In an eccentric recollection from his new memoir, Truly, Lionel Richie claims that his late friend and collaborator Michael Jackson had unusual hygiene habits, which led to music producer Quincy Jones giving him the nickname “Smelly.”
Richie, 76, wrote that once Jackson went solo and became a major star, he was “in charge of his own ship,” leading to an “eccentric” day-to-day life. Richie said he and Jones would often joke about Jackson’s tendency to neglect changing his attire.
“Michael would laugh, too, realizing that he was oblivious to the fact that he hadn’t changed or washed his clothes for a couple of days or so,” Richie penned. He added that when Jackson visited him, he was often in ill-fitting jeans and a t-shirt, and would never wear deodorant around him.
Richie recalled once gifting the King of Pop a new pair of jeans and clean underwear, encouraging him to shower after noticing a “foul odor.” Jackson was “sweet and thankful,” but when Richie returned home, he found the discarded, old “ratty jeans” and underwear “just lying there like roadkill” on his living room carpet.
Richie concluded that Jackson’s quirks were a part of his endearing nature, but affirmed the pop icon’s habit of wearing the same pants until they were “unwearable.”