You know you’re a true Old Schooler (and proud of it), when you remember watching the legendary Donnie Simpson host his BET show, “Video Soul.” That ’80s/’90s era was a beautiful time for music and everybody who was anybody in the R&B game, sat on the couch to chop it up with the brotha who damn near single-handedly put BET on the map back then. The ageless 69-year-old legend – or “DJ Green Eyes” as he’s also known as -was, and still is, a sex symbol for his female fans who now listen to him on his Washington D.C. radio show, “The Donnie Simpson Morning Show.” However, all fans of Donnie’s will be surprised to know that he actually has a TWIN brother! How the hell they kept this on the low for so many years deserves an award of it’s own, but nonetheless, they were successful at it…until now.

Meet Donnie Simpson’s Twin Sibling

Pretty sure the ladies are gonna love this one. Donnie Simpson has sporadically given his fraternal twin brother, Lonnie Simpson, a shout out in public throughout the years. Even though they’re super close and ‘shared a womb’ together, as Donnie stated, they clearly have totally different opinions about being in the spotlight. Despite showing love to his brother with random public shout-outs, rarely has Donnie ever shown a photo of Lonnie- presumably because Lonnie isn’t attracted to the limelight, like his twin is.

We, here at ILOSM, have known about Donnie’s twin for many years now, but actually getting a photo that we could share of him, was like pulling teeth. No worries though family, we finally have a pic of the two together and here it is: Meet Lonnie Simpson…

Same Birthdays, Totally Different Careers

Donnie and his twin, Lonnie, not only share different views about the famous life, they also chose two totally different career paths. Donnie loves being a radio personality- he’s been one for approximately 54 years. However, his brother had a different calling-Lonnie Simpson is a preacher and has been one for many years as well. Yep, folks, Lonnie’s career is a far cry from the days of his twin, Donnie, interviewing the likes of the late, great Whitney Houston during her “Saving All My Love For You” era…or Bobby Brown, during his “My Prerogative” bad boy phase.

Nevertheless, Donnie respects the hell outta his twin bro’ and his religious calling to the fullest, as was displayed in his prior Twitter post…

Donnie Simpson: “My twin brother Lonnie is the greatest person I have ever met! Any situation he faces gives him one way to react. That book [the Bible] gives my brother the preacher the answer.”

Even though the Simpson twins’ interests are vastly different, their brotherly love is unconditional, which Donnie also displayed proved on their January 30th birthday this year, when he wrote this:

“I swear it seems like I just celebrated my birthday a month ago. It’s amazing how fast they come now. It’s like when they try to show the passage of time in movies by having the gentle wind blow the pages of a day calendar. That wind is now a hurricane. 😂

I’m so blessed to pass these years with the guy I came into this joint with though. Although I’m 53 minutes and 6 seconds older than my twin brother, it’s him who lights the way for me. I thank God for him, his heart and his grace.

Happy Birthday Lonnie!! 🎂”

Donnie’s & Lonnie’s Other Siblings

There are six Simpson kids in total. They grew up in their parents’ (Dorothy and Calvin Simpson) Detroit, MI record store, Simpson Records, which remained opened for well over four decades. Given their upbringing, at least one of them were destined to be in the music business one way or another. However, it turns out, that three Simpson siblings ended up taking a music business route. Donnie became a radio personality by age 15; his brother, Calvin Jr. owned a chain of wholesale record stores, called Bad Records; and their other brother, Harry became a DJ in Detroit.

When Donnie became the in-demand TV host of “Video Soul,” his mother, Dorothy, confessed that she had a love for music but had no clue, at that time, what exactly he was doing:

“I remember records, eight tracks, four tracks, cassettes, all that. But I also remember thinking: ‘What’s a video?’” laughs Mrs. Simpson.

Beautiful memories from Mrs. Simpson, and a true sign of the times indeed.