Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers Reconnects With Son He Put Up for Adoption at Age 14, Nearly 6 Decades Later

Former Doobie Brothers singer Michael McDonald has recently reconnected with his biological son, Michael Goessling, after nearly six decades. According to NBC, McDonald made contact with Goessling about a year and a half ago, after receiving a letter informing him that his parents wanted to meet him. Goessling, who was adopted as a baby, had never known his biological parents until now.

The two first spoke on the phone, with Goessling remarking, "I just said: ‘What a voice that guy has!’ It just sounded so familiar, but I couldn’t place it." After McDonald told Goessling he was a musician, Goessling quickly identified him as Michael McDonald, the lead singer of the Doobie Brothers.

Goessling also discovered the identity of his birth father after McDonald mentioned he was scheduled to perform at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater on that date. The Doobie Brothers singer has five Grammy Awards to his name and helped the band score multiple top 10 hits, including "What A Fool Believes."

Goessling expressed gratitude for his parents' decision to put him up for adoption, stating, "I just wanted to thank them for the choices they made on my behalf and for giving me a shot in this world, and how grateful I was for that." Despite never harboring resentment for his birth parents, he remains in awe of the entire situation, calling it "the craziest dream" that he's still trying to come to terms with after a year and a half.