Keith Knudsen
American rock musician (1948–2005)
Keith A. Knudsen ( kə-NOOD-sən; February 18, 1948 – February 8, 2005) was an American rock drummer, vocalist, and songwriter. Knudsen was best known as a drummer and vocalist for The Doobie Brothers. In addition, he founded the band Southern Pacific with fellow Doobie Brother John McFee. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Doobie Brothers in 2020.
Biography
Knudsen was born in Le Mars, Iowa. He began drumming while attending Princeton High School in Princeton, Illinois, where he graduated in 1966. After short stints playing in a club band and the Blind Joe Mendlebaum Blues Band, he became the drummer for organist/vocalist Lee Michaels. He played in The Hoodoo Rhythm Devils from late 1972 through mid 1973. He never participated in any formal studio recording with them, but recorded a live Texas Special on KSAN-FM in San Francisco with the Hoodoos and Johnny Winter. His big break came in 1973 when he was invited to join The Doobie Brothers, replacing the departing Michael Hossack.
The public source identifies “Keith Knudsen” as american rock musician (1948–2005). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Keith, Knudsen and American.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2389644. VIAF identifies the subject as 51414181. The Library of Congress control number is no2005013435. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1948, 2005, 2020 and 1966.
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This entry incorporates text from “Keith Knudsen” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.