If you’ve ever stopped by the Rogers Center during a Toronto Blue Jays home game, chances are you’ve seen, or at least heard, Rick Donaldson.
Wearing a Blue Jays jersey and always playing a tune on his drum kit, ‘Rockin’ Rick’ has been a fixture outside the stadium since he began busking in 1989. Now, after 36 years, he has announced that he will be hanging up his drumsticks and retiring from busking after this season.
“I remember the kids coming to the games and now bringing their kids to the games,” he told CBC News in an interview. “Sometimes it’s overwhelming.”
Donaldson said his own family also influenced his decision.
“I also want to spend more time with my grandchildren, taking them to games and things like that,” he said.
For some fans, Donaldson’s drum beats are as essential to the Blue Jays experience as hot dogs and traffic while trying to get home from a game.
“I’ve been a Rick fan my whole life, I first saw him when I was 15,” Laurie said. Wulfand. “My son is now 21 and Rick has watched him grow up…we definitely cried when we heard he was retiring.”
SEE | CBC News speaks with Rockin’ Rick outside the Rogers Centre:
Blue Jays fan Michelle Beer said Donaldson has become a “beloved fixture” in the baseball community.
“He’s part of the experience of going to a ballgame,” he said, adding that he thinks the city should consider a statue or photograph to commemorate his work.
“They could use some very nice historical photographs with a small plaque. He needs to be permanently recognized in that stadium, in the place where he played for all those years.”
Despite his notoriety in 2025, Donaldson’s presence at Blue Jays home games was nearly cut short before it could begin. He told CBC News that the first time he tried to perform outside of what was then known as the Skydome decades ago, he and saxaphonist Dougie Richardson were kicked off the property.
Fortunately for Jays fans, on their second try, George Holm, the Jays’ ticket sales manager at the time, spotted the musical duo and let them stay.
“The right person saw us…saw that what we were doing meant something to the Skydome and the baseball atmosphere,” Donaldson said.
That chance meeting not only allowed Donaldson to continue playing for fans, but also gave him the opportunity to meet some baseball legends.
He met Hank Aaron and Ferguson “Fergie” Jenkins, two Major League Baseball record holders, which he attributes to his children being fans of his after seeing him perform. He also received gift cymbals from a representative of Zildjian, a musical equipment company.
Excitement levels are rising for the Blue Jays after the team defeated the Seattle Mariners 8-2 in Game 4 of the American League Championship Game (ALCS) on Thursday, tying the series at two games apiece.
That means that after Friday’s Game 5 in Seattle there will be at least one home game in Toronto, so fans will have one more chance to see Donaldson perform, at the very least.
Game 6 of the American League Championship Series will take place at the Rogers Center on Sunday at 8:03 p.m., with a possible Game 7 scheduled for Monday at 8:08 p.m.
And although his tenure outside the Rogers Center is coming to an end, Donaldson says he has no plans to stop playing drums professionally anytime soon: He currently plays with Juno Award-winning blues musician Jack de Keyzer.
