Donald Maynard Dokken born June 29 1953 is an American heavy metal vocalist best known for being the lead singer occasional guitarist and founder of the band Dokken He is known for his vibratoladen melodic vocal style which has made him an influential figure in American hard rock and heavy metal After enjoying mainstream success with Dokken he parted ways with the band in 1988 and pursued a solo career His 1990 solo album Up from the Ashes spawned two singles and achieved modest success He and drummer Mick Brown are the only remaining original members of Dokken He reformed Dokken in the early 1990s and has been continuing on with the band ever since He released his second solo album titled Solitary in 2008 it was a stylistic departure from his Dokken material