Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond was born on December 9, 1957, in Ogden, Utah, to Olive Osmond (née Davis) and George Osmond. He was the seventh of eight brothers and had one sister.
When Donny was young, his family visited Lawrence Welk in California, but were unable to meet him. They decided to take a vacation to Disneyland instead, where Donny's older brothers Wayne Osmond, Alan Osmond, Merrill Osmond, and Jay Osmond were discovered by Walt Disney. They performed at Disneyland and were soon asked to appear on The Andy Williams Show in 1962. The brothers performed on the show for nine years, with Donny joining at the age of six.
After their run on the show ended, the brothers spent two years trying to make it big before Mike Curb and Rick Hall found "One Bad Apple," the song originally intended for The Jacksons, but was instead recorded by the Osmonds and made them famous. Donny and his brothers traveled the world, performing hits like "Puppy Love," "Crazy Horses," "Go Away Little Girl," "Down By the Lazy River," and "Twelfth of Never."
In 1974, Donny's sister Marie Osmond began performing with the brothers, and Donny recorded duets with her. This led to their co-hosting The Mike Douglas Show. An ABC executive saw the show and offered them their own TV variety show, which they accepted on the condition that the whole family be involved. Donny and Marie (1975) was a huge success and lasted four years.
During the show's run, Donny married Debra Glenn in 1978 and started a family. In 1979, the show was canceled, leaving the family with a large debt that they repaid. The early 1980s were challenging for Donny, as he struggled to find success in various endeavors, including a Broadway production of "Little Johnny Jones."
Donny experienced a resurgence in the late 1980s when he teamed up with Peter Gabriel and recorded "Soldier of Love," which reached #2 on the US charts. In the 1990s, he toured as Joseph in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," a role he continued to play until the late 1990s.
After that, Donny teamed up with Marie again for Donny & Marie (1997),a TV talk show that was highly successful but only lasted a few years. After the show ended, Donny returned to music, releasing "This is The Moment," a collection of Broadway tunes, and "Somewhere in Time," a collection of love songs.
Shortly afterward, Donny was offered the opportunity to host the syndicated game show Pyramid (2002),a revival of the popular The $10,000 Pyramid game show, which he hosted from 2002-2004. Donny has since released a new single, "Breeze on By," which reached #8 on the UK charts, and has an upcoming CD, "What I Meant to Say," due out in November in the UK and January 2005 in the US.
