David Cassidy on the Web
Shaun Cassidy Talks Brother David, Famous Family & ‘Nepo Baby’ Experience with Oliver Hudson
By Lauren Novak
https://www.remindmagazine.com
Shaun Cassidy recently swung by the Sibling Revelr podcast, hosted by siblings and stars Kate and Oliver Hudson, to talk about his own very famous family — the singer, actor, producer and writer is the son of Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy, brother to Patrick and Ryan Cassidy and half-brother to the late David Cassidy, who passed away on November 21, 2017.
Though Kate was out for the episode, Shaun and Oliver dove deep about what it was like to have famous parents and their experiences growing up as “nepo babies.”
After Oliver mentioned that he had just spoken to his mother, Goldie Hawn, before the interview and she wanted to tell Cassidy hi, Shaun opened up about his crush on Goldie when he was younger and appeared on her variety show, The Goldie Hawn Special. He shared that they sang around a piano and added, “I had a crush on her like everybody in the world. It was really sweet.” He also recalled that he was in Hawaii with his family and met up with Goldie and her family when she was pregnant with Kate.
Later in the episode, Shaun talked about his friendship with Bernie Taupin. He said his parents were going to the Troubadour to see Elton John, who was just breaking into American culture at the time. “My father and my mother invited them [Elton and Bernie] back to the house, and I think Bernie wanted to meet my mom, and I’m pretty sure Elton wanted to meet my brother David, who wasn’t there. They ended up sitting around the piano playing tunes and Bernie talked to me, ‘What are you doing?'” Telling Bernie that he was into music (he was only 10 at the time) and hoped to play music someday. They reconnected later on in life, becoming good friends. Bernie even guest appeared on The Hardy Boys.
Growing up with brother David Cassidy
Shaun later talked about his sibling dynamic, especially being on the road and performing with his family. He admitted that things changed when his father died, but the loss brought the boys back together in a better sibling relationship. Now, they are able to see their father in each other as they have aged. Shaun explained, “I mean our father died when I was eighteen, Patrick was fourteen, Ryan was ten, and my older brother David, were estranged, which was rough, but in a strange way, his loss bonded us. I literally remember the day he died, the four of us hugging and crying and sort of forging this like he will live in us. It wasn’t said, but that was the feeling, and it’s been an actual experience. We are now all well, David has passed, but Patrick, Ryan and I are all older than my dad was when he died. We see each other and see our father.”
He said that, of course, they would fight, and he often tortured Patrick and Ryan. While there were fights, what helped was they had different lanes for their careers and hobbies. Patrick was the sporty one, while Shaun was into music and performing, and Ryan was more thoughtful and artistic. He added that David was always trying to get their father’s approval before he died. Shaun said that although he was a very inspiring person, his father was not a good dad because his priority was his work.
Shaun went on to discuss being in The Hardy Boys and signing his first record deal when he was 16 years old with Warner Bros. The label wanted him to record various singles and share them in Europe, and if they were successful, they would bring his music back to the United States. He said it was weird to record some hit songs in other countries and then go back to school as normal. Meanwhile, his second audition was for The Hardy Boys, and he got it. The show came out, and his album came out, which was the biggest-selling solo debut in history until Whitney Houston came along. While he was achieving such massive success and fame, Shaun admitted that he was scared of fame. “It was too much,” he shared.
He continued about the experience of achieving fame, “I don’t really love the life of being a public figure. I liked sitting alone in a room thinking and making the stuff up. I was the most reluctant famous person, and some of the choices I made reflect that, because I was offered all kinds of things that probably would have been great if you wanted a big [career] I didn’t. I just knew the minute I became famous, it was like, ‘Okay, I’m not going to be known as his son or her son or his brother or whatever. I’m going to be known as me now, and now I’m going to go hide in my room for like ten years and think about what I really wanna do.'”
Eventually, he moved on to more behind-the-scenes work, writing and producing shows such as American Gothic and New Amsterdam. However, now, at the age of 66, he teases he is ready to tour once again. He’s done a few tours in the past few years and said that he hopes to do a real tour at the end of next year. He currently resides in Santa Barbara with his wife Tracey, has 8 kids and even has a winery.
Listen to the entire podcast episode here.
NOTE: The article contained more photos of Shaun.
