‘Country’ Joe McDonald Opened Up About Iconic Woodstock Performance Before His Death

“Country” Joe McDonald, the counterculture singer best known for his Vietnam War protest anthem “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag,” has died at the age of 84. McDonald passed away on March 7, 2026, in Berkeley, California, from complications related to Parkinson’s disease.

For many fans, McDonald’s defining moment came during the 1969 Woodstock Music & Art Fair, and he led hundreds of thousands of people through the infamous crowd chant that introduced “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag.” The performance, preserved in the 1970 documentary Woodstock, became one of the festival’s most unforgettable scenes.