The Osmond family, once cited by a Mormon elder for setting “the greatest example of missionary work,” has helped raise billions of dollars for children’s hospitals over the years.
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Of course, Donny and Marie and most of their brothers can also sing, and have been for half a century.
A reunion tour that will have all seven singing siblings is set to begin in May and will include Europe and Asia, already selling out two shows in London’s Wembley Stadium, which seats 90,000. The Las Vegas show, set for August, is sold out. PBS began airing an Osmond 50th anniversary show this month.
“It’s just a reminder that we’re all one big happy family,” Merrill Osmond told the BBC.
Marie Osmond, the only female among nine siblings, regained national attention with her 2007 performance in the ABC hit Dancing with the Stars. That season was filled with drama. Jane Seymour’s mother and Marie’s father died during the competition. Marie fainted on camera after she danced the samba and while waiting for the judges’ comments.
After Marie’s performance on Stars, the family received a most important career call: Oprah wanted to devote an entire show to them, coinciding with the group’s 50th anniversary. They flew — 100-plus strong — on a chartered jet to Chicago, where Oprah, ever the solicitous hostess, swooned with every Osmond smile. Sadly, the day the episode aired was also the day they buried their patriarch, George Virl Osmond.
The family, which started singing in 1957 so it could raise money for the hearing aids of two older brothers, has collectively released more than 140 records and sold more than 100 million copies. Family members do about 200 shows a year in various configurations–sometimes solo, sometimes more.
Marie, 49, who first appeared on The Andy Williams Show at age three, recorded Paper Roses at 13 and saw it climb to the top of the country music charts. She and Donny sang I’m Leavin’ It All Up To You to the top of the charts and then hosted The Donny & Marie Show.
Marie continues to work on her music, on TV movies, radio and Broadway, starring in stage productions of The King and I and The Sound of Music. She sells collectible porcelain dolls on QVC, as well as sewing and crafting products.
She also co-hosts the fundraiser of Children’s Miracle Network, originally the Osmond Foundation, which has raised about $3 billion for children’s hospitals in the U.S. and Canada since its inception in 1983.
Donny, 50, stole America’s heart as a five year old but lost his shine by age 22. Fans gravitated to Michael Jackson, who also started singing with his family at age five.
Though in a manner less controversial than the King of Pop, Donny struggled through hard times trying to be a normal adult after such an unusual childhood. After a decade and a half of screaming fans, a Rolling Stone cover, his own TV show, hit records and money, he found himself singing in high school gyms, suffering panic attacks and a social anxiety disorder. He lost his money through bad investments and had to declare bankruptcy. In 2002 he was eating bugs on Celebrity Survivor.
He has starred on Broadway in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, hosted the game show Pyramid and is in the recently released Disney movie College Road Trip with Raven-Symone and Martin Lawrence.
The older Osmonds–Alan, 58, Wayne, 56, Merrill, 54, and Jay, 53–were originally known as the Osmond Brothers Quartet. They sang in Disneyland in the summer of 1962, where Andy Williams’ father heard them and invited them to audition for his son’s show. They became regulars and part of Williams’ touring group and also sang on The Jerry Lewis Show.
When youngest Jimmy, 45, joined the group, the quartet became The Osmond Brothers.
At a time when air travel wasn’t as easy as it is today, the group sang in Sweden in 1966, two years later they were in Japan with Pat Boone. By the ’70s they were regulars in Las Vegas, performing with Nancy Sinatra and Glen Campbell. They wrote their own songs and mastered 28 instruments.
Alan has eight sons who perform as The Osmonds-Second Generation. He has an electronic publishing venture called Osmond Net, which focuses on inspirational e-books. With his wife Suzanne, Alan founded the charity One Heart, Inc., which focuses on family values.
Merrill has produced shows for presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. His children and grandchildren have joined him in shows.
Wayne got a pilot’s license at 16, two years before he got a drivers license. A daughter who is a violinist has released a CD of Christmas music.
Jay took a break from performing to finish a communications degree in 2002 at Brigham Young University.
Jimmy, the most entrepreneurial of the brood, owns the Osmond Family Theater in Branson, Missouri. His Osmond Real Estate company develops and owns properties used for TV and movie productions, housing, theaters, retail and factory outlets. His production company is involved in TV, concerts and cruise ship entertainment.
The family’s two older brothers whose hearing aids inspired the family to sing are George, 62, and Tom, 60, both active behind the scenes with the family’s entertainment ventures.
At the time of his death at age 90 in 2007, patriarch George Virl, had 55 grandchildren and 48 great grandchildren. Matriarch Olive May died in 2004.
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