Category: Weird Stuff

The Osmonds are an American family music group that reached the height of their fame in the early to mid-1970s. Currently consisting of a duo of original members Merrill Osmond and Jay Osmond, the group had its best-known configurations as a quartet (billed as the Osmond Brothers) and a quintet (as the Osmonds). The group has comprised siblings who are all members of a family of musicians from Ogden, Utah, and have been in the public eye since the 1960s. The Osmond Brothers began as a barbershop quartet consisting of brothers Alan, Wayne, Merrill, and Jay. They were later joined by younger siblings Donny and Jimmy, both of whom enjoyed success as solo artists. With the addition of Donny, the group became known as the Osmonds; performing both as teen idols and as a soft rock band, their peak lasted from 1971 to 1975. Their only sister Marie, who rarely sang with her brothers at that time, launched a successful career in 1973, both as a solo artist and as Donny’s duet partner. By 1976, the band was no longer producing hit singles; that year, they transitioned into television with Donny & Marie, a popular variety show that ran until 1979. A revival of the original Osmond Brothers lineup in the 1980s achieved moderate success in country music, and both Donny and Marie separately made comebacks in their respective fields in the late 1980s. The Osmonds have sold over 100 million records worldwide.[5] Much of their body of work has largely been forgotten among the general public in the United States since radio stations have largely excluded their music from classic hits and oldies playlists.