Donnie Wahlberg had everyone reaching for the tissues on May 6.
The “Boston Blue” star and New Kids on the Block singer took to Instagram to honor his late mother, Alma Wahlberg, on what would have been her 84th birthday. The post led with a photo of Alma beaming in the audience watching her son perform, followed by a montage video pulling clips from the family’s reality show “Wahlburgers.”
“Happy Heavenly Birthday, Alma Jean!” Donnie wrote. “Today, I celebrate you with love in my heart and an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. No tears. Only love, admiration and complete faith, that I will see you again. I love you, Mom! As always, your Baby Donnie.”
Alma died in April of 2021 at the age of 78 after a long battle with dementia, and Donnie has commemorated her birthday on social media every year since. This one lands during a particularly busy chapter for the 56-year-old. He is coming off the October premiere of CBS’s “Boston Blue,” the spinoff in which he reprises detective Danny Reagan after 14 seasons of “Blue Bloods.” New Kids on the Block, meanwhile, will be performing at their Las Vegas residency this summer.
Alma Wahlberg Supported Son Donnie, 8 Other Children Through Various Careers
Wahlberg, who was a key cog in the forming of New Kids on the Block in 1984 at the tender age of 14, sold out arenas as one of pop’s original boy-band heartthrobs and reinvented himself as a credible actor with roles in “The Sixth Sense,” “Band of Brothers” and the “Saw” franchise.
The 2010 launch of “Blue Bloods” gave him a 14-season home as Reagan; CBS pulled the plug last year, only to greenlight the spinoff months later.
Through all of it, Alma was a supportive and constant presence.
The eighth of nine kids growing up in Boston’s working-class Dorchester neighborhood, Donnie has long described their household as chaotic, unique and full of love. “There were nine kids, a dog, a cat and a grandma in the basement,” he told CBS News in October of 2025, recalling a youth marked by poverty and a divorce that left Alma to raise the brood largely on her own after 1982.
Alma Remains a Beloved Figure With a Fan Base of Her Own
She made it work. On the family’s A&E hit “Wahlburgers,” Alma became a fan favorite with her self-deprecating tales of stretching welfare-issued butter and cheese into creative meals for her army of children.
“Wahlburgers,” which followed the family’s burger chain co-owned by Donnie and his brothers Mark and Paul, turned Alma into a bit of a pop culture icon. She racked up hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers and was a regular sight at her sons’ premieres and grand openings, where Donnie would routinely scoop her up for selfies.
For a guy who has spent four decades in the spotlight, Donnie has never made a secret of who shaped him. His latest Insta post was just the latest reminder. Alma may be gone, but in the Wahlberg universe, she’s still the headliner.
The post Donnie Wahlberg Shares Sweet Message to Late Mother Alma on Her 84th Birthday appeared first on EntertainmentNow.