After dealing with thinning hair on top of his head throughout his entire life, when the greatest striker in American soccer history found a solution, he didn’t wait another second to get it fixed.
The new style took some getting used to, but Landon Donovan now looks – and feels – like an entirely new man.
Donovan – who now works as a podcaster, television analyst and strategic advisor to Lincoln City FC – has just recently released a new memoir diving into his life in soccer and beyond.
The book, titled Landon, goes over the career of the six-time MLS Cup winner and two-time league MVP.
It also dives into some of the struggles he’s had in his career – his hair, yes, but also his childhood growing up with a single mother and an absentee father.
Speaking exclusively with the Daily Mail, Donovan opened up on the steps he took to forgive his father before his passing last year.
American soccer star Landon Donovan opened up about his strained relationship with his now late father, Tim
Throughout his playing career, Donovan’s thinning hair was an issue he dealt with
Donovan’s new hairdo comes after his years-long attempt at stopping the onset of balding. In his playing days, his hair began to get thinner and thinner – and it only got worse after his on-field career ended. He underwent two hair replacement procedures in the past, with neither of them particularly successful.
The solution came in the form of a hair system he described as ‘basically a wig’ – which he settled on, and then had installed, with alarming speed.
‘I tried everything and I got to a point, coming up on a year now, where either I was gonna be just bald the rest of my life, or I can try this hair, what they call a hair system,’ Donovan revealed.
‘I said “I’m just gonna try it.” It was like a Friday night, I told my wife, “I don’t know why, I’m just gonna try this.” And she’s like, “what?” And literally like Monday morning I went in and did it.’
Donovan’s devil-may-care attitude about fixing what was becoming a serious problem stemmed from him ‘not giving a s**t’ anymore.
‘I was like, if it’s terrible, I’ll just be on with it and whatever,’ he said. ‘I did it and I walked out of the place with my shoulders back. I felt confident, I felt young… I had grown to live with it, but I didn’t realize how much it was impacting me behind the scenes and how I was ashamed of it.
‘For the first time in – since I can remember – I really felt confident, which is crazy to say. Someone who has everything, has the success I had, and the money, and the family, and all the things, to say that is bizarre. But it’s just the reality.’
He added that he would ‘look in the mirror and I’m like, “Wow, I’m not this balding not-good-looking man.” I can see my features again, my eyes aren’t just going to my forehead every time.’
Donovan feels years younger after getting a hair system installed (pictured with fans)
After multiple failed attempts at a transplant, the former striker sought an end to his struggle
Then, he had the hair system installed. The striker showed it off to fans on social media
Donovan said he considered shaving his head completely bald, but that he ‘didn’t really want to go that route’ because he ‘didn’t like the shape of my head.’
Months later, he still loves his decision.
‘You learn to like how it looks better and you learn how to maintain it and how to take care of it,’ he said.
He did admit that he was at the center of some light roasting about the new look.
‘Some people were like, “Did you lose a bet or something?” But I don’t care. I’m 44, I have a beautiful family, my life’s great and it makes me feel better, so I’m happy with it.’
He wrote about his hair journey in his memoir, which was released on March 24. While there’s plenty of discussion about the playing career of the all-time leading US men’s international goal-scorer, there’s also a look into his life before the fame.
When Donovan was young, his father and mother split. His father – Tim, a semi-pro ice hockey player from Canada – ended up leaving the family.
Donovan described in an interview with Kay Adams how he ‘wasn’t around’ and that ‘many times [he] did not come to pick us up on nights where he had custody.’
Donovan hugs his father, Tim, during his farewell match for the USMNT in October 2014
Donovan revealed that he did consider leaving any mention of Tim, who died in December, out of the memoir entirely. But to do so would eliminate a key part of his story.
‘Literally the reason I’m sitting here with you today is because my dad left the family,’ Donovan said. ‘I was desperate for his love and attention. It was subconscious.
‘Growing up, then through years of therapy, I realized this thing I’m chasing – trying to succeed and score and be recognized and loved and have attention – it’s because I’m chasing my dad’s attention. So it is literally what drove me to be successful.’
In that instance, ‘I don’t know how I could leave him out of the story because that really is the story in so many ways. It was impossible to leave him out. What I considered is just not writing the book altogether or waiting until he passed away.’
Donovan said Tim never saw the book released, but did read a manuscript. ‘But he didn’t have to feel it,’ the athlete said. ‘So maybe the world’s working out the way it’s supposed to.’
‘I walked out of the place with my shoulders back. I felt confident, I felt young,’ he told the Daily Mail
Donovan at a Lincoln City match in April 2025. Donovan is an advisor to the club
Donovan did end up forgiving his father after a ‘big, have-it-out, you were never there for me’ fight in his 20s that led to them being estranged for a number of years.
Eventually, after seeking help in therapy, he forgave his father and worked to repair their relationship.
‘It’s not like a movie, right?’ Donovan said. ‘I didn’t get like the fullest heartfelt apology, but he did apologize. I didn’t get that full connection that I wanted, but then we were able to have a baseline to start a real relationship.’
He says that now, after his father died, he’s especially glad to have made that step.
‘I know so many people who have estranged relationships with their mom, dad, sister, cousin, whatever and they wait ’till someone’s on their deathbed…’ he said. ‘When I see other relationships, I realize that for most people it never happens. They just don’t do the work and don’t say it. So I’m very grateful.’
