Lionel Richie reveals savage nickname he had for Michael Jackson 'due to poor hygiene'

Lionel Richie has revealed he once gave Michael Jackson a pretty savage nickname - and it all came down to his hygiene habits.

The 76-year-old 'All Night Long' hitmaker has just dropped his debut memoir, Truly, and inside he shared some eye-opening details about his late friend, the King of Pop.

In his book, Richie spoke of how close Jackson was to his 'siblings and mom' but that once he went solo in his music career, 'making these monster albums, movies and videos, he was in charge of his own ship.'

According to Richie, Jackson’s day-to-day life was 'eccentric', describing him as being 'like an absent-minded professor but still a kid'.

And it was this quirkiness, paired with an apparent lack of fresh laundry, that earned him the not-so-flattering nickname.

That name was 'Smelly'.

Turns out it wasn’t just Richie who used it either - producer Quincy Jones would regularly tease Jackson with the same name.

“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 explained. “We all have our quirks.”

The American Idol judge suggested that Jackson’s hectic fame was partly to blame, as he was constantly on the road, shooting videos, or rehearsing dance routines, the star apparently had little time for things like shopping or getting clothes cleaned.

“He was on tour performing in the elaborate costumes made for him by his stylists, or he was in his pajama bottoms and slippers in the studio,” Richie wrote.

“Or he was at home in something loose and comfortable so he could practice his dance moves and play with his menagerie of pets.”

When Jackson visited Richie, he’d usually just rock up in whatever he had lying around.

“The jeans were either falling off him or too short to even be jeans and, well, smelly,” Richie recalled.

On one occasion, the singer even asked him about his questionable trousers, to which Jackson casually replied: “Lionel, I walked by a store in the Valley. The owner came out and gave me a free pair.”

But laundry wasn’t just an inconvenience for Jackson; it also came at a risk.

In Richie's memoir, he explains how the superstar avoided dry cleaners because his clothes would often 'disappear' as souvenirs.

"Everybody kept something,” he added, so Jackson just wore the same things until they were worn out.

It’s not the first time the Thriller icon’s hygiene has been questioned. Back in 2014, five former housekeepers claimed Jackson 'lived in a house of filth and urinated on the floor' - one even alleged he would threaten staff with 'doo-doo snowballs'.

“Michael sometimes ran around where the animals were, and he’d track... Poop throughout the house and think nothing of it,” the source claimed.

Richie’s memoir, Truly, is out now.