Mark Wahlberg is the actor and rapper brother of Donnie Wahlberg, who gained fame with the pop group “New Kids on the Block” in the 1980s.
donnie wahlberg Wahlberg: Who Is He?
Maurice Starr, who formed New Kids on the Block in 1984, hired Donnie Wahlberg directly after Donnie auditioned for him. Group members parted ways in 1994. It was then that Wahlberg decided to try acting. With his role in The Sixth Sense in 1999, he first gained recognition as an actor. A reunion of New Kids on the Block in 2008 resulted in the group’s current name, NKOTB. As a part of their 2013 tour, the group joined Boyz II Men and 98 Degrees.
Early Life & Siblings
During his childhood, Donnie Wahlberg lived in a largely Irish-American neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to being an entertainer, Mark Wahlberg is the eighth of nine siblings. In addition to being an active member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Donald Wahlberg’s father was a truck driver. It was Alma Wahlberg’s mother, an actual nurse’s assistant at nearby St. Margaret Hospital, who was Wahlberg’s mother for many years. Because the Wahlbergs had so many children to support, they often ran out of money. Back then, Wahlberg’s mother didn’t realize how hard it was, but now she realizes just how tough it was. “We thought everyone lived like this, now we realize how hard it was.” she recalled.
Even though the siblings attended church every Sunday together, there were frequent arguments among them. In the family, Donnie was regarded as the peacemaker. His later recollections included fighting about clothes, which girlfriend was prettier, and which of us was the superior athlete.
The 1970s were a turbulent time for Boston, as mandatory busing for school desegregation was being debated fiercely during Wahlberg’s elementary school years. Busing, however, turned Wahlberg’s life into a success story. William Monroe Trotter School, an overwhelmingly Black elementary school in Roxbury, was more than a half hour away by bus each way for Wahlberg. He developed a deep affinity for soul and rap music while riding his bus and attending Trotter School.
As a child, Wahlberg learned how to moonwalk and saved money for a red leather jacket similar to that worn by Michael Jackson in the iconic “Thriller” video. They soon began composing rap lyrics instead of homework together, with a friend being bused to Roxbury with them. In retrospect, Wahlberg recalls that being bussed to school in Roxbury was a great experience.
As a child, Wahlberg lived with his mother after his parents divorced. Many of the other siblings were already independent young adults or lived with their father. A Kool Aid Bunch was formed at Copley High School with Donnie and Danny Wood. In Wahlberg’s words, they kept rapping not because they thought they’d be stars one day, but because they enjoyed it and loved the girls screaming for them.
New Kids on the Block
He was 15 years old when he auditioned for Maurice Starr, a well-known music producer. New Edition, another band he played with, had been very successful. He wanted to create a new boy band with white teenagers to mirror that success. He immediately enlisted Wahlberg as the focal point of the new group after watching hundreds of auditions. A friend, Jordan Knight, and Knight’s older brother, Jonathan Knight, were also recruited by Wahlberg, including Mark Wood and Danny Wood.
A friend, Jaime Kelly, soon replaced Mark as the band’s new musical director after he became dissatisfied with the group’s pop-friendly artistic direction. Joey McIntyre was quickly recruited to replace Kelly in the group’s definitive lineup. Their name was derived from a Donnie Yen song called New Kids on the Block. Columbia Records released their self-titled debut album in 1986. Outside of Boston, “Be My Girl” didn’t receive much airplay, and album sales were poor.
Following a failed debut, Hangin’ Tough was released two years later with Starr’s help. Following a slow start, it looked as though the album would go unnoticed, but “Please Don’t Go Girl” received widespread airplay – first in Boston, then nationally. It topped the Billboard Singles chart at No. 10.
There were two other No. 1 singles by Hangin’ Tough, “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)” and “You Got It (The Right Stuff)”. The act topped the charts across the nation during the last quarter of 1989. Step by Step, a third studio album released by New Kids on the Block after the success of the holiday album in 1990, also made it to No. For a time, New Kids on the Block were America’s most popular and lucrative musical act thanks to the hit singles “Step by Step” and “Tonight”. Several years after departing the limelight, NKOTB reformed in 1994 and released their first album in four years, Face the Music. Since their heyday, musical tastes have shifted away from grunge rock and gangster acts, so NKOTB’s bubble-gum image proved challenging. 1994 marked the end of the group’s existence.
Movies and TV
Instead of pursuing a solo music career, Donnie’s younger brother tried acting. As a young actor, Wahlberg only appeared in films like Ransom (1996) and Black Circle Boys (1997) as a drug dealer or tough-guy type, but his breakthrough in 1999 came when he played the deranged ex-patient in The Sixth Sense who threatened Bruce Willis. He was revealed to be the same 43-pound Donnie Wahlberg from New Kids on the Block who emaciated and hysterically appeared.
Throughout the years, Wahlberg has established himself as a successful actor. As well as Band of Brothers (2001) and Saw II (2005), he starred in Blue Bloods (2010) in which Tom Selleck also appeared.
Recent Years & NKOTB Reunion
As with New Kids on the Block’s previous albums, The Block, the group’s 2008 reunion album, reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts. In addition to their first album, New Kids on the Block embarked on a world tour, and though their popularity wasn’t nearly what it had been two decades before, they were able to reconnect with their long-lost diehard fans again.
On NKOTB’s Package Tour in support of their new album, 10, Wahlberg performed with the rest of the group. In addition to 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men, fellow boy bands also performed on the tour.
Mark and donnie wahlberg ‘Wahlburgers’
A+E premiered a new reality series featuring Donnie Wahlberg, Mark and Paul Wahlberg, the eldest Wahlberg brothers. Paul serves as the head chef at Wahlburgers, a hamburger joint owned by the Bostonian family in Hingham, Massachusetts. The show quickly won fans and critics’ admiration for its uniqueness and how unlike anything the Wahlberg boys had ever done before.
Wife and Children donnie wahlberg
A nine-year marriage ended in divorce in 2008 for the wife and children. Wahlberg and Fey married in 1999. Aside from Xavier, they have two sons, Elijah and Xavier. Jenny McCarthy .A TV personality, began dating Wahlberg in 2013. It was announced by McCarthy on The View that they were engaged in April 2014. And the wedding took place in August.
