Pop icon Michael Jackson might be remembered as the ‘King of Pop.’ However, his friend Lionel Richie recalls him as a bit of a “stinky dude”—a nickname he humorously called ‘Smelly’ via TMZ.
In his new memoir, “Truly,” which was released on Tuesday, Richie shareed this story. He reveals that the late Quincy Jones was the one who came up with the memorable nickname, and that Jackson didn’t take it to heart; he laughed along with everyone else. “realizing that he was oblivious to the fact that he hadn’t changed or washed his clothes for a couple of days or so.”
Lionel says it wasn’t the “Thriller” hitmaker’s fault — he was constantly on the road and he couldn’t simply hire a dry cleaner, ’cause they would often steal his clothes as a souvenir! He also couldn’t just drop by a department store for new clothes due to his level of fame, he further reasons.
The “All Night Long” singer wrote in “Truly” that Michael therefore “got into the habit of wearing the same pants until they were unwearable.”
He further remembered Michael’s attire when they’d hang out and wrote, “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.”
He mentioned that he once helped his friend when he noticed he was “smelling particularly unkempt.” He secretly took him home so he could shower for the first time in days. Additionally, he provided him with a clean pair of underwear and jeans. Clearly, his hygiene did not impact his ability to create hit after hit or his status as a celebrity. As Lionel writes, we all have our quirks.
