donald clark osmond better known by his
stage name donnie osmond is best known
for being the youngest and most famous
member of the five-piece family music
group the osmonds the band offered
listeners a light-hearted mix of r b pop
disco soul funk and occasionally even
country the osmonds started out as a
barbershop quartet in their hometown of
ogden utah but eventually received
international recognition experiencing
the height of their fame in the early to
mid 70s with his four older brothers
donnie put out several top 10 hits and
gold albums eventually donnie branched
out and started a solo career putting
out a number of top 10 songs of his own
he gained further fame thanks to the
success of his variety series donnie and
marie which aired on abc from 1976 to 79
with his sister marie osmond by his side
dani released a slew of hit singles
while selling millions of records and
performing at sold out shows simply put
donnie has lived his entire life either
in front of the camera or in the
recording booth and he spent years
trying to overcome the dreaded former
child star curse he recently spent many
years both as a performer and guest
judge on dancing with the stars and last
year he put out his 18th solo studio
album start again and beyond that he and
marie spent 11 years between 2008 and
2019 headlining a popular stage show at
the flamingo las vegas casino hotel join
facts first as we figure out how donnie
osmond managed to overcome the odds and
break the former child star curse
donny osmond's rise
donnie was born december 9th 1957 in
ogden utah he was the seventh son of
george verl osmond and olive may he was
raised in a musical mormon household the
family band got its start as the osmond
brothers a barbershop quartet consisting
of donny's brothers allen wayne jay and
merrell donny and his sibling jimmy
joined the band later on before dani was
included the osmond brothers had gained
national attention performing on the
andy williams show they quickly proved a
valuable asset to the program and after
donnie joined in 1963 making his debut
on the show at age five singing the song
you are my sunshine the group enjoyed
mounting popularity the osmonds
continued to perform on the show
throughout the 60s occasionally
alongside their sister marie donnie and
his brothers became teen idols in the
70s and once donnie started his solo
career he enjoyed a tremendous amount of
success and popularity suddenly it was
his face plastered on the covers of all
the teen magazines his first solo hit
was 1971's sweet and innocent a cover of
a 1958 roy orbison song the track peaked
at number seven on the us charts he
followed that up with songs like go away
little girl which peaked at number one
puppy love which hit number three and
hey girl i knew you when which went to
number nine after putting out those
singles and appearing on here's lucy in
1972 performing his song too young
donnie skyrocketed to international fame
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stick around for a lot more about donnie
osmond
the singing siblings
in 1974 donnie and marie co-hosted the
program the mike douglas show for a week
liking what he saw and seeing an
opportunity to cash in on their
chemistry tv producer fred silverman
offered the brother sister duet their
own show the donnie and marie show a
variety series premiered on abc in 1976.
it enjoyed high ratings for three
seasons before wrapping up in 1979.
donnie and marie put out seven studio
albums together in addition to a dozen
singles a live album and one soundtrack
donnie reinvented himself in the 80s
by the 1980s all the osmonds had retired
their earlier image that had initially
been concocted to appeal to a younger
audience they wanted to no longer be
seen as teen fluff instead hoping to tap
into the adult market donny's brothers
all shifted towards country music with
modestly successful results donnie
however was able to breathe new life
into his career by putting out pop music
in 1985 he appeared in jeff beck's music
video for his song ambitious the
following year he made yet another
unexpected cameo in the animated music
video for luis cardenas runaway for the
next several years he worked as a
performer before enlisting the help of
legendary music and entertainment
producer steven matcha who teamed him up
with peter graberl to try to transform
his image into a contemporary pop act
the move proved a success as donny's
1989 song soldier of love rose to number
two on the billboard hot 100 chart his
follow-up effort sacred emotion likewise
broke the top 20. donnie then embarked
on an extensive international tour
promoting his album eyes don't lie while
playing alongside earthwind and fire
mark jackson and kenny loggins as
guitarist dick smith
keeping it fresh
in 1991 osman provided guest vocals on
dweezil zappa's star-studded remake of
the bg's hit stan alive which appeared
on zappa's confessions album he could
then be heard during the end credits of
the animated film the land before time
nine journeyed to big water singing the
song no one has to be alone donny's
talents were again enlisted for a
children's film when he sang the song
i'll make a man out of you for disney's
1998 box office hit mulan in the oughts
donnie released a christmas album as
well as an album consisting of some of
his favorite broadway songs he followed
that up with a compilation of popular
love songs in 2004 he achieved top 10
success again on the uk charts for his
song breeze on by which he co-wrote with
a former fellow teen idol gary barlow
the song was performed by the english
boy band take that and reach number
eight
the vegas years
after marie's appearance on dancing with
the stars in 2007 donnie and his sister
teamed up once again for a six-week
limited engagement in vegas the show
proved so successful however that it ran
for 11 years donnie and marie would
perform in front of an enthusiastic
audience of 750 at a showroom at the
flamingo hotel and casino throughout
these 90-minute shows the siblings were
backed by a piece band and eight dancers
the residency proved so much of a
success the flamingo hotel even renamed
the showroom the donnie and marie
theater in 2014.
donny never backed down
the now 64 year old star recently
relayed a story about when he was 21. he
apparently was told by someone in the
industry that he was a has been when he
heard that term he refused to accept it
from that point on he committed to
fighting as hard as he had to to keep
making it in show business in order to
keep finding success in a notoriously
cut-throat dog-eat-dog industry donny
says he's had to go through many
different incarnations to stay relevant
each time one would run its course he'd
find himself having to reinvent himself
from the ground up once again many
people don't know how to successfully do
this on their own once the execs and
producers decide they're done with a
star many times that means the end of
their career but that's what makes donny
different as he's explained many times
to inquisitive reporters it's his
passion he told the post earlier this
year that even though it might sound
cliche he loves what he does he loves
getting up on stage singing and
entertaining to him it's still a job but
one he's genuinely passionate about as
such he's worked hard to get where he is
today now it's time to hear from you
what are some of your favorite memories
of donnie osmond let us know in the
comments section below and before you go
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