Legendary singer and Grammy winner Lionel Richie has released his new memoir titled “Truly.” In it, he shared fascinating, never-before-told stories, and fans have been reacting.
Speaking during an interview with PEOPLE, the musician revealed that he doesn’t even know how he was able to remember most of the things he wrote in the book.
One memory that stood out was the bond he had with a close friend, Michael Jackson, at the peak of his fame.
In “Truly,” Lionel broke down how he and MJ were deeply bonded over music, despite the fact that they differed greatly when it came to how they went about their daily lives.
“To be honest with you, I don’t know how I remembered a lot of stuff.
Michael was very close with his siblings and his mom, but once he went solo, making these monster albums, movies and videos, he was in charge of his own ship. His day-to-day life was what you could call eccentric. Like an absent-minded professor but still a kid,” he wrote.
Revealing that music icon Quincy Jones used to tease Jackson with the nickname “Smelly,” he shared that the King of Pop would laugh at the name because he was fully aware of how poor his hygiene was.
Lionel Richie concluded by saying that Michael Jackson’s dirtiness was due to his extreme level of fame, which forced him to often live on the road.
“Michael would laugh too, realizing that he was oblivious to the fact that he hadn’t changed or washed his clothes for a couple of days or so. We all have our quirks.
He was on tour performing in the elaborate costumes made for him by his stylists, or he was in his pajama bottoms and slippers in the studio or he was in his going-out attire. Or he was at home in something loose and comfortable so he could practice his dance moves and play with his menagerie of pets.
Whenever Michael came to visit me, he was wearing whatever — jeans and a t-shirt. And the jeans were either falling off him or too short to even be jeans and, well, smelly.
I once asked about his pants, he replied ‘Lionel, I walked by a store in the Valley. The owner came out and gave me a free pair.’
He couldn’t simply send his clothes out to be cleaned because, quite often, his belongings wouldn’t be returned.
Everybody kept something for a souvenir. He just got into the habit of wearing the same pants until they were unwearable,” he added.
