David Foster’s daughter has defended him after he received criticism for “abandoning” his older children for his two-year-old son.
The music producer recently posted a video to Instagram of his son Rennie - who he shares with wife Katharine McPhee - playing Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You” on a tiny drum set. The caption read: “Drumming into the new year!”
Many fans instantly took to the comments to applaud the toddler’s musical abilities. “This kid has learned how to beat on the drums before he can s*** in a toilet?!? I couldn’t even colour in the lines at his age,” one commenter wrote.
Another person agreed, writing: “For goodness sakes that child is amazing and he’s only two years old? I guess it’s true. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.”
“Two years old??? This is insane omg,” a third commenter said.
However, not all of the comments were positive. “Lol!!!! He’s the dad... he’s also got daughters (he abandoned) older than me,” one user replied to a comment.
Amy S Foster, the second eldest of his five daughters, defended her father in response to the critic. “Hi....im a daughter...absolutely no abandonment,” she began her comment.
“I literally just talked to my dad five minutes ago,” she continued. “Are you sticking up for us? It’s so hard to tell these days... you see a video with an amazing two year old and your take is something negative?”
“All you have to do is look at the comments and Rennie’s sisters have all chimed in with compliments....We’re great,” Amy said, adding: “We love our dad. Our dad loves us and we love how our dad is with Rennie.”
Foster, 74, and McPhee, 39, tied the knot in 2019 after first meeting on American Idol in 2006. They welcomed their son Rennie in February 2021. In addition to his son, the Grammy winner is also a father to five daughters from previous relationships: Allison, 52, Amy, 49, Sara, 41, Erin, 40, and Jordan, 36.
Speaking to People about the recent criticism, Foster admitted that he “didn’t see” the comment but praised his adult daughters’ relationship with his son. “My children are great and, obviously, it’s a unique situation, probably one that none of us planned for, but my daughters are great, all of them, all five of them are great,” he told the outlet on 7 January.
“They’ve embraced Rennie and it’s actually great,” he said, noting that his family tries to “do our best” to maintain their close relationship. “My daughters are all self-sufficient. They’re all making their own way. They’re all doing great. So I’m really proud of all of them and Rennie too. So he’s in the spotlight for now,” Foster added.
The musician has previously opened up about becoming a father at his age, admitting that he wanted to be around more with Rennie than he was with his daughters. “At this point in my life, it’s different again,” Foster told People last year. “Not better or worse, just different. I still work, I’m still gone a lot, but maybe the time is a little more precious to me because I got more runway behind me than I have ahead of me now.”
“I had all daughters until my son and I love all my daughters immeasurably, but having a son is a little bit different,” he added. Despite his busy lifestyle, Foster also revealed that “patience” is the key to raising a toddler at his age.
“I was not patient when I was young,” he said, while reflecting on raising his five daughters. “I was arrogant and just on the move.”
