In the early 1960s, Alan, Wayne, Merrill, and Jay began an eight-year run as regulars on The Andy Williams Show. Along the way, Donny and Marie were added to the act, with Williams humorously introducing the sweet little Marie as “the youngest Osmond brother.” And what started in Ogden, Utah, as a way to afford hearing aids for their two older brothers, Tom and Virl, grew into an Osmond entertainment dynasty with worldwide reach.
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From the barbershop harmonies on The Andy Williams Show, the brothers branched into rock and roll, concertizing all over the world. Donny became a teen idol. Marie began a country music career.
In the 1970s, Donny and Marie got their own musical variety show, with the biggest names in show business as guests. Jimmy Osmond became a star in his own right. At age 5, he had a gold record in Japan, and qualified for a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest artist to ever have a No.1 single in the UK.
The family continued to grow through marriage, and continued to perform, act, concertize, and branch into various business ventures.
But performing is in the Osmond family DNA. And the Osmonds’ second generation has shown that.
The family got together recently at Rock Canyon Studios in Provo with some of the children of the Osmond brothers to talk about the Osmond entertainment dynasty and what it meant to “grow up Osmond.”
Find out the Osmonds’ response about growing up in the family in the player below or read the transcript on Fox13now.com.