Born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, Donaldson attended Baines School in nearby Poulton, where he met Sean McKay, Phil Walmsley, and John Grinton.

[2] Skrewdriver became known for its involvement in the White Nationalist movement and its associated music genre, Rock Against Communism.

[2] In 1987, Donaldson and Skrewdriver roadie and album-cover artist Nicky Crane founded Blood & Honour, a neo-Nazi network that distributes white power music and organises concerts.

Along with Skrewdriver guitarist Stigger (Stephen Calladine), he recorded the albums Patriotic Ballads volumes 1 and 2, which included covers of folk songs such as "The Green Fields of France".

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