I was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on May 17, 1970. We didn't live there, that's just where the hospital was. My mom, Marlene, comes from Canada, and she always wanted to give one of her children names that represented the two cultures of Canada, English and French. So my full name is Jordan Nathaniel Marcel Knight. I was the sixth child in the family. Before me were Allison, Sharon, David, Christopher and Jonathan.
The first house I lived in was in a Boston suburb called Westwood. In that house all four of us boys shared one bunk bed, two on top and two on the bottom. I always shared with Jonathan.
I was close to all of my brothers and sisters, but growing up, I was closer to different ones at different times. I was always close to Jonathan. I was close to Dave when I was very little and then again when I was around ten years old. Dave and I used to play soccer together, we used to be in the neighborhood leagues. I think sports brought us together and music too. We liked the same music.
Then, around twelve, thirteen, I started bein' real close to Chris. We would hang out with the same people, and we went out a lot together.
Even though I was closest to my brothers, I'm really most like my sister Allison in my personality. Allison is real quiet, real shy, and I think we both have the same problem with communicating with people one-on-one. I have a lot of trouble talkin' to individuals and havin' a conversation with one person. But yet when I get on stage, in front of 15,000 people, I just let loose. It's really weird and I don't understand it.
I was tiny back then. I used to be the littlest kid. I used to look like a girl, with this long curly hair, and when I would walk into stores, people wouldn't know what to call me, a boy or a girl. I had chubby cheeks and stuff, and everyone used to love grabbing my cheeks.
My dad, Allan, was a carpenter and also a minister. When we lived in Westwood, he had his own church where he was the preacher. My mom is a social worker who specialized in family therapy.
I was lucky to have the parents I did, 'cause they weren't strict., not at all. They always really cared, we always knew that they cared, but they let us do what we wanted to do and be independent. As long as we got our chores done and stuff, that is. When I'm a parent someday, I think I'll be like them.
When I was almost three, we moved to this really big old house in Dorchester. It had something like seventeen rooms and ten bedrooms. People used to get lost when they'd come to my house! But in the beginning, there were other people living in the house, it was three families. So at first, it was crowded, real squishy, and all the boys were still in the same room. This time we had two beds, not bunk beds. But I was still sharing with Jonathan. Eventually, the two other families moved out and we had the whole house. But I didn't get to have my own room then - in fact, I didn't have my own room until I was sixteen - 'cause when the other families moved out, I started sharing with foster kids that came to live with us.
Next: Jordan Knight - An Extended Family....
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Donnie Wahlberg - Teen Years
When I was about 13, my parents got divorced. Since I was the kid who always wanted things to go smoothly, I would have preferred if they didn't get divorced. But they did - and you know what? A lot of really good things came out of it. I was lucky because my dad didn't move too far away. He was right in the neighborhood and I could see him everyday if I wanted to, but just on weekends and things like that. We'd have, like, two Christmases; one at mom's and one at dad's. In some ways, me and my dad had an even better relationship after the divorce.
And when my mom re-married, she married a really great guy. My step-dad, Mark Conroy, never tried to take over my father's role, he never overruled what my dad said or anything like that. Instead, he's always been a friend to me and my brothers and sisters. Like I said, we've been real lucky with the whole thing.
In the seventh grade, I met The Kool Aid Bunch, just a posse of kids and that was a real turning point for me. There was Danny Wood, Elliot, Joe (not McIntyre), David, and Chris Knight, Jordan's brother. I wasn't in school with Jordan and Jon at this time, and I didn't hang with Chris because he was their brother, I just hung with him because he was Chris Knight and I liked him.
I always hated people who tried to do things just to look cool. And I did it too. I smoked just to be a cool guy and I understand why I did that. I never got into the habit of smoking, it was just something I did to try and be cool. And when I was real young, being cool was important, but when I met The Kool Aid Bunch, I wasn't worried about bein' cool anymore. Just being with those guys made me real loose. When I started to hang with them, I found out that being tough wasn't all that important. Just being me was important. And the things I didn't want people to know about, suddenly it didn't matter if they did know about them.
Like now I'll say, "Yeah Sesame Street's my favorite TV show." Most people my age, guys, wouldn't say that, but I don't care. It's not really my favorite TV show, but I just say it. It kind of is, when I think about it, it's one of them.
Danny Wood and me were cool. I would hang with him after school and stuff like that, drive on the bus with him and go on dates with him and two girls. We would double-date.
All I thought about when I was a teenager was girls. I always had a girl, I could always get a girl. I did pretty good when I was younger. I did good with girls. They've always been important to me. I liked taking the subway to new neighborhoods to meet new girls. I was shy but I'd make a lot of eye contact first, then slowly start telling jokes and getting all the attention. I was a big flirt, and pretty soon the girl would be interested in me. I've had my heart broken, but in those days, I was a heartbreaker too.
A lot of people have described me as a street kid, but I'm not trying to be known as a street kid - I'm just trying to be known as me. I just grew up hanging out in the streets. That's what I know. I know people say, "Oh Maurice Starr wanted some street smart kids for the group." It doesn't matter whether he wanted street smart kids or not, 'cause that's just what I am. If I wasn't in the group, I'd still be that. So it's not like Maurice Starr trained us to be street smart kids, that's what I am.
Next: Jordan Knight.....
And when my mom re-married, she married a really great guy. My step-dad, Mark Conroy, never tried to take over my father's role, he never overruled what my dad said or anything like that. Instead, he's always been a friend to me and my brothers and sisters. Like I said, we've been real lucky with the whole thing.
In the seventh grade, I met The Kool Aid Bunch, just a posse of kids and that was a real turning point for me. There was Danny Wood, Elliot, Joe (not McIntyre), David, and Chris Knight, Jordan's brother. I wasn't in school with Jordan and Jon at this time, and I didn't hang with Chris because he was their brother, I just hung with him because he was Chris Knight and I liked him.
I always hated people who tried to do things just to look cool. And I did it too. I smoked just to be a cool guy and I understand why I did that. I never got into the habit of smoking, it was just something I did to try and be cool. And when I was real young, being cool was important, but when I met The Kool Aid Bunch, I wasn't worried about bein' cool anymore. Just being with those guys made me real loose. When I started to hang with them, I found out that being tough wasn't all that important. Just being me was important. And the things I didn't want people to know about, suddenly it didn't matter if they did know about them.
Like now I'll say, "Yeah Sesame Street's my favorite TV show." Most people my age, guys, wouldn't say that, but I don't care. It's not really my favorite TV show, but I just say it. It kind of is, when I think about it, it's one of them.
Danny Wood and me were cool. I would hang with him after school and stuff like that, drive on the bus with him and go on dates with him and two girls. We would double-date.
All I thought about when I was a teenager was girls. I always had a girl, I could always get a girl. I did pretty good when I was younger. I did good with girls. They've always been important to me. I liked taking the subway to new neighborhoods to meet new girls. I was shy but I'd make a lot of eye contact first, then slowly start telling jokes and getting all the attention. I was a big flirt, and pretty soon the girl would be interested in me. I've had my heart broken, but in those days, I was a heartbreaker too.
A lot of people have described me as a street kid, but I'm not trying to be known as a street kid - I'm just trying to be known as me. I just grew up hanging out in the streets. That's what I know. I know people say, "Oh Maurice Starr wanted some street smart kids for the group." It doesn't matter whether he wanted street smart kids or not, 'cause that's just what I am. If I wasn't in the group, I'd still be that. So it's not like Maurice Starr trained us to be street smart kids, that's what I am.
Next: Jordan Knight.....
Donnie Wahlberg - Musical Roots
I remember when I first started hearing rap music, I was like, in the fourth grade. And if I wasn't in the school I was, I probably wouldn't have been exposed to it. But I was in that school, and that's what the kids were listening to, and that's what i grew up on. And I loved it. My musical roots are in rap music and heavy metal music, because my brothers Artie and Paul listened to heavy metal. Artie loved Led Zepplin, Paul loved AC/DC. Artie really influenced me musically, 'cause he hipped me to the radio and all the music that I started to love, which even thn they were playing a lot of on the radio. It was good music.
But the kids in school were listening to rap and so was I. People sometimes say, "Oh, what does this white kid know about rap?" Well, what do they know about what I know about rap? That's what was in my face every day, hip hop music and I loved hip hop music, y'know? I groove off hip hop music, I appreciate hip hop music. That started way back in elementary school.
And the first time I heard a rap, I wrote a rap. The first one I wrote wasn't really about anything, it was just rap. Me and my brother did it, me and my little brother Mark wrote a rap. We just really stole the idea of "Rapper's Delight," which was the first big commercial rap song. We stole the names and changed them a little, it was funny.
I remember one called "The Ronald Reagan Rap" - that was the first real song I wrote. It was like five pages long, and I used to know it by heart. I still know a lot of it.
I always liked doing rap, writing rap or just writing rhymes, writing poetry, expressing myself through words, doing it lyrically. Whether I used it in a rock song, a folk song, or a rap song, it's just expressing myself through music.
I didn't buy too many records. The first record I bought, it was like crazy. Maurice Starr's brother's album, Space Cowboy by the Jonzon Crew. And it was before I met him. But it was crazy because I went up to the record store and I looked at these albums, and I was stuck between New Edition and the Jonzon Crew. I was discovering a connection, though, 'cause reading the album covers I kept seeing the name, Maurice Starr, on both albums. And then I saw Maurice Starr's album.
I was in a band when I was about eleven or something. That was called Risk and it was just and my friends, banging on the drums, and guitars and harmonicas in the garage. Me, Billy, Eric, and Jamie. But sometimes we did something and recorded it on cassette and it would come out good, it would come out kinda interesting.
But we weren't doing it because we thought we'd be famous. It was just fun. I was always doin' things like that, though. If I found a tape recorder, I would talk on it a lot. I always had a good imagination. When I played army, I played army - I didn't play around. I got really into it. I mean I wouldn't have all the equipment and stuff, but I believed what I was doing.
I got into Michael Jackson in the ninth grade. At first, I wasn't as into Michael Jackson as I had people believin', but it brought so much attention to me - the girls, the girls would always come up to me. His Thriller album was real popular at the time. I had sixty-five buttons and at least four hundred posters of him; pictures all over all four walls of my bedroom. See the fans today, they think they got their walls covered, but they couldn't hang with what I had of Michael Jackson. I had a "Beat It" jacket, t-shirts, hats. I used to wear loafers, dress just like him, with what I could. See, that was the thing, I didn't have money, so I didn't have the resources, so I took my father's loafers. I imitated the moves, I did the moonwalk, but I didn't sing.
Next: Donnie Wahlberg - Teen Years....
But the kids in school were listening to rap and so was I. People sometimes say, "Oh, what does this white kid know about rap?" Well, what do they know about what I know about rap? That's what was in my face every day, hip hop music and I loved hip hop music, y'know? I groove off hip hop music, I appreciate hip hop music. That started way back in elementary school.
And the first time I heard a rap, I wrote a rap. The first one I wrote wasn't really about anything, it was just rap. Me and my brother did it, me and my little brother Mark wrote a rap. We just really stole the idea of "Rapper's Delight," which was the first big commercial rap song. We stole the names and changed them a little, it was funny.
I remember one called "The Ronald Reagan Rap" - that was the first real song I wrote. It was like five pages long, and I used to know it by heart. I still know a lot of it.
I always liked doing rap, writing rap or just writing rhymes, writing poetry, expressing myself through words, doing it lyrically. Whether I used it in a rock song, a folk song, or a rap song, it's just expressing myself through music.
I didn't buy too many records. The first record I bought, it was like crazy. Maurice Starr's brother's album, Space Cowboy by the Jonzon Crew. And it was before I met him. But it was crazy because I went up to the record store and I looked at these albums, and I was stuck between New Edition and the Jonzon Crew. I was discovering a connection, though, 'cause reading the album covers I kept seeing the name, Maurice Starr, on both albums. And then I saw Maurice Starr's album.
I was in a band when I was about eleven or something. That was called Risk and it was just and my friends, banging on the drums, and guitars and harmonicas in the garage. Me, Billy, Eric, and Jamie. But sometimes we did something and recorded it on cassette and it would come out good, it would come out kinda interesting.
But we weren't doing it because we thought we'd be famous. It was just fun. I was always doin' things like that, though. If I found a tape recorder, I would talk on it a lot. I always had a good imagination. When I played army, I played army - I didn't play around. I got really into it. I mean I wouldn't have all the equipment and stuff, but I believed what I was doing.
I got into Michael Jackson in the ninth grade. At first, I wasn't as into Michael Jackson as I had people believin', but it brought so much attention to me - the girls, the girls would always come up to me. His Thriller album was real popular at the time. I had sixty-five buttons and at least four hundred posters of him; pictures all over all four walls of my bedroom. See the fans today, they think they got their walls covered, but they couldn't hang with what I had of Michael Jackson. I had a "Beat It" jacket, t-shirts, hats. I used to wear loafers, dress just like him, with what I could. See, that was the thing, I didn't have money, so I didn't have the resources, so I took my father's loafers. I imitated the moves, I did the moonwalk, but I didn't sing.
Next: Donnie Wahlberg - Teen Years....
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Donnie Wahlberg - School Days
I went to kindergarten by my house, but after that, I went ont he bus to the William Monroe Trotter School in the next neighborhood over, which was Roxbury.
A few of my brothers and sisters - Jimbo, Bobbo, Tracey went to the Trotter School before me, so I didn't think about it, about being bused to school. That's the way it was. It wasn't as if I had walked to a neighborhood school for four years and suddenly got bused to another one - being bused was always the way it was. So that's all I knew.
Danny Wood was on my bus that first year, but I didn't really know him. I know that Jimbo knew his sister, but we didn't really start hanging out that much in elementary school. We didn't have that many classes together. Till high school really, we were in hardly any of the same classes at all. Middle school's when we started getting together, when we hooked up with these two girls, and that's when we started hanging out.
I was real smart as a kid. I always got good grades, until certain point in my life, when I started goofing around.
Middle school was my favorite, that and my first two years in high school. It was the wildest, the funnest, the craziest. Middle school I was happiest. In high school, I started worrying about things, not important things. When I was in elementary school and middle school, I was worried about doing good work and other things. But when I got into high school, I started worrying about what I looked like. I mean, I always liked to look good, I like to dress good. In middle school I didn't really care what I looked like. Once, I had some teeth knocked out playing hockey - they were broken in half - but I didn't care, I loved it. Now they're capped.
In high school I started getting zits and I started caring that I had zits. But one thing I like about high school was when I got into drama class. We put on some great plays. In one of them, I was the only guy in the whole play - all the rest were girls, but I didn't care. We did one where I played the husband in an interracial marriage and there a scene where I was apologizing to my wife for the hard life we'd had. It was really moving and I cried real tears.
Sports was my main thing after school when I was in the early grades, anyway. Mostly I played in the streets. I got into organized sports twice. I played basketball once and we lost the championship. And I played baseball one season and we won the championship. That was great. I loved it when we won.
Next: Donnie Wahlberg - Musical Roots...
A few of my brothers and sisters - Jimbo, Bobbo, Tracey went to the Trotter School before me, so I didn't think about it, about being bused to school. That's the way it was. It wasn't as if I had walked to a neighborhood school for four years and suddenly got bused to another one - being bused was always the way it was. So that's all I knew.
Danny Wood was on my bus that first year, but I didn't really know him. I know that Jimbo knew his sister, but we didn't really start hanging out that much in elementary school. We didn't have that many classes together. Till high school really, we were in hardly any of the same classes at all. Middle school's when we started getting together, when we hooked up with these two girls, and that's when we started hanging out.
I was real smart as a kid. I always got good grades, until certain point in my life, when I started goofing around.
Middle school was my favorite, that and my first two years in high school. It was the wildest, the funnest, the craziest. Middle school I was happiest. In high school, I started worrying about things, not important things. When I was in elementary school and middle school, I was worried about doing good work and other things. But when I got into high school, I started worrying about what I looked like. I mean, I always liked to look good, I like to dress good. In middle school I didn't really care what I looked like. Once, I had some teeth knocked out playing hockey - they were broken in half - but I didn't care, I loved it. Now they're capped.
In high school I started getting zits and I started caring that I had zits. But one thing I like about high school was when I got into drama class. We put on some great plays. In one of them, I was the only guy in the whole play - all the rest were girls, but I didn't care. We did one where I played the husband in an interracial marriage and there a scene where I was apologizing to my wife for the hard life we'd had. It was really moving and I cried real tears.
Sports was my main thing after school when I was in the early grades, anyway. Mostly I played in the streets. I got into organized sports twice. I played basketball once and we lost the championship. And I played baseball one season and we won the championship. That was great. I loved it when we won.
Next: Donnie Wahlberg - Musical Roots...
Donnie Wahlberg - What I Was Like
Everyone has this impression of me as this wild kid, but actually I was a lot more quiet when I was little. I was shy. I remember being real shy, like it took a lot for me to go up and talk to people and stuff.
I think I was crazy, too, when I was real young, but I picked my spots. When I wasn't being shy, I was being crazy. A lot of older people always liked me when I was little. All the teachers always seemed to like me. My whole life I've been able to get along with adults.
I was a funny kid, I used to always tell jokes. I liked to be the center of attention, but I don't know why that was. Because I was still shy, y'know, and I was self-conscious, so maybe I wanted to be the center of attention and be, like, successful at being the center of attention.
When I got to know people, I was always real outgoing. If I was running with the crowd and a new kid came along, I always wanted to make him a part of our crowd. I'm very sensitive...very sensitive...probably too sensitive.
Next: Donnie Wahlberg - School Days....
I think I was crazy, too, when I was real young, but I picked my spots. When I wasn't being shy, I was being crazy. A lot of older people always liked me when I was little. All the teachers always seemed to like me. My whole life I've been able to get along with adults.
I was a funny kid, I used to always tell jokes. I liked to be the center of attention, but I don't know why that was. Because I was still shy, y'know, and I was self-conscious, so maybe I wanted to be the center of attention and be, like, successful at being the center of attention.
When I got to know people, I was always real outgoing. If I was running with the crowd and a new kid came along, I always wanted to make him a part of our crowd. I'm very sensitive...very sensitive...probably too sensitive.
Next: Donnie Wahlberg - School Days....
Donnie Wahlberg - Things We Did Together
We used to have these family bingo games every week. And my dad would be the caller, call out the numbers. And I would take it so seriously - I always wanted to win. I hated to lose and really got upset if I lost. I'd bribe people to change cards with me, so I'd have a better chance of winning but I always used card #3. It was fun, we laughed a lot. My grandmother always won.
My mom used to take us a lot of places, not just us, but other kids in the neighborhood too. In December, she'd take everyone to go see Santa Claus. In the summers, on her days off, she'd take us all to the beach. We'd get there really early, like eight in the morning and stay all day. And then at night, she'd take us to drive-n movies. Sometimes on Friday nights, we'd all pile in her bed and watch TV - only we'd usually all fall asleep right away! Those times were special cuz my mom worked so hard but all her time off she spent with us.
Halloweens were real cool at our house, my parents always made a big deal of it. We had a playroom in the basement and they'd make it like a spook house. They'd get dressed up as skeletons or ghosts and try to scare us. We'd always have parties down there, every Halloween, bobbing for apples and stuff like that. Two years in a row, me and Mark got dressed up like ballerinas, in tutus - it was hysterical.
Christmas was our best time as a family! See, it was the most important, special day of the year to my parents and they'd save all the rest of the year to make it wonderful for us. Like they'd spend all this money on presents for us - you couldn't even walk in our house, for all the presents around. I think for a while they made me really believe in Santa Claus cuz they didn't make a lot of money, but on Christmas there'd be many presents for all nine of us! That shows how dedicated they were to us.
And my best memory is of Christmas morning. We'd all wake up, all nine of us, like at four in the morning or something, and sit, lined up on the steps, waiting for our parents to wake up. We wouldn't go downstairs to that tree, with all those presents underneath, until they woke up. I don't know why we were so good - but we were. As soon as they did wake up though, we'd all go tearing down the steps and dive into our presents. One year, I'll never forget, there were nine bikes around the tree.
But presents weren't the real reason Christmas as the most special. It was more the warm, loving feelings that we all had for each other. My mother made such a beautiful tree and the house would be lit so nice. It would be snowing and she always played her Johnny Mathis Christmas tape. Man, I would feel so Christmasy it was beautiful.
Next: Donnie Wahlberg - What I Was Like....
My mom used to take us a lot of places, not just us, but other kids in the neighborhood too. In December, she'd take everyone to go see Santa Claus. In the summers, on her days off, she'd take us all to the beach. We'd get there really early, like eight in the morning and stay all day. And then at night, she'd take us to drive-n movies. Sometimes on Friday nights, we'd all pile in her bed and watch TV - only we'd usually all fall asleep right away! Those times were special cuz my mom worked so hard but all her time off she spent with us.
Halloweens were real cool at our house, my parents always made a big deal of it. We had a playroom in the basement and they'd make it like a spook house. They'd get dressed up as skeletons or ghosts and try to scare us. We'd always have parties down there, every Halloween, bobbing for apples and stuff like that. Two years in a row, me and Mark got dressed up like ballerinas, in tutus - it was hysterical.
Christmas was our best time as a family! See, it was the most important, special day of the year to my parents and they'd save all the rest of the year to make it wonderful for us. Like they'd spend all this money on presents for us - you couldn't even walk in our house, for all the presents around. I think for a while they made me really believe in Santa Claus cuz they didn't make a lot of money, but on Christmas there'd be many presents for all nine of us! That shows how dedicated they were to us.
And my best memory is of Christmas morning. We'd all wake up, all nine of us, like at four in the morning or something, and sit, lined up on the steps, waiting for our parents to wake up. We wouldn't go downstairs to that tree, with all those presents underneath, until they woke up. I don't know why we were so good - but we were. As soon as they did wake up though, we'd all go tearing down the steps and dive into our presents. One year, I'll never forget, there were nine bikes around the tree.
But presents weren't the real reason Christmas as the most special. It was more the warm, loving feelings that we all had for each other. My mother made such a beautiful tree and the house would be lit so nice. It would be snowing and she always played her Johnny Mathis Christmas tape. Man, I would feel so Christmasy it was beautiful.
Next: Donnie Wahlberg - What I Was Like....
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Donnie Wahlberg - Hard Lessons
We didn't have a lot in those days, but I didn't feel poor, because I didn't really reach for more than I could get. My mom always worked, first at a bank and then at a hospital, because we needed two incomes. My dad drove a truck for a while and then a bus, delivering school lunches and in the summers, camp lunches. I guess we were poor, but we always had plenty to eat, big dinners every night and really big meals on Sunday nights.
We knew we had more than a lot of other people. When my father was delivering school lunches, he used to bring all the extras home. See, sometimes there were extra lunches that didn't get eaten and the schools were going to trash them. But my father felt, no, this is good food, it shouldn't go to waste. So he'd bring them home, break them all down and we'd go around the neighborhood, delivering them to kids all over. And if we knew that a family was really needy, we'd give them lots of extra special stuff. And my friends thought it was cool, y'know, that we had all this school lunch stuff. They'd come over and say, "Oh Donnie, could I get a package of cookies and a chocolate milk?"
The one time it was the hardest for us was when the school bus company that my dad worked for went on strike. We really had no money. But my father stuck by the union and I'm glad he did what he did. You know, people were telling him, "Go back to work." But my dad was a strong union man and he stood up for what he believed in. And that helped me learn to stand up for what I believe in. He even lost one of his best friends who crossed the picket line.
When his company was on strike, we really had no money and we got food stamps. For a while, I never thought about it, but I remember one day I was going to the store with one of my brothers and my friend. And this friend, he was like a real peer to my brother, he hung with my brother's crowd. And I wanted to get milk and Pepsi. And I said, "I got a dollar and a food stamp," and my brother slapped me. And I didn't understand, I was like, "Why did you do that? What's wrong?" Before, I didn't worry about admitting stuff like that, but because he worried about it, it made me worry about it too. It was dumb to be ashamed of that, but it's part of growing up. Our society makes us ashamed to be poor, ashamed to have pimples, ashamed to be ourselves, but I want my fans to never be ashamed of who they are - no matter how bad things seem to be they have to stay proud and stay strong. Life is too short to worry about wrinkles in your jeans. When people shout you down, you must know they are only trying to find strength in your so-called "weaknesses" because they themselves are weak. I hope someday the world won't be like this. People won't judge other people cuz they're different or whatever but if we keep a positive attitude now and teach it to our kids and the next generation, then maybe someday America will finally live up to its reputation and truly become the land of the free.
Another thing about when I was young - my parents would do some things for us that they felt were important. They might not have given us money to go to the movies, or do this and that, but when baseball season came around, if we wanted to play they would really try and get that money together so we could. And they struggled to pay for my sister's dance lessons.
Next: Donnie Wahlberg - Things We Did Together.....
We knew we had more than a lot of other people. When my father was delivering school lunches, he used to bring all the extras home. See, sometimes there were extra lunches that didn't get eaten and the schools were going to trash them. But my father felt, no, this is good food, it shouldn't go to waste. So he'd bring them home, break them all down and we'd go around the neighborhood, delivering them to kids all over. And if we knew that a family was really needy, we'd give them lots of extra special stuff. And my friends thought it was cool, y'know, that we had all this school lunch stuff. They'd come over and say, "Oh Donnie, could I get a package of cookies and a chocolate milk?"
The one time it was the hardest for us was when the school bus company that my dad worked for went on strike. We really had no money. But my father stuck by the union and I'm glad he did what he did. You know, people were telling him, "Go back to work." But my dad was a strong union man and he stood up for what he believed in. And that helped me learn to stand up for what I believe in. He even lost one of his best friends who crossed the picket line.
When his company was on strike, we really had no money and we got food stamps. For a while, I never thought about it, but I remember one day I was going to the store with one of my brothers and my friend. And this friend, he was like a real peer to my brother, he hung with my brother's crowd. And I wanted to get milk and Pepsi. And I said, "I got a dollar and a food stamp," and my brother slapped me. And I didn't understand, I was like, "Why did you do that? What's wrong?" Before, I didn't worry about admitting stuff like that, but because he worried about it, it made me worry about it too. It was dumb to be ashamed of that, but it's part of growing up. Our society makes us ashamed to be poor, ashamed to have pimples, ashamed to be ourselves, but I want my fans to never be ashamed of who they are - no matter how bad things seem to be they have to stay proud and stay strong. Life is too short to worry about wrinkles in your jeans. When people shout you down, you must know they are only trying to find strength in your so-called "weaknesses" because they themselves are weak. I hope someday the world won't be like this. People won't judge other people cuz they're different or whatever but if we keep a positive attitude now and teach it to our kids and the next generation, then maybe someday America will finally live up to its reputation and truly become the land of the free.
Another thing about when I was young - my parents would do some things for us that they felt were important. They might not have given us money to go to the movies, or do this and that, but when baseball season came around, if we wanted to play they would really try and get that money together so we could. And they struggled to pay for my sister's dance lessons.
Next: Donnie Wahlberg - Things We Did Together.....
Donnie Wahlberg - Beginning at the Beginning
I was born in 1969, August 17. You know what's funny, I used to be excited that I was born in 1969, 'cause it was a great year. So many great things happened. It's kinda scary to think that someone might say one day, "Yeah, that was the year Donnie Wahlberg was born." That's crazy!
I've been in Boston my whole life, my whole family's been in Boston their whole lives. I've never lived outside of Dorchester - which is a section of Boston - in my life, 'till just now.
When I was born, I was the eighth, but my little brother Mark, the youngest, he's the ninth. I've got an older brother Bobbo, then next older, there's Tracey, then Jimbo, Paul, Michelle, Arthur, and Debbie's the oldest. Don't ask me ages, because I don't know anyone in my family's ages. My parents are Alma and Donald. My full name is Donald E. Wahlberg, Jr. My mother always called me Baby Donnie. My friends called me Donnie, only in school was I called Donald. Donnie was always spelled the same way. When I was real little, my dad got me a baseball shirt with my name on it. That's how it was spelled and that's how I like it.
When I was born, we lived in an apartment in Dorchester. We bought a house when I was about five years old. My brothers Arthur and Paul shared a room, my three sisters were together and four of us younger boys were in the same room. We had all bunk beds, but sometimes I'd go share with Mark. I always like the feeling of having lots of other kids in the room with me - to this day, I don't like being alone.
My father was kinda strict, stricter than my mother. It wasn't that my parents didn't allow us to do things, they were good. I mean, some of my friends couldn't even go up to certain neighborhoods, things like that. My family was never worried about that. I could do anything I wanted during the course of the day, as long as I was back for dinner. They didn't have many rules, but the ones they did, they liked to enforce. I never got grounded or anything like that, but if I did something messed up, they'd make me stay in, just for that night, or something. And that would be torture enough, because I wanted to always be out runnin' the streets and stuff.
I know that my parents sometimes feel that they didn't do a good job, and I always try and tell them that they did a great job. One of my brothers, Jimbo, he really had problems growin' up. He even spent some time in jail. But now that we look back on it, we kind of realize that Jimbo and I, we both grew up in the same house, had the same upbringing, same advantages and disadvantages - and made completely different choices about things. Jimbo's decisions got him into trouble. Maybe seeing him go down made me stay positive even though he did wild stuff he always influenced me to do good. I'm not ashamed of him and I hope he isn't ashamed of himself. Every day I see him living straight, it makes me proud to be a Wahlberg.
We had the usual brotherly rivalries in my family. Like we'd fight over who was the best looking, who had the best build, who was the toughest, stuff like that. We'd roughhouse, throw pillows, wrestle. But that was among us. Forget it if someone outside the family tried to mess with one of us - he'd have to take all of us on.
When I was growing up, I was always the family peacemaker, I couldn't stand to see people fighting - not seriously fighting, that is - I would always try to convince whoever was fighting to make up. Even now, I can't leave the house mad at somebody, I can't go to bed mad, I can't hang up the phone if I'm still arguing. There's something in me, I don't what it is, but it's like I just have to fix things. Can't leave them unresolved. It hurts too much.
When things started goin' right for one of us, things started goin' right for everyone. When I started gettin' the records goin' and stuff, all of a sudden I noticed that my brother was gettin' out of jail and my other brother finally became a carpenter, which he'd been trying to do for years. And my other brother got a job on a cruise ship as a chef, which was his big thing. And my sister got married and had a baby and they're all doin' great. I'm proud of my family, and proud of my parents, it's funny when you are not with your family for a while you really start to realize how much we all take our families for granted. It may not seem like a big deal to be able to walk through the house in your underwear with your sister around, but live in a hotel room for 2 years and you'll see how really special and close a family is. My family is truly where my heart is. I love them. I miss them, but also I enjoy sharing my success with them. They're like celebrities too now. I love sharing my good fortune with them. There's so many things I wanted when I had no money. Now I don't want them. I just want to do for my friends and family. Money, fame, status - that doesn't mean Jack to me if I ain't got my family here cuz if you think about it a family is all you've got.
Next: Donnie Wahlberg - Hard Lessons....
I've been in Boston my whole life, my whole family's been in Boston their whole lives. I've never lived outside of Dorchester - which is a section of Boston - in my life, 'till just now.
When I was born, I was the eighth, but my little brother Mark, the youngest, he's the ninth. I've got an older brother Bobbo, then next older, there's Tracey, then Jimbo, Paul, Michelle, Arthur, and Debbie's the oldest. Don't ask me ages, because I don't know anyone in my family's ages. My parents are Alma and Donald. My full name is Donald E. Wahlberg, Jr. My mother always called me Baby Donnie. My friends called me Donnie, only in school was I called Donald. Donnie was always spelled the same way. When I was real little, my dad got me a baseball shirt with my name on it. That's how it was spelled and that's how I like it.
When I was born, we lived in an apartment in Dorchester. We bought a house when I was about five years old. My brothers Arthur and Paul shared a room, my three sisters were together and four of us younger boys were in the same room. We had all bunk beds, but sometimes I'd go share with Mark. I always like the feeling of having lots of other kids in the room with me - to this day, I don't like being alone.
My father was kinda strict, stricter than my mother. It wasn't that my parents didn't allow us to do things, they were good. I mean, some of my friends couldn't even go up to certain neighborhoods, things like that. My family was never worried about that. I could do anything I wanted during the course of the day, as long as I was back for dinner. They didn't have many rules, but the ones they did, they liked to enforce. I never got grounded or anything like that, but if I did something messed up, they'd make me stay in, just for that night, or something. And that would be torture enough, because I wanted to always be out runnin' the streets and stuff.
I know that my parents sometimes feel that they didn't do a good job, and I always try and tell them that they did a great job. One of my brothers, Jimbo, he really had problems growin' up. He even spent some time in jail. But now that we look back on it, we kind of realize that Jimbo and I, we both grew up in the same house, had the same upbringing, same advantages and disadvantages - and made completely different choices about things. Jimbo's decisions got him into trouble. Maybe seeing him go down made me stay positive even though he did wild stuff he always influenced me to do good. I'm not ashamed of him and I hope he isn't ashamed of himself. Every day I see him living straight, it makes me proud to be a Wahlberg.
We had the usual brotherly rivalries in my family. Like we'd fight over who was the best looking, who had the best build, who was the toughest, stuff like that. We'd roughhouse, throw pillows, wrestle. But that was among us. Forget it if someone outside the family tried to mess with one of us - he'd have to take all of us on.
When I was growing up, I was always the family peacemaker, I couldn't stand to see people fighting - not seriously fighting, that is - I would always try to convince whoever was fighting to make up. Even now, I can't leave the house mad at somebody, I can't go to bed mad, I can't hang up the phone if I'm still arguing. There's something in me, I don't what it is, but it's like I just have to fix things. Can't leave them unresolved. It hurts too much.
When things started goin' right for one of us, things started goin' right for everyone. When I started gettin' the records goin' and stuff, all of a sudden I noticed that my brother was gettin' out of jail and my other brother finally became a carpenter, which he'd been trying to do for years. And my other brother got a job on a cruise ship as a chef, which was his big thing. And my sister got married and had a baby and they're all doin' great. I'm proud of my family, and proud of my parents, it's funny when you are not with your family for a while you really start to realize how much we all take our families for granted. It may not seem like a big deal to be able to walk through the house in your underwear with your sister around, but live in a hotel room for 2 years and you'll see how really special and close a family is. My family is truly where my heart is. I love them. I miss them, but also I enjoy sharing my success with them. They're like celebrities too now. I love sharing my good fortune with them. There's so many things I wanted when I had no money. Now I don't want them. I just want to do for my friends and family. Money, fame, status - that doesn't mean Jack to me if I ain't got my family here cuz if you think about it a family is all you've got.
Next: Donnie Wahlberg - Hard Lessons....
Dedication & Contents
This book is dedicated to the ones we love - our families, friends, and most especially, our fans.
Our sincere thanks go to each and every person who helped get this project off the ground and into a book we are proud of - you've all got The Right Stuff!
Part I: KidStuff
1. Donnie Wahlberg
2. Jordan Knight
3. Joseph McIntyre
4. Jonathan Knight
5. Danny Wood
Part II: MusicalStuff
6. Getting Together
7. Making Our Albums
8. VIPS (Very Important People)
9. On the Road
10. In Concert!
Part III: PersonalStuff
11. Reflections On...
12. With Love, From Us to You
Next: Donnie Wahlberg - Beginning at the Beginning....
Our sincere thanks go to each and every person who helped get this project off the ground and into a book we are proud of - you've all got The Right Stuff!
Part I: KidStuff
1. Donnie Wahlberg
2. Jordan Knight
3. Joseph McIntyre
4. Jonathan Knight
5. Danny Wood
Part II: MusicalStuff
6. Getting Together
7. Making Our Albums
8. VIPS (Very Important People)
9. On the Road
10. In Concert!
Part III: PersonalStuff
11. Reflections On...
12. With Love, From Us to You
Next: Donnie Wahlberg - Beginning at the Beginning....
Our Story
In July 1990, "Our Story: New Kids on the Block" was released and touted as an "Exclusive! The only official autobiography of America's hottest group - the inside story, told in their own words". The group's parents went on a book tour, signing copies and meeting fans as the book became a huge success. For the fans today: if you have never read this, it's a must; if you've read it before, read it again. It's an important look into what made the group and the men we've come to love, New Kids on the Block.
The story starts here.....
The story starts here.....
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