Date of Birth: Sun, Aug 17, 1969
Place of Birth: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
He was born Donald Edmond Wahlberg, Jr. on August 17, 1969 in Dorchester Massachusetts, into a Swedish/Irish-Catholic family, the eighth of nine children of Donald Sr. and Alma Wahlberg. His parents eventually divorced and Donnie, finding himself already in trouble, found a positive outlet performing in school plays and became involved in varied aspects of theater -- acting, writing, and directing. At the age of 15, he became a member of the teen vocal group originally called "NYNUK." Donnie's younger brother, Mark Wahlberg, was originally one of the Boys but balked at the direction the group was taking and backed out.Following a false start with their debut album "New Kids on the Block," the teens persevered with a sophomore record and proceeded to hit #1 with the single "Please Don't Go Girl" in 1988. They continued to bombard the market with one-after-another "Top Ten" hits including "The Right Stuff" and "I'll Be Loving You Forever." Leaving the young girls panting for more, they became one of the hottest young singing/line-dancing groups to hit the late 80s/early 90s. The Boys went on to sell over 70 million albums worldwide, and provoke the spawning of other five-member harmony groups such as Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC. During its heyday, Donnie played up his resident "bad boy" persona by tallying up several run-ins with the law, including an alleged arson at a Kentucky hotel (charges were dropped). He also delved into "body art" with numerous tattoos and body piercings in an effort to buck their already-cloying image. Amid intergroup dissension and Milli Vanilli-like charges of not contributing all the vocals to their albums, the pop band finally disbanded in 1994 -- partly out of frustration but also having outgrown the group's juvenile moniker.Unsure of his direction while attracting more trouble in the tabloids, Donnie, who helped write, arrange and produce brother Mark's Funky Bunch group's fi