The untold story of Michael Jackson’s ‘body odour’

Music legend Lionel Richie has lifted the lid on one of Michael Jackson’s lesser-known quirks  and it’s wild.

In his new memoir, Truly, Richie recalls that the King of Pop, despite his global fame, often went days without changing clothes, earning him the teasing nickname “Smelly” from producer Quincy Jones.

“Michael would laugh, realizing he hadn’t changed or washed his clothes for a couple of days,” Richie writes. “We all have our quirks.”

According to Richie, Jackson’s eccentric style of living was partly down to life on the road, performing in elaborate stage costumes or relaxing in loose pajamas and slippers at home.

But it didn’t stop there, the superstar reportedly wore his jeans and underwear until they were literally falling apart. Fans and staff often grabbed his outfits as souvenirs, leaving him with few options but to keep wearing them.

Richie recounts a hilarious moment when Jackson came to visit him looking particularly unkempt. The singer was handed clean jeans and underwear, encouraged to shower and left his old clothes behind.

“There on the carpet were his old jeans and underwear, just lying there like roadkill,” Richie writes. “What do I do but laugh? MJ was here.”

Even with his unusual hygiene habits, Richie reminds fans that Jackson was a musical genius, able to pick apart 15 different mixes of a single song. But off-stage, he was just like Richie says: “Winging it every minute.”