Wayne Osmond, the founder of the family band The Osmonds, which scored hits in the 1970s, has died at the age of 73.
Wayne was a singer and guitarist and co-wrote many of their biggest hits, including Crazy Horses, Goin’ Home And Let Me In.
“Wayne brought so much light, laughter and love to all who knew him, especially me.” wrote brother Donny. “He was the ultimate optimist and everyone loved him.”
Merrill Osmond called his late brother “a genius in his ability to write music” who “was able to capture the hearts of millions of people and bring them closer to God”.
He continued, “I have never met a man who had more humility. A man without any guile. An individual who was quick to forgive and had the ability to show unconditional love to everyone he ever met.”
Merrill and Donny said the cause of death was a stroke.
Born in August 1951 in Ogden, Utah, Wayne was the fourth oldest of nine children and grew up in a Mormon household.
As a child, he began performing in a barbershop quartet with siblings Alan, Merrill and Jay.
By 1961, the Harmonizer Brothers were regular performers at Disneyland in Florida. A year later, they made their TV debut on The Andy Williams Show.
They soon became regulars on the show, earning the nickname “the one-take Osmonds” for their flawless, tirelessly rehearsed performances.
Younger brother and sister Donny joined the group in 1963 and they began to expand their repertoire to pure pop songs.
Their initial singles flopped, but after the success of the Jackson 5 showed that family pop could be a commercial success, MGM Records signed the band and sent them to work at Muscle Shoals’ famed R&B studio.
There they got a song called One Bad Apple (Don’t Spoil the Whole Bunch), which was originally written for the Jacksons but was rejected by their label.
Lively, bubbly and bright, the song topped the US singles chart for five weeks in 1971 and established the band on the charts, a decade after their professional debut.
For a while, the siblings generated the same feverish excitement as the Beatles.
When the band flew into Heathrow Airport in 1973, 10,000 teenage fans gathered in the roof gardens of a nearby office building to see them. Part of the balcony fence and wall collapsed in the middle of the crowd, injuring 18 women.
On their way out, hundreds of fans occupied their limousine. A New York Times reporter said “they were lucky to escape alive“, as the Guardian recounted the scenes almost led to a ban about pop groups entering the UK via Heathrow.
But pop is a fickle industry, and the Osmonds’ record sales began to decline by the mid-1970s.
At the same time, Donny and Marie Osmond were offered their own TV show, which became a huge hit in the US and was shown on BBC One in the UK.
As a result, the band went on hiatus and finally disbanded in 1980, although they regularly reformed for county fairs and reunion tours over the coming decades.
Wayne Osmond had a number of health problems throughout his life. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor in childhood, which resulted in cognitive problems.
In 1994, he noticed that the condition was getting worse.
“I noticed that I couldn’t play my sax anymore because my head would start throbbing,” he later recalled. “And my knees would fall out from under me when I was on stage. It all started happening within a week.”
Subsequent surgery and related cancer treatments resulted in significant hearing loss that lasted for the rest of his life. He also had a previous stroke in 2012.
In 2019, the musician joined his siblings Alan, Merrill and Jay for their final appearance on the TV show The Talk.
Performing in front of a screen showing a montage of their career highlights, the original quartet performed a song called The Last Chapter, written as a thank you to their fans.
Sister Marie, who hosted the show, joined them afterwards to pay tribute, saying: “I’m so honored to be your sister. I love you guys. You’ve worked so hard. Enjoy your retirement.”
Wayne spent his retirement indulging in hobbies including fly fishing and spending time with his family. He maintained an upbeat attitude, telling the Utah newspaper Desert News that his hearing loss doesn’t bother him.
“My favorite thing now is to take care of my yard,” he said. “I turn off my hearing aids, I’m deaf as a doorknob, I tune everything, it’s really fun.”
He is survived by his wife, Kathlyn, and five children, Amy, Steven, Gregory, Sarah and Michelle.
He is also survived by his eight siblings: Virl, Tom, Alan, Merrill, Jay, Donny, Marie and Jimmy.
