Steely Dan

About Steely Dan

Becker and Fagen met at Bard College in 1967 and moved to Los Angeles after a stint as songwriters and touring musicians. Producer Gary Katz brought them into ABC Records as staff writers, and together with engineer Roger Nichols they formed Steely Dan in 1971, taking their name from a passage in William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch. Their debut Can't Buy a Thrill (1972) yielded immediate singles like Do It Again and Reelin' In the Years, establishing their jazz-inflected rock sound to mainstream audiences.

As their commercial foothold strengthened through Pretzel Logic (1974), Katy Lied (1975), and The Royal Scam (1976), Becker and Fagen became increasingly focused on studio perfectionism over touring. This shift culminated in Aja (1977), an album that achieved both critical acclaim and chart success, winning a Grammy for engineering and containing some of their most recognizable work: Peg, Josie, and Deacon Blues. The follow-up Gaucho (1980) faced significant production hurdles but still reached commercial success with singles like Hey Nineteen before the duo disbanded in 1981.

After pursuing solo projects through the 1980s, Becker and Fagen reunited in 1993 and returned to the studio with Two Against Nature (2000), which earned Album of the Year at the Grammys. They released Everything Must Go (2003) before focusing primarily on touring for the remainder of their career. Walter Becker died in 2017, with Fagen continuing to perform under the Steely Dan name. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and has sold over 40 million records worldwide. The Groove Hunter currently tracks 9 editions across their catalog, including Gaucho, The Royal Scam, Katy Lied, Aja, Can't Buy a Thrill, Everything Must Go, Countdown to Ecstasy, and Two Against Nature.