35 Years After New Kids on the Block Released Their Hit Album, Donnie Wahlberg Still Remembers His Mom's Sage Advice
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If you’ve ever wondered if your advice to your kid goes in one ear and out the other, Donnie Wahlberg is a testament that not only are they listening, but that your words have a major impact. The New Kids On The Block singer told TODAY.com that his late mom always believed in him.
“Somehow I think she instilled in me, because of our connection, that there was something great out there if I just believe and stay the course, and I did,” he said.
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Even 35 years after the hit NKOTB album was released, he still thinks about and stands by her words. If he had a chance to give his younger self some advice, Donnie said he would tell himself exactly what Mama Wahlberg said.
“Her advice would be the advice that I would give to young Donnie,” Wahlberg explains. “I think Donnie took that advice and stayed the course, no matter what challenges came his way. I think her advice is the advice that I would give right back to me again — because it worked.”
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We have to wonder if Donnie’s mom said the same thing to all nine of her children, including actor Mark Wahlberg, all of whom seemingly stayed on their own courses.
After Alma’s passing in 2021, Donnie shared an emotional tribute video, including a clip from his wedding to Jenny McCarthy where Regina Belle sang If I Could for their mother-son dance. He wrote a beautiful, moving message on Instagram, saying his mom was “such an amazing woman,” “the epitome of the word grace,” and that she was “without a doubt, the most loving human being [he has] ever known.”
“My mom Alma’s joy for life, love, and people — combined with a pride in her humble beginnings and refusal to forget where she came from — undoubtedly shaped me into the man that I am,” he wrote. “I’ve often said, if you like anything about me, I got it from Alma. I say that because it’s true. I never heard her say, or do, anything disrespectful to anyone.”
“As a young boy,” he continued. “She’d invite me to sing her favorite song with her (‘Native New Yorker’ by Odyssey) as she cleaned our home. There’s no doubt that the two of us singing into a mop stick, while disco dancing on our ‘sparkling’ linoleum floor, helped inspire the dreamer in me — just like the dreamer in her.”
“I love you, miss you, thank you, and will celebrate you, today and always,” he closed his post. “Forever — your Baby Donnie”
Mark also honored his mother, sharing a rare photo of Alma along with himself, his wife Rhea Durham, and their four children: Ella Rae, 19, Michael, 17, Brendan, 14, and Grace Margaret, 13.
“Miss you grandma❤️,” Mark captioned the simple yet special post.
These Hollywood grandparents aren’t baking cookies or playing Bingo — they’re in their prime of life.
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