade Fagen and Becker remained largely inactive in the music world. During this time "a cult following" remained devoted to the group. In 1993, the group resumed playing live concerts; later Steely Dan released two albums of new material, the first of which earned a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. They have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2001.

Steely Dan in brief

How many Steely Dan releases are on Riffiter?
41 releases are catalogued, spanning 1972 to 2023.
When was Steely Dan formed?
Steely Dan formed in 1972, in United States.
What genre is Steely Dan?
Steely Dan is catalogued under Jazz Rock, Classic Rock, Rock.
What is the most recent Steely Dan release on Riffiter?
Everlasting Summer (Live), released in 2023.
What awards has Steely Dan won?
Steely Dan has 1 award win on record, including Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1×).

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