Michael Goessling, a 59-year-old executive at a St. Louis distribution company, was adopted at birth and always wondered about his biological parents. Last year, he learned something surprising: His biological father is Michael McDonald, the singer-songwriter from the Doobie Brothers.
“I was very prepared for Mike, the retired plumber, or Mike, retired accountant,” Goessling told The Washington Post. “I was not prepared for Mike, five-time Grammy-award-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.”
In 2025, Goessling received a letter from his birth mother’s lawyer, which said that his biological parents had found him because his half brother took a genetic test. He connected with his birth father via the phone, which is when Goessling realized he was speaking with the man who co-wrote “What a Fool Believes.”
“I was a massive Doobie Brothers fan, even when I was 7 and 8,” Goessling said. “It’s a funny thing with this whole story. I was an absolute music nut.”
McDonald and Goessling’s birth mother placed their son for adoption when they were both 14. The two remained in touch and anxious about how their son turned out.
“But just to know that he was okay and that he had a good life — and a life, certainly, that I wouldn’t have been able to afford him at that time in my life — was a great reward,” McDonald told a St. Louis news station. “The real rock stars in this story are his adoptive parents.”
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The post Man finds out his biological father is Doobie Brothers’ Michael McDonald appeared first on Washington Post.
