Donny Osmond

Osmond was born on December 9, 1957, in Ogden, Utah, as the seventh child of Olive May (née Davis; 1925–2004) and George Virl Osmond (1917–2007). He is the brother of Virl, Tom, Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, Marie, and Jimmy Osmond. Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay and Donny were members of the popular singing group Osmond Brothers. Osmond was raised as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah along with his siblings. In his youth, Osmond held a ham radio license, listed as KA7EVD.^[3]

Andy Williams's father, Jay Emerson Williams, saw the Osmond Brothers (Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay) perform on a Disneyland televised special (Disneyland After Dark) as a barbershop quartet. The group was then invited to audition for The Andy Williams Show. Williams initially had reservations about featuring children on the program, but was encouraged by his father to try them out. The Osmond Brothers proved themselves as an asset to the program, soon becoming regulars on the show and quickly gaining popularity. In 1963, Donny Osmond made his debut on the show at the age of five singing "You Are My Sunshine". The brothers continued to perform on the show throughout the 1960s, along with an occasional visit from their sister Marie.

Osmond became a teen idol in the early 1970s as a solo singer, while continuing to sing with his older brothers. Osmond was one of the biggest "cover boy" pop stars for Tiger Beat, Flip and 16 magazines in the early 1970s. His first solo hit was a cover of Roy Orbison's 1958 recording of "Sweet and Innocent", which peaked at no. 7 in the U.S. in 1971. Osmond's follow-ups Steve Lawrence's "Go Away Little Girl" (1971) (U.S. no. 1), Paul Anka's "Puppy Love" (U.S. no. 3), and "Hey Girl/I Knew You When" (U.S. no. 9) (1972) vaulted him into international fame, further advanced by his November 20, 1972, appearance on the Here's Lucy show, where he sang Nat King Cole's "Too Young" to Lucy's niece, played by Eve Plumb, and sang with Lucie Arnaz ("I'll Never Fall in Love Again").

In the 1980s, all of the Osmonds abandoned their earlier image—which had originally been crafted to appeal to young viewers—hoping to reach a more adult audience. While his brothers moved toward country music to modest success, Donny was able to revive his career in popular music. He made an unlikely appearance as one of several celebrities and unknowns auditioning to sing for guitarist Jeff Beck in the video for Beck's 1985 single "Ambitious", which was produced by Paul Flattery and directed by Jim Yukich. This was followed in 1986 by an equally unlikely cameo in the animated Luis Cardenas music video "Runaway".^[4] He spent several years as a performer, before hiring the services of music and entertainment guru Steven Machat, who got Osmond together with English singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel to see whether Machat and Gabriel could turn Osmond's image into a contemporary young pop act. They succeeded, returning Osmond to the US charts in 1989 with the Billboard Hot 100 no. 2 song "Soldier of Love" (originally announced on radio stations as "from a mystery singer") and its top twenty follow-up "Sacred Emotion". Launching an extensive tour in support of the Eyes Don't Lie record, he enlisted guitarist Dick Smith of Earth Wind & Fire and Kenny Loggins, along with keyboardist Mark Jackson.

Osmond was the guest vocalist on Dweezil Zappa's star-studded version of the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" which appeared on Zappa's 1991 album Confessions. The song also included guitar solos from Zakk Wylde, Steve Lukather, Warren DeMartini, Nuno Bettencourt, and Tim Pierce. Osmond sang "No One Has To Be Alone", which was heard at the end of the film The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water. He also sang "I'll Make a Man Out of You" for Disney's Mulan.

In the 2000s, he released a Christmas album, an album of his favorite Broadway songs, and a compilation of popular love songs. In 2004, he returned to the UK Top 10 for the first time as a solo artist since 1973, with the George Benson-sampling "Breeze On By". The song was co-written with former teen idol Gary Barlow, from the 1990s UK boy band Take That, and reached number 8 on the UK charts.

His 17th solo album (and 61st album including those with his siblings) The Soundtrack of My Life features a collection of cover songs with personal meaning to Osmond. He enlisted Stevie Wonder to play harmonica on the track "My Cherie Amour".^[5]

Following Marie's stint on Dancing with the Stars in 2007, the pair teamed up for a limited six-week engagement in Las Vegas. The residency began in September 2008, but proved so successful that it was ultimately extended for an eleven-year run through November 2019.^[6][7] Donny and Marie performed at the 750-seat showroom at the Flamingo Hotel. "Donny & Marie" was a 90-minute show. The singing siblings were backed by eight dancers and a nine-piece band. Donny and Marie sang together at the beginning and end of the show, and had solo segments in between. The Flamingo Hotel's showroom was updated in 2014 and renamed the Donny and Marie Theater.

Osmond and the show earned three of the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Best of Las Vegas Awards in 2012 including "Best Show", "Best All-Around Performer" (Donny & Marie), and "Best Singer".^[8] Osmond earned "Best Singer" for a second time in the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Best of Las Vegas Awards in 2013.^[9]

In 1974, Osmond and his sister Marie co-hosted The Mike Douglas Show for a week. Fred Silverman offered them a show of their own, The Donny & Marie Show, a television variety series which aired on ABC from 1976 to 1979. In honor of their impact on American pop culture, Donny and Marie received the Pop Culture Award at the 2015 TV Land Awards. In the past, Osmond has expressed regret that the show was canceled, and that he and Marie were unable to decide when to end the show.

Donny and Marie also co-hosted the eponymous and syndicated talk show Donny & Marie from 1998 to 2000. They would occasionally perform with musical guests. Though they received back-to-back nominations for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host in 2000 and 2001, the show was canceled.

For two seasons in the US, Osmond hosted Pyramid (2002–2004), a syndicated version of the Dick Clark-hosted television game show. He reprised hosting for a British version of Pyramid on Challenge in 2007. For his performance on Pyramid, Osmond was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host in 2003; the award went to Alex Trebek.

Osmond is one of two game show hosts to host two different versions of the same game show in different countries; the other being Howie Mandel for Deal or No Deal.

Osmond returned to ABC as host of The Great American Dream Vote, a primetime reality-game show that debuted in March 2007. After earning lackluster ratings in its first two episodes, the program was canceled.^[10]

Osmond hosted the daytime British version of the game show Identity on BBC Two in 2007.

On April 11, 2008, he hosted the 2008 Miss USA Pageant in Las Vegas with his sister Marie.

He appeared on Entertainment Tonight as a commentator covering the ABC show Dancing with the Stars during his sister Marie's run as a contestant on the 5th season of the American version of the show in 2007.

Osmond is mentioned in the lyrics of Alice Cooper's song "Department of Youth" on the album Welcome to My Nightmare. As the song fades, Cooper can be heard asking the youth choir backing him up, "Who's got the power?" to which a crowd of young people screams "We do!" After a couple of repetitions, this changes to "We've got the power" with a cheering response. On the final repetition, Cooper changes the question to "...and who gave it to you?" The crowd answers, "Donny Osmond!" Cooper then responds "What?!"

Osmond is featured in the song "Start the Par-dee" with Lil Yachty, written as a promotion for Chef Boyardee's throwback recipe ravioli. His most iconic line is "My name is Donny O, and you know I love my ravio's".

In the animated television series Johnny Bravo, Osmond voiced himself as a recurring character.

He has done guest spots on numerous television shows such as Friends, Diagnosis: Murder, and Hannah Montana.

He appeared in a Pepsi Twist commercial during the Super Bowl with his sister, Marie, and Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne.

In 1978, he appeared in Goin' Coconuts with sister Marie. His future wife Debbie (credited as Debbie Glenn) made a cameo appearance at the end of the film.^[11][12]

In 1982, he co-starred with Priscilla Barnes and Joan Collins in the television movie The Wild Women of Chastity Gulch for Aaron Spelling.

In 1985, he appeared in a cameo role impersonating himself on Jeff Beck's video for the track "Ambitious", written by Nile Rodgers.

In 1998, Osmond was chosen as the singing voice of Shang in Disney's Mulan. He sang "I'll Make a Man Out of You".

In 1999, he starred as Joseph in the movie version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Andrew Lloyd Webber's request who said, "to me, there is no better selection."

In 2002, he sang "No One Has to Be Alone" for the end credits of The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water.

In the Bob the Builder special "Built to be Wild", he played Jackaroo the pickup truck.

Osmond remarked in an interview that his movie appearance on College Road Trip and upcoming appearances on two Disney Channel shows would mean that he would be coming full circle since he and his family were discovered by Walt Disney.

Osmond appears in the music video of "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "White & Nerdy". The song is a parody of Chamillionaire's "Ridin'"; Osmond's role is analogous to that of Krayzie Bone's role in the original video. Yankovic asked Osmond to appear because "if you have to have a white and nerdy icon in your video, like who else do you go for?"^[13]

In February 2019, he was revealed to have portrayed "Peacock" on the first season of The Masked Singer, where he was the runner-up.^[14]

Osmond was a guest on Kevin Nealon's web series on YouTube, Hiking with Kevin, in March 2019. The webisode begins with the two hiking through the snow at the Sundance Resort in Utah, and ends with them walking a crowded Las Vegas Strip until Osmond brings Nealon backstage at the Donny & Marie Showroom in the Flamingo Hotel, at which he was to perform that evening.^[15]

In 2020, Osmond was invited as a celebrity panelist for Fox's I Can See Your Voice, appearing on episode 5 in the first season of the show (4 November).^{[16][17][18][19]}

Osmond and professional Kym Johnson were paired for the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars. He participated in the show to prove he was a better dancer than his sister Marie, who made it to the finals of season 5. For the first week, Donny and his partner were assigned to perform a foxtrot and a 30-second salsa. His foxtrot was said to be "too theatrical" and was scored 20/30 by the judges, however he managed to maintain a good score when his salsa scored 10 points. He performed a jive the following week, which was guest-judged by Baz Luhrmann. He scored 25 and was scored second place, called first to be safe. That following week he performed a rumba and scored 21.

The following week introduced four new dances including the Charleston, for which he scored 24. That following week, the two performed an Argentine tango. The couple scored 29/30, which was the highest-scored dance to date until it was beaten by then-top scorer and future runner-up Mýa and her 70s-themed samba. Donny also received that week's encore.

Following that week, Osmond and Johnson danced a train-station-themed jitterbug and scored a 24. He then performed a mambo against all couples and was eliminated 6th, receiving seven points for a total of 31/40. The following week, he performed a quickstep, which he quotes "was one of the worst moments of my life" and scored 24 and a team tango along with Joanna Krupa and Kelly Osbourne and received 28/30 and the encore.

In the 8th week of competition, Osmond was required to dance a ballroom and decade-themed Latin dance. His ballroom Viennese waltz received 26 but his 1980s themed pasodoble received 24 being quoted by judge Len Goodman as "the scariest, bizarre pasodoble we've ever seen" being awarded the last place on the judges' leaderboard for the first time. Following that week, he danced a tango and got advice from past runner-up Gilles Marini. He got tangled in Johnson's dress and received 21 saying the cause was that "I saw Marie." He then danced the samba to a song originally recorded by his brothers and himself called "One Bad Apple", receiving 26 and a Jitterbug scored 27. He once again was scored last place.

For the finals week, he danced a cha-cha-cha (27), a megamix dance alongside Mya and Kelly Osbourne (28), the only perfect-scoring freestyle (30) and a repeat of his Argentine tango (30) and won the competition, making him the oldest winner. As he accepted his trophy, he hugged fellow finalist Mya and brought his wife Debbie, and sister Marie on stage.^[20][21]

On season 18, he guest-judged week five on Disney Night. In October 2014, he guest judged on the British version of the show, Strictly Come Dancing, on week 3 (movie week) of the 12th series.

His first foray into Broadway musical theater was the lead role in a revival of the 1904 George M. Cohan show Little Johnny Jones. Osmond replaced another former teen idol, David Cassidy, who left the show while it was on its pre-Broadway tour.^[22] After 29 previews and only one performance, the show closed in March 1982.^[23]

Osmond found success in musical theater through much of the 1990s when he starred as Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for over 2,000 performances beginning in July 1992 in the Elgin Theatre's Toronto production. He relocated to Chicago where Joseph played for 16 months in 1993–94. Osmond suffered from social anxiety disorder during his performances for the musical, which caused him to feel light-headed and extremely nervous during his performances.^[24] In 1997, Osmond left his starring role in the tour to participate with his family in the cast of the Hill Cumorah Pageant.^[25][26] Creator Andrew Lloyd Webber later chose Osmond to star in the 1999 film version.

He returned to Broadway on 19 September 2006 as Gaston in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. He was scheduled to perform for nine weeks, but due to popular demand, he extended his run through December. Liz Smith of the New York Post wrote, "I am here to tell you he is charmingly campy, good-looking and grand as the villain 'Gaston', patterned after our old friend Elvis", and noting "Donny is divine". On 29 July 2007, Osmond played Gaston again for the final performance of Beauty and the Beast.^[27]

Osmond and his sister Marie starred in a holiday production called Donny & Marie – A Broadway Christmas, originally scheduled to play on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre 9–19 December 2010. The show was extended through December 2010 and again until 2 January 2011.^[28][29][30] Donny & Marie – Christmas in Chicago played at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre in Chicago in December 2011. It was similar to the 2010 Broadway show. In December 2014, they again performed in a similar Broadway show, receiving very positive reviews.^[31]

Osmond is set to play the role of Pharaoh, in the upcoming production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for a limited run over Christmas 2024 at the Edinburgh Playhouse opening on 3 December 2024 as part of the UK Tour going into 2025.^[32]

Donny Osmond Home is a furniture and decor accessories collection, established in 2013 by Osmond and his wife Debbie, in collaboration with decor manufacturers.^{[33][34][35][36][37]}

Life is Just What You Make It: My Story So Far, his autobiography co-written with Patricia Romanowski, is a "tell-all", Donny Osmond style. The book, released in 1999, includes stories from behind-the-scenes as a teen star, to his thought of tarnishing his "goody-two-shoes" image as he started his solo career, to him describing the intense panic attacks he suffered on stage.^[38][39][40]

Osmond states that he has had a tremendous public-image struggle since Donny & Marie ended in 1979.^[41] Reviews from Allmusic noted that while Osmond remained a gifted singer, a series of creative missteps in the late 1970s led to his virtually disappearing from the public eye during the 1980s.^[42][43] He was described in the 1980s as having an "unhip image", and he said he was embarrassed that the Osmond name was not considered cool.^[44] A publicist suggested that Osmond purposely plan an arrest for drug possession in order to change his image. "I remember hiring a publicist who figured out this whole campaign to get me busted for drugs and change my image."^[45]

Osmond commented on his opposition to same-sex marriage after the 2008 Proposition 8 in California. The LDS Church were one of many groups that supported Proposition 8 (to ban same-sex marriage), and Osmond stated that he opposes same-sex marriage but that he does not condemn homosexuality. He believes that homosexuals should be accepted in the LDS Church if they remain celibate.^[46] He stated on his website:

We all determine for ourselves what is right and what is not right for our own lives and how we live God's commandments. I am not a judge and I will never judge anyone for the decisions they make unless they are causing harm to another individual. I love my friends, including my homosexual friends. We are all God's children. It is their choice, not mine on how they conduct their lives and choose to live the commandments according to the dictates of their own conscience.^[47]

In March 2010, Osmond criticized Lady Gaga and Beyoncé for using profanity and sex in their "Telephone" video.^[48]

On May 8, 1978, Osmond married Debra Glenn of Billings, Montana, in the Salt Lake Temple. Together they have five sons: Don, Jeremy, Brandon, Chris, and Josh. The Osmonds became grandparents in 2005^[49] and have 14 grandchildren.^[50][51] Chris, who is also a musician, appeared on season 2 of the American reality series Claim to Fame, in which contestants have to determine their competitors' famous relative; Chris, advanced to the final episode, having repeatedly survived numerous eliminations because the other contestants could not guess Donny's identity.^[52]

Like the rest of his family, Osmond is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). In retrospect, he has written, "It would have been nice to be able to have served a regular full-time mission, but when I was of that age, my career was such that everyone, including my parents and the leaders of the church, thought that I could do a lot of good in the world by continuing to be in the public eye, by living an exemplary life and sharing my beliefs in every way that I could."^[53] He continues sharing his beliefs in an extensive letters-and-comments portion of his website.^[54]

Osmond's two oldest brothers Virl and Tom are deaf, and his nephew (Justin) is hearing impaired. He has talked about the experience of growing up with his brothers and their use of sign language when performing together.

My oldest brother was born 85 percent deaf and the next was born worse with almost total deafness. My parents were told by everyone, doctors included, to stop having kids. Thank God, they at least went as far as seven! Anyhow, they decided they were not going to treat my brothers differently [or lower their expectations]. My brothers talk and communicate verbally. They also sign and do have that down quite well. As a matter of fact, we used sign language when we were performing together as a group. There's this one number we did on the Donny and Marie Show, it was amazing—even when we were taping it. It was a huge production number and my brothers learned the routine. Obviously they couldn't really hear the music, but they could feel the beat and they'd watch us out of the corner of their eyes to make sure they were still in tempo.^[55]

Osmond has traced some of his family ancestry back to Merthyr Tydfil in Wales; his journey was documented in a BBC Wales program, Donny Osmond Coming Home.^[56] On the BBC's The One Show, a plaque was unveiled in the town to commemorate "the ancestors of Donny Osmond."

• The Donny Osmond Album (1971)
• To You with Love, Donny (1971)
• Portrait of Donny (1972)
• Too Young (1972)
• Alone Together (1973)
• A Time for Us (1973)
• Donny (1974)
• Disco Train (1976)
• Donald Clark Osmond (1977)
• Donny Osmond (1989)
• Eyes Don't Lie (1990)
• Christmas at Home (1997)
• This Is the Moment (2001)
• Somewhere in Time (2002)
• What I Meant to Say (2004)
• Love Songs of the 70s (2007)
• The Soundtrack of My Life (2015)
• Start Again (2021)

• Donny Osmond Official website
• Donny Osmond at IMDb
• Donny Osmond at the Internet Broadway Database  
• Osmond Interview on Fox News Radio^{[dead link‍]}
• Osmondheaven Popular Fan Site
• Donny Osmond Home Official Site