Donny Hathaway was born in Chicago but soon moved to St. Louis, where he was raised by his grandmother, Martha Pitts. Pitts was a professional gospel singer, and Donny spent much of his youth watching her rehearse and perform. Hathaway began his professional career as a gospel singer, and earned a fine arts scholarship to Howard University in 1964. While at Howard, he met his future wife, Eulalah, and began to produce for several artists including Aretha Franklin and the Staple Singers. Hathaway left Howard in his third year, after receiving numerous job offers.

In 1969 he was signed by Atlantic Records and released his first single, The Ghetto, Part I, in late October. After a few months it peaked on the R&B charts at number twenty-three. After several singles, Hathaway released his first album, Everything is Everything, in 1970. He soon collaborated with Roberta Flack, who he had met while at Howard. The two made several songs together including Where is the Love, which jumped to number five on the charts, and earned them a Grammy Award. They recorded an album together, Donny Hathaway Live: Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, which was a huge success.

Hathaway was a star by the time he was selected to sing the theme song for Norman Lear's classic television show, Maude, making him an even more familiar icon. Quincy Jones hired him to score the soundtrack for the 1972 film, Comeback Charleston Blue. His score for the film Comeback Charleston Blue (based upon Chester Himes's The Heat's On), which he also conducted, is considered prolific. Despite this success, and the release of his album, Extension of a Man, Hathaway went through a rough period in the mid-1970s, when he developed a rift with Roberta Flack and suffered from depression.

In 1978 he enjoyed a comeback; his relationship with Flack was repaired and they recorded another song, The Closer I get to You, which was their biggest hit. The duet was nominated for a Grammy Award. On January 13, 1979, Hathaway and his manager had dinner at Flack's New York City apartment. Later that night, his body was discovered, having fallen out of the window of his fifteen story hotel room. Although his death was ruled a suicide, the finding was shrouded in doubt. For many of his friends his success, his behavior at dinner the same evening, and certain details of the death seemed to contradict suicide.

Widely regarded as an authentic and prolific soul singer, composer and arranger, Hathaway was renowned for the intensity of his voice. His songs, This Christmas, and Someday We'll All Be Free, reflect this quality and are among the most important pieces in soul music history. Two posthumous Hathaway albums have been released, Donny Hathaway in Performance (1980) a collection of his performances at New York's Bitter End, and The Donny Hathaway Collection (1990).