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Singer Michael McDonald over a DNA strand and a magnifying glass
Many people have come across some surprising discoveries after submitting a DNA ancestry test. That is definitely the case with one man who was able to track down his biological father, who turned out to be none other than musical icon Michael McDonald.
Genealogy has become an increasingly common interest over the past few decades thanks to companies that are devoted to making it easier to get in touch with your roots.
Ancestry.com emerged as one of the biggest names in that space around the turn of the millennium thanks to its ability to track family trees with the help of the massive historical archive it has access to, and 23andMe ushered in a new era close to 20 years ago with the DNA testing that took things to the next level.
Those genetic tests can do things like provide insight into your ethnic background and flag potential health risks, and they’re also capable of identifying relatives you didn’t know existed.
There are more than a few stories concerning people who discovered they had a half-sibling or were able to track down an unknown parent, and one man added a tale to that second pile after learning his dad is a Grammy-winning musician who’s been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
A man learned his biological father is former Doobie Brothers frontman Michael McDonald after taking a 23andMe test
According to KMOV, a 58-year-old St. Louis resident named Michael Goessling was born and raised in that city after he was adopted as an infant toward the end of the 1960s. He was aware that his biological parents were both 14 years old when he was conceived, but that was the extent of his knowledge about them.
Earlier this year, Goessling was contacted by a man who discovered he was his half-brother after taking a 23andMe test, and he was able to connect with his biological mother on his 58th birthday. She was still in touch with his actual dad, and Goessling got to chat with him on a phone call where he learned his father was a musician on a tour that was set to stop in St. Louis in June.
The string of shows in question was the Oneness Tour featuring Santana and the Doobie Brothers, the group that is probably best known for the songs featuring the iconic vocals of Goessling’s dad: Michael McDonald.
McDonald was also born and raised in the St. Louis area before heading to California in the 1970s, where he linked up with Steely Dan while providing the backing vocals on songs including “Peg” and “Bad Sneakers.”
He eventually joined forces with the Doobie Brothers in 1975, and his signature warbling voice is front and center on some of their most popular tracks, including the chart-topping yacht rock anthem “What a Fool Believes.”
McDonald also had some success as a solo artist with “I Keep Forgettin'” (which was sampled on Warren G’s “Regulate”), and he won five Grammy Awards before being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Doobie Brothers in 2020.
They were able to meet in person when McDonald came to town for a family reunion, where the crooner was also introduced to his daughter-in-law and the two grandchildren he discovered he had.
What a world.