‘Brady Bunch' Star Reveals the Moment She Knew She Was Famous 50 Years Ago
Eve Plumb made a surprising revelation about her years on The Brady Bunch. The actress, who played middle daughter Jan Brady on the classic ABCsitcom from 1969 to 1974, told The Morning Showin a new interview that she never felt famous until the cast started performing music ahead of the final season of the show.
"Well, we really never felt like big stars," Plumb, 68, told the outlet in May 2026. "[The Brady Bunch] never really hit the big ratings. It was never really well thought of in the critiques. Everybody sort of looked down on it as fluff and not serious fare."
Plumb added that it wasn't until she and her Brady siblings- Barry Williams, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland, and Susan Olsen-began recording music and promoting it that they felt famous.
"So we did realize we were very popular once we started making albums, and we would go out and sign records at a department store on the weekends, and we would get a huge crowd," she revealed. "That was when we realized that, yes, it was very popular. But no one at the time, no adult would admit to actually watching The Brady Bunch."
The Brady Bunch became a musical group following the success of another ABC TV clan, The Partridge Family. In July 1973, the Brady Six even performed at a live concert at the Hollywood Bowl.
Lookinland, who played youngest son Bobby Brady, told Yahoo Entertainment there was a time when The Brady Bunch kids were being eyed as the new Partridges.
"Tony Orlando opened for us at the Minnesota State Fair," Lookinland cracked. "The Fifth Dimension was there too, if I'm not mistaken. Tony Orlando came to me after the show, after seeing me perform ‘Johnny B. Goode,' and he said to me, ‘Kid, you're gonna be a star.'"
During an appearance on the Magnificent Others With Billy Corgan podcast, youngest child Olsen recalled when she realized the cast was famous.
"The screaming kids [in the audience] didn't happen until we went out, you know, with the music," she said. "And so we had been kind of sheltered…. But we didn't really know that we were that popular until we went out on the road."
Unfortunately, pop star fame was not meant to be. Once the Brady Bunch ended, so did the kids' musical act.
"We were going on concert tour, believe it or not. And there was so much fame. ... And the fame, you know, having people come up to us…," Olsen shared. "When the show ended… we were still going to continue the music, but Barry wanted to do his own solo thing. And Maureen wasn't into it. And Chris quit before the show was cancelled. …So yeah, at the time I was like, ‘Oh, you're breaking up the band.' But I thoroughly understand."
Related: 49 Years Ago Today, TV's Strangest ‘70s Variety Show Was Canceled
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This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 5:27 AM.