Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. (born November 21, 1940), better known by the stage name Dr. John (also Dr. John Creaux), is an American singer/songwriter, pianist and guitarist whose music combines blues, boogie woogie and rock and roll.
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, his professional musical career began in New Orleans in the 1950s. He originally concentrated on guitar and he gigged with local bands included Mac Rebennack and the Skyliners, Frankie Ford and the Thunderbirds, and Jerry Byrne and the Loafers. He had a regional hit with a Bo Diddley influenced instrumental called "Storm Warning" on Rex Records in 1959.
Rebennack's career as a guitarist came to an end when his left ring finger was injured by a gunshot while he was defending singer/keyboardist Ronnie Barron, his bandmate, Jesuit High School classmate, and longtime friend. After the injury, Rebennack concentrated on bass guitar before making piano his main instrument; pianist Professor Longhair was an important influence on Rebennack's piano stylings.
He moved to Los Angeles in 1963 where he became a "first call" session musician on the booming Los Angeles studio scene in the Sixties and Seventies, providing backing for Sonny & Cher, Canned Heat - on their classic albums Living the Blues (1968) and Future Blues (1970) - and many other acts.
Rebennack gained fame as a solo artist, beginning in the late 1960s, with music that combined New Orleans-style rhythm and blues with psychedelic rock and elaborate stage shows that bordered on voodoo religious ceremonies, including elaborate costumes and headdress (reflecting and presumably inspired by Screamin' Jay Hawkins's stage act). For a time he was billed as "Doctor John, The Night Tripper". The name "Dr. John" came from a legendary Louisiana voodoo practitioner of the early 1800s.
By the mid-1970s, Rebennack began focusing on a blend of music that touched on blues, New Orleans R&B, Tin Pan Alley standards and more.