An LED driver and an LED lighting device. The LED driver includes: a bridge circuit including first to fourth bridge arms, a first node between the first and second bridge arms, and a bridge between the second and third bridge arms. A second node, a third node between the third and fourth bridge arms, a fourth node between the fourth and first bridge arms, a DC voltage input between the fourth and second nodes, the first bridge arm includes a first Transistors, the second bridge arm includes a second transistor, the first and second transistors are controlled and turned on alternately; a parallel resonant circuit, coupled between the first and third nodes, includes a parallel resonant inductor and a resonant capacitor, parallel resonant The circuit is suitable for driving LED loads; the excitation source circuit is suitable for providing excitation current for the parallel resonant circuit; the starting circuit is suitable for controlling the conduction of the second transistor after the DC voltage is established, so that the parallel resonant circuit starts to vibrate. The LED driver of the invention has excellent load regulation rate and high driving efficiency.