When Michael Goessling, 59, heard his biological father’s voice for the first time last year, he swore he recognized it.
“I just said: ‘What a voice that guy has!’… it just sounded so familiar, but I couldn’t place it.”
When they spoke over the phone that night, it clicked.
“Finally, I just said: ‘Are you Michael McDonald?’” Goessling recalled. “And he chuckled and he said, ‘Yeah, I’m afraid so.’”
McDonald, a five-time Grammy winner who is lead vocalist of the Doobie Brothers and a successful solo artist, had a child in Missouri with his middle school sweetheart and neighbor when they were 14-years-old, Goessling told NBC News on Friday.
The pair gave up the baby in a closed adoption to Goessling’s parents, who lived roughly 20 minutes away in a suburb of St. Louis, and went their separate ways, Goessling said.
Nearly 58 years later, they reached out to their son.
In May, Goessling said he received a letter in the mail from his biological parents asking to make contact. The 59-year-old said they tracked him down after one of Goessling’s half-brother’s found him through a 23andMe DNA test.
Goessling said he spoke with his biological mother that night and suggested that they get lunch that Friday — a date which had sentimental value.
“She became very emotional and said, ‘Your birthday.’ And I said ‘Yes, you’ve waited long enough. I’ve waited long enough. Let’s meet on my birthday, 58 years to the day,’” he said.
The pair met that Friday, and Goessling got a voice memo from his biological father that night.
Goessling and McDonald spoke over the phone for the first time the following day. Going into the call, Goessling said he knew only his father’s first name.
“I said to Mike, ‘So hey, tell me, what do you do?’ And he said, ‘Well, I’m a musician.’ And I said, ‘That is awesome. I love music. I’ve always been a music nut,’” Goessling said.
Goessling said his biological father told him he had a show in St. Louis on Sept. 4, 2025.
“I was surprised by that statement, having done the math and knowing how old he was,” Goessling said. “Being a touring musician was not what I was expecting.”
He said he figured McDonald was part of some sort of small touring orchestra, until McDonald revealed in passing that he was performing at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater. When Goessling Googled who was playing at the music hall on the date and saw it was the Doobie Brothers, he pieced his father’s identity together.
“There are still days I wake up, and my first thought is I am coming out of the craziest dream, and it’s been a year and a half,” Goessling said. “I’m still trying to get my head around all of it.”
Goessling has listened to the Doobie Brothers since he was a little boy and remembers when McDonald replaced lead singer and guitarist Tom Johnston in 1975, he said. He said he was 8- or 9-years-old when the switch occurred, and got into an argument with other children about whether or not a song they were listening to was actually one of the band’s.
“They told me, ‘No, they got a new singer. It’s Michael McDonald.’ And I was like, ‘Well, this is awesome,’” he said. “And I was just a fan from the get go.”
Goessling said he’s seen the Doobie Brothers in concert twice before learning McDonald was his biological father.
His adopted family was supportive of his reunification with his biological parents, Goessling said.
For the first time, Goessling’s entire family got together the evening before McDonald’s concert in St. Louis, which he described as “one of the greatest events of my life.”
Goessling said that he later learned his biological parents had made several attempts to reach him in his life with similar letters, but he did not receive them. He said that although his biological parents both dated other people and had other children, they remained good friends over the years.
“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,” he said. “They were always heroes in my story.”
