Donovan has urged Happy Mondays star Shaun Ryder to make peace with his estranged daughter.
The ‘Step On’ hitmaker is the father of the 73-year-old Scottish star’s granddaughter Coco, 25, whose mother is his daughter Oriole Nebula, and the musician has called on Shaun – who has six children from four different mothers – to reunite with his grownup daughter, who is creative just like her parent.
The ‘Sunshine Superman’ hitmaker said: "Shaun and Oriole had a beautiful daughter, Coco.
"She’s an incredible artist, not only a painter and sculptor but a performance artist, which makes sense being Shaun’s daughter. "They’ve been estranged, but at one point they’ll get together. "I’d like Shawn to meet his daughter again and for them to relaise they’re part of the same journey."
Donovan also recalled a wild night out fuelled on ecstasy he had with Shaun and his bandmates at Manchester’s legendary Hacienda nightclub, long before Shaun started dating Oriole, who he met when her father supported his band in the 90s’.
Oriole’s sister, Astrella, also dated Shaun’s brother, Paul, who is the Mondays’ bassist.
Donovan told Uncut magazine: "Before Shaun and his brother got involved with my two daughters, they visited in a Manchester hotel.
"My wife Linda and I had realised that the hottest band of the ’80s was into Donovan!
"Anyway, when they were leaving the hotel suite, they were trying to take the paintings off the wall and unscrew the door handles.
"I said, ‘Boys, how much do you need? I’ll give you the money!’ "On another occasion, Linda wanted to make sure the girls were all right.
"Ecstasy was clean then and she went straight to Shaun and said, ‘We want the best, and take us to the club!’
"We danced in the Hacienda all f***ing night.
"Linda danced everybody under the table and the story in Manchester was, ‘We couldn’t keep up!’"
Oriole previously admitted she made sure Coco knew her dad is a "wonderful person" and painted him in a positive light, despite his previous struggles with drug addiction and admitted her daughter used to cry about her father.
Whilst she insisted they had tried to reach out to him.
She said in 2004: "Coco was really young when we split up, just turning six. But she still remembers her daddy as a wonderful person.
"We talk about him a lot, because I don’t want her thinking he doesn’t want her or care about her.
"I have an understanding with her that she knows his situation – that he has a history of drug addiction and that he’s like a child, but that he still cares about her.
"Basically, I just try to keep it as positive and light as possible. "She cries about him sometimes, and she’s old enough now to have contact with him to a certain extent, which is why we are trying to reach out. She just wants to tell him that she loves him."
Donovan urges Shaun Ryder to reunite with estranged daughter
