Ian Stuart Donaldson

Ian Stuart Donaldson
Birth name	Ian Stuart Donaldson
Also known as	Ian Stuart
Born	(1957-08-11)11 August 1957 Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England
Origin	Blackpool, Lancashire, England, UK
Died	24 September 1993(1993-09-24) (aged 36) Derbyshire, England
Genres	Rock Against Communism White power rock Rockabilly Folk
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano
Years active	1975–1993
Labels	Chiswick, Rock-O-Rama
Associated acts	Skrewdriver, Stigger, Rough Justice, Tumbling Dice, The Klansmen, White Diamond

Ian Stuart Donaldson (11 August 1957 – 24 September 1993), also known as Ian Stuart, was an English singer, musician, songwriter and political activist from Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire. He was best known as the frontman of Skrewdriver, a British punk rock band which he rebranded as a white power rock band. He raised money through white power concerts with his Blood and Honour network.

Life

Ian Stuart Donaldson attended Baines School in Poulton, where he met Sean McKay, Phil Walmsley, and John Grinton. They formed the cover band Tumbling Dice, who played songs by The Rolling Stones and other bands. In 1975, they formed Skrewdriver, a band that gained a reputation for attracting violence at their concerts.

After the original Skrewdriver lineup parted ways in 1979, Donaldson formed a new lineup and began to write songs for a white power audience. The new version of Skrewdriver openly promoted far-right groups such as the National Front and raising funds for them (and affiliated organisations) through the White Noise Records label. Skrewdriver became known for its involvement in the white nationalist movement and its associated music genre, Rock Against Communism. In 1987, Donaldson founded Blood and Honour, a neo-Nazi network that distributes white power music and organises concerts.

Donaldson also became leader of two other bands, The Klansmen (a rockabilly band) and White Diamond (a hard rock/heavy metal band), and he released several solo albums. Along with Skrewdriver guitarist Stigger, he recorded the albums Patriotic Ballads volumes 1 and 2, which included covers of traditional folk songs such as "The Green Fields of France". Donaldson's voice also appeared in the song "The Invisible Empire" (whose title refers to the Ku Klux Klan) on the 1989 album See you in Valhalla by neo-Nazi rock band No Remorse.

On the night of 23 September 1993, Donaldson was in a car crash in Derbyshire that resulted in his death the following day, at the age of 36. A friend of the band died at the crash scene.

Discography

Ian Stuart & Rough Justice

• Justice for the Cottbus Six (1992) (Rock-O-Rama)

Ian Stuart & Stigger

• Patriotic Ballads (1991) (Rock-O-Rama)
• Patriotic Ballads II – Our Time Will Come (1992) (Rock-O-Rama)

Skrewdriver

• All Skrewed Up (1977) (Chiswick) (later re-issued as The Early Years w. extra tracks)
• Peel Session (1977) BBC Radio 1
• Back With a Bang (1982) (Rock-O-Rama)
• The Voice of Britain (1983) (Rock-O-Rama)
• Hail The New Dawn (1984) (Rock-O-Rama)
• Blood & Honour (1985) (Rock-O-Rama)
• White Rider (1987) (Rock-O-Rama)
• After the Fire (1988) (Rock-O-Rama)
• Warlord (1989) (Rock-O-Rama)
• The Strong Survive (1990) (Rock-O-Rama)
• Freedom What Freedom (1992) (Rock-O-Rama)
• Hail Victory (1994) (ISD Records)

Solo albums

• No Turning Back (1989) (Rock-O-Rama)
• Slay The Beast (1990) (Rock-O-Rama)
• Patriot (1991) (Rock-O-Rama)

The Klansmen

• Rebel with a Cause (1989) (Klan Records)
• Rock 'n' Roll Patriots (1989) (Rock-O-Rama)
• Fetch the Rope (1991) (Klan Records)

White Diamond

• The Reaper (1991) (Rock-O-Rama)
• The Power & The Glory (1992) (Glory Discs)

Further reading

• Lowles, Nick; Silver, Steve (13 November 1998). White Noise: Inside the International Nazi Skinhead Scene. Searchlight Magazine Ltd. ISBN 0-9522038-3-9. 
• Pearce, Joe (13 November 1987). Skrewdriver The first ten years – The way it's got to be!. Skrewdriver Services. 
• The soundtrack of neo-fascism, Patterns of Prejudice (2013)
• Mark Green "Ian Stuart Donaldson – Memories", PC Records (2007)
• Mark Green "Ian Stuart Donaldson – Rock 'n Roll Patriot", PC Records (2009)

External links

• Diamond in the Dust – The Ian Stuart Biography
• Ian Stuart Donaldson at Find a Grave