In an exclusive new interview, Donny Most tells Closer Weekly how he found his way back to his first love, singing, 36 years after his starring role on Happy Days.

Donny is now crooning standards on a new CD, D Most: Mostly Swinging. “I’m having such a great time,” Donny says.

“I started singing before I started acting — when I was about 14 or 15 — as part of a professional troupe,” Donny explains to Closer. “We’d play hotel nightclubs in the Catskill Mountains, so I often refer to this as going back to my first love.”

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Donny on Happy Days in 1975.

Donny says the reason it took so long for him to start singing again was because he got caught up in acting and directing. “But about two years ago, I felt a real compulsion to do it. This music I love — the Great American Songbook, jazz, swing, big band — had gone back into favor, and I thought, if I wait, it’ll be too late.”

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Donny shares what else has kept him grounded through the pitfalls of stardom and years following — his wife of 34 years, Morgan Hart.

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Donny and Morgan in July 2015.

“If it wasn’t for her, it would have been a lot tougher for me to deal with the roller-coaster aspects of this business,” Donny reveals to Closer. “I probably would’ve gone down a darker road in terms of alcohol or drugs. She’s kept me grounded.”

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“I’m very lucky to have such a wonderful woman. It’s hard to believe it’s been 34 years — that doesn’t seem possible. Our relationship just gets deeper and fuller like fine wine.”

For more from Donny’s interview, including the real reason he left Happy Days, pick up the latest issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now!