Just because they made bank on stage doesn’t mean they want to
set their children up for life. Tough love or tough to live with? For these musicians,
cutting their kids out of their wills was personal.
The wholesome pop and country-western singer Marie Osmond is all about family. She shot
to fame at a young age as part of the Osmond troupe and is best known for performing with
her brother Donny. As an adult, Osmond raised eight kids, five of whom she adopted. So it might
come as a surprise that she intends to leave her children with no inheritance. In Osmond's mind,
this is an act of tough love. It's also a way of ensuring that her kids have the
best start in life and are driven to find their real passions. Osmond told Us Weekly,
"Honestly, why would you enable your child to not try to be something? I don't know
anybody who becomes anything if they're just handed money. To me, the greatest
gift you can give your child is a passion to search out who they are inside and to work."
"I tell my children that God will be there for them when they struggle."
The country star has mentioned her views on fame and fortune in a number of interviews,
stating that she intends to enjoy her fortune while she is alive. Osmond has
also said that she wants to give a good portion of her money away to charity.
Both as a solo artist and a member of the Police, Sting has made a fortune writing
and playing music. However, the iconic rock star had a humble start in life,
growing up as the son of a hairdresser and milkman in Northumberland, England. Before
he became famous, he worked as both a teacher and a bus conductor. It was only after a long
period of struggle that Sting rose to stardom with hits like "Roxanne" and "Message in a Bottle."
Sting has eight children and has expressed concern that they will not have his work
ethic or humility. For this reason, the singer has announced he will not
be passing on his mega-millions to his kids. In an interview with the Mail Online, Sting said,
"I certainly don't want to leave them trust funds that are albatrosses round
their necks. They have to work. All my kids know that and they
rarely ask me for anything, which I really respect and appreciate."
The singer then added that he is already spending his
money and so won't be able to pass it on anyway.
Grand-daddy of soul James Brown was once a real ladies' man. So upon his death,
multiple heirs came out of the woodwork to claim their inheritance. Brown acknowledged
having at least nine children, but he only recognized six of them in his will. The
scramble for Brown's fortune led to one of the biggest celebrity estate battles
in history. It was a fight that lasted 15 years and involved multiple lawsuits.
Originally, Brown had left most of his money to fund scholarships for needy children in South
Carolina and Georgia. Five of Brown's children would ultimately challenge the will. They accused
his advisors of having too much influence over Brown's final decisions and potentially trying
to enrich themselves while managing his trusts. In 2009, Brown's children won a settlement that split
part of the estate between them. However, the ruling was overturned again in 2013.
Shockingly, one of the children to miss out on the enormous fortune was James Jr.,
then just a small child and the son of Brown's widow, Tomie Rae. However,
his mother's claim to the estate was ultimately rejected by the court after it was discovered
that she never divorced her previous husband before shacking up with Brown. So technically,
she could never have legally married the soul singer. Brown's last wishes were ultimately
respected by the time the case concluded. His estate was finally sold for a whopping
$90 million in 2021, with the vast majority of the proceeds earmarked for the scholarship fund.
The Queen of Mexican rock, Alejandra Guzmán, is well-known in the Spanish-speaking world
for her turbulent family life. The star, who has sold 12 million records worldwide,
has been releasing hit albums since the late 1980s. Today she is more often in
the press for feuding with her daughter, model and songwriter Frida Sofía. In 2022,
Guzmán announced she would be leaving Sofía out of her will.
The dramatic family feud began after Sofía publicly accused her grandfather, singer
Enrique Guzmán, of molesting her from the age of just 5 years old. Sofía told her story during an
emotional TV interview, which garnered a shocked response from her family. Enrique has since denied
the claims made against him by his granddaughter, stating that Sofía needs psychological help.
The feud that unfolded following the accusations culminated with Guzmán disinheriting her daughter.
According to People Magazine En Español, Guzmán has stated that although she has
let her daughter keep an apartment she bought, she will not be leaving her any of her fortune.
Songwriter and actor David Cassidy had two children while he was alive but favored only
one of them. Upon his death, court documents obtained by The Blast revealed he had left
$1.68 million to his son Beau Cassidy, but nothing to his daughter. Before he died,
the star explained to People magazine that he barely raised his daughter Katie Cassidy,
who was largely brought up by her mom, model Sherry Williams, and step-father.
"I didn't meet my biological father until later in life. I think I was in second grade."
While Katie and her dad maintained a warm friendship for many years, they became
estranged shortly before Cassidy died. Despite losing out on a small fortune, Katie reacted with
unusual grace when talking about her deceased father. She affectionately noted to People,
"He left me with really great advice. He was like: 'Don't ever stop going
to class. That's where you should put your money. And that's what I do, and I've been
able to go from nothing to where I am today and it's built confidence and self-esteem."
Despite being the child of a celebrity, Katie has said she knows how to budget
and did not grow up with a glamorous, wealthy lifestyle. Today she has achieved considerable
success in her own right, working as an actor on shows like "Arrow."
In the 1970s, John Lennon's relationship with Yoko Ono was extremely controversial. Ono was
blamed for breaking apart the Beatles and for destroying Lennon's family with his first wife,
Cynthia. John abandoned his wife as well as his eldest son, Julian, when he was just 5 years old.
"To a degree I was abandoned as a kid."
In life and in death, Lennon came to favor his child by Ono, Sean. By the
time Lennon was assassinated in 1980, Julian had reportedly been cut out of Lennon's will entirely.
Ono was ultimately made executor of Lennon's £220 million estate, but Julian was not shut
out in the cold forever. Around 16 years after the will was originally executed, Ono allowed Julian a
share of his father's estate. It is believed he got around £20 million from a settlement deal.
When Don McLean disinherited his daughter Jackie, she knew it was coming. The singer
had threatened to cut her off financially if she continued to speak out against him
in public. Jackie did not relent, however, and ultimately lost her $3 million inheritance. In
a shocking interview with Rolling Stone, Jackie described her childhood with
McLean as walking on eggshells to avoid his vicious temper. She claimed to the magazine:
"There was a constant state of fear in the house
about the slightest thing [that] would make my dad turn into a crazy person."
McLean has denied the abuse allegations, claiming that he was a good father and
that he believed his daughter was simply courting publicity. Jackie's story was
backed up by her mother, Patrisha McLean, who expressed disgust over
her ex-husband's will in an interview with Page Six. She told the outlet:
"He's punishing the children. It's disgusting.
He's merciless. He has no shame. The cruelty knows no bounds."
Patrisha, who now runs a domestic abuse charity, has also spoken extensively
about McLean's abusive behavior. The couple divorced in 2016, after he was arrested for
domestic abuse and pleaded guilty to four of the six charges against him.
Country singer Glen Campbell cut three of his eight children out of his will,
leading to a lengthy legal battle after his death. Campbell had been married four times
but only chose to punish the children he had with his second wife, Billie Jean Nunley. The
couple divorced in 1976, after having three children together: Wesley, Kelli, and Travis.
The will was contested in a Tennessee court in 2018. Glen's widow Kim Campbell,
who stuck by him during his battle with Alzheimer's,
was named executor of the will. She did not challenge the children's right to contest.
It's not been revealed why Campbell chose to exclude the three children he had with Nunley,
but it should be noted that their marriage was at times difficult. In an interview with
People magazine in 1976, the country singer told the press that Nunley had disliked his music,
including his celebrated hit "Rhinestone Cowboy." It was ultimately Nunley who left the singer,
with Campbell claiming that he had no intention of ending the relationship. Wesley, Kelli,
and Travis eventually abandoned their claim to Campbell's will
without a settlement. The entire estate was valued at just $420,221.
Musician and producer Ric Ocasek's estate became a big news story in 2021,
two years after he suddenly died in the middle of a divorce. In his last few weeks on earth,
he made major changes to his will, cutting out his wife, Paulina Porizkova, as well as his two
oldest sons, Adam and Christopher. Ocasek had Adam and Christopher with his first wife, Constance
Campbell. The Cars singer left Campbell while she was still pregnant with their second child.
Christopher has publicly criticized his father
for being a bad dad who barely saw him as a child, telling Page Six,
"My father, in essence, died the day I was born. He was never present, he was never
there. Even when he was, he was never there and that's the abandonment that I'm referring to."
On the anniversary of his father's death, Christopher posted a picture
of Ric standing with him and his brother Adam on Instagram. He wrote in the caption:
"You don't exist. We didn't either."
In 2021, Porizkova reached a settlement that awarded her part of Ocasek's estate,
but details were kept under wraps. News reports made no mention of Adam or Christopher.
Troubled country singer Naomi Judd died by suicide in 2022, after a long battle with depression. In
the days that followed, it was discovered that Judd had left both her daughters out of her will,
awarding the entirety of her estate to her husband, Larry Strickland.
This was especially surprising given that Ashley Judd in particular is known to have
been very close to her mother. It was Ashley who found her mother's body on
one of her daily visits to the house. In public, Ashley has spoken extensively about her grief,
including in a lengthy piece for The New York Times in which she wrote
about the difficulty of dealing with rumors about her family.
"My mother is entitled to her dignity and her privacy."
While the story made headlines across the U.S., one legal expert, Jason Goldman,
told Page Six that it may well have been a practical decision and not a snub. He stated
that Judd was most likely acting on legal advice, and would probably have been told
that it would be simpler for the family to name her husband as the sole executor.
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse,
you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233.
You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.