🎤 Steely Dan // collaborations · IMUDB
who played on that record? search an artist and check the credits — powered by MusicBrainz. first time here? see how it works.
checking the liner notes…
Steely Dan
Members
Awards
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
IMUDB Ranking
9.9/10
Based on how many times this artist has been played on Last.fm — not a critic score.
🎧 1,856,859 listeners
▶ 80,556,776 plays
Wikipedia
Steely Dan was an American rock band formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1971 by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Originally having a traditional band lineup, Becker and Fagen chose to stop performing live by the end of 1974 and continued Steely Dan as a studio-only duo, using a revolving cast of session musicians. Rolling Stone magazine named them "the perfect musical antiheroes for the seventies".
Becker and Fagen played together in a variety of bands from their time together studying at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson. They later moved to Los Angeles, gathered a band of musicians and began recording music. Their debut album, Can't Buy a Thrill (1972), established a template for their career, blending elements of rock, jazz, Latin music, R&B, and blues with sophisticated studio production and cryptic, irony-infused lyrics. The band enjoyed critical and commercial success with seven studio albums, peaking with their top-selling album Aja, released in 1977.
Steely Dan disbanded in 1981. Becker and Fagen worked sporadically on solo projects through the 1980s, although a cult following remained devoted to the group's work. After reuniting in 1993, Steely Dan toured steadily and released two albums of new material, the first of which, Two Against Nature (2000), earned a Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the 43rd Grammy Awards. Their final album of new studio material was 2003's Everything Must Go, though they continued to release compilations, box sets and live albums on a regular basis. After Becker's death in 2017, Fagen continued the group with himself as the sole official member until his retirement in 2026.
Steely Dan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and has sold more than 40 million records worldwide. VH1 ranked Steely Dan at No. 82 on their list of the "100 Greatest Musical Artists of All Time" in 2010, and Rolling Stone ranked them No. 15 on its list of the "20 Greatest Duos of All Time" in 2015.
🤝 Collaborations (74)
Genius ↗MusicBrainz credits combined with Genius song credits from top 15 tracks
Steely Dan has 74 credited collaborators on IMUDB — 13 featured, 7 bandmates, 6 production & engineering, 21 instrumentalists, 27 other. Active 1972–present.
F
🎵 Top Tracks popularity ranked · Genius
⭐ Known For
Can't Buy A Thrill
▶ 28,784,247
Aja
▶ 12,963,652
Pretzel Logic
▶ 6,275,404
Gaucho
▶ 5,705,422
The Royal Scam
▶ 5,115,722
Countdown To Ecstasy
▶ 3,696,748
Discography scroll for more →
Done Up Loose: Live London ’74
2025
Ten Songs for You
2023
University of California, Irvine, CA (March 10, 1974)
2022
Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live!
2021
Somebody Else’s Favorite Songs (The Broadcast Collection 1974–1993)
2021
The IMUDB Guitar Guide
The Complete Guitarist — 20 chapters, beginner to expert. Free PDF, no email required.