Horse McDonald

Horse McDonald
Horse McDonald performing at ColognePride 2014
Background information
Born	Sheena Mary McDonald (1958-11-22) 22 November 1958 (age 66) Newport on Tay, Fife, Scotland
Genres	Indie, soul, pop
Occupation	Musician
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1987–present
Labels	Capitol, MCA, Randan, Kosmic Music
Members	Horse McDonald (vocals, guitar) Andrew Samson (drums) / Gemma Filby (keyboards, vocals) Gordon Turner (lead guitar, vocals) Andy Jackson (sound)
Past members	George Hutchison Steve Cochrane Steve Cooke Steve Vanstis Angela McAlinden Graham Brierton Jennifer Clark (double bass, bass guitar)
Website	HORSEMcDonald.com

Horse McDonald (born Sheena Mary McDonald, 22 November 1958) is a Scottish singer-songwriter.

"One of the finest singers in Britain” - Q Magazine

Her voice has been described as 'a finely honed instrument', together with 'breathtaking stagecraft'. Her music is both moving and uplifting, the audience are totally absorbed whenever she performs.

Career

McDonald was born on 22 November 1958 in Newport on Tay, Fife, Scotland.

In the 1980s, she toured with Tina Turner and BB King. ^[1]

She has been performing with her band since 1990 and has nine studio albums to date.

McDonald toured in March 2011, playing an acoustic set. ^[2]

McDonald appeared on the 2012 charity single 'It Does Get Better' created by The L Project. The single benefitted LGBT charities and was written in response to the suicide of LGBT teenagers. ^{[3] [4]}

She performed a one-off show at the Barrowland, Glasgow 2 March 2013 with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the God's Home Movie album and the release of her ninth studio album, HOME. ^[5]

In January 2013 she married her long-term partner, Alanna, in Lanark, where she lived as a teenager. ^[1]

In 2017, she was inducted into the Saltire Society Outstanding Women of Scotland. ^[6]

Her portrait was painted by Roxana Halls in 2019. It was acquired by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, where it now hangs. ^[7]

Discography

Albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions [8]
		UK	SCO	UK Indie	UK DL
The Same Sky	Released: 1990 Label: Capitol Records/Echo Chamber Formats: LP (EST 2123), CS (TCEST 2123), CD (CDEST 2123)	44	–	–	–
God's Home Movie	Released: 1993 Label: MCA Records/Oxygen Formats: LP (MCA 10935), CS (MCC 10935), CD (MCD 10935)	42	–	–	–
Both Sides (with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra)	Released: 2000 Label: Randan Formats: CD (RANHCDA01)	–	47	35	–
Hindsight... It's A Wonderful Thing	Released: 2001 Label: Randan Formats: CD (RANHCDA02)	–	71	–	–
Only All of Me	Released: 2003 Label: Randan Formats: CD (RANHCDA 03)	–	–	–	–
Coveted	Released: 2004 Label: Randan Formats: CD (RANHCDA04)	–	–	–	–
Red Haired Girl	Released: 2007 Label: Kosmic Music Formats: CD (RANHCDA05)	–	–	–	–
Coming Up for Air	Released: 2009 Label: Randan Formats: CD (RANHCDA06)	–	–	–	–
Home [9] [10]	Released: 5 August 2013 Label: Randan Formats: CD (RANHCDA07)	–	–	–	–
The Road Less Travelled	Released: 25 May 2024 Label: Randan Records Formats: LP (RANHVIN02), CD	–	–	–	47

Compilation albums

Title	Album details
Odds And Sods: Compilation For The Wee Small Hours	Released: 2015 Label: Randan Formats: CD (RANHCDCOMP 01)

Singles

Year	Single	Peak positions		Album
		UK [11]	GER [12]
1989	"You Could Be Forgiven"	76	—	The Same Sky
1990	"The Speed of the Beat of My Heart"	81	—
	"Sweet Thing"	96	58
	"Careful"	52	—
1993	"Shake This Mountain"	52	—	God's Home Movie
	"God's Home Movie"	56	—
1994	"Celebrate"	49	—
1997	"Careful ('97 Remixes)"	44	—	single only
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.

Solo:

• "Sometimes I..." (1999)
• "Same Old, Same Old" (2006)
• "Something Wicked This Way Comes" (2010) ^[9]
• "I Am" (2012) Rocket Science Remix ^[13]
• "Home" ( Randan, 1 Jul 2013)

References

1. Dingwall, John (8 January 2013). "Music star Horse McDonald returns to home town that shunned her for being gay to wed love of life". dailyrecord.
2. "News item on the official Horse website". www.randan.org. Archived from the original on 19 March 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
3. "The L Project". It Does Get Better. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
4. "It Does Get Better - The L Project (Official LGBT Charity Song)". It Does Get better. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
5. "Barrowland Ballroom History". Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
6. "Horse McDonald". The Saltire Society. 18 December 2020.
7. "Horse McDonald, b.1958. Singer-songwriter". National Galleries of Scotland.
8. "HORSE songs and albums full Official Chart history". The Official Charts Company . Retrieved 23 October 2025.
9. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 259. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
10. Allmusic.com – Discography – accessed March 2009
11. "Official Charts Company: Horse". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
12. "Horse – German Chart". charts.de. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
13. "News item on the official Horse Newsletter". Horse Newsletter. Retrieved 1 June 2012.

External links

• Official website