Merrill Osmond | |
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 Osmond in 2002 | |
| Born | Merrill Davis Osmond April 30, 1953 Ogden, Utah, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1962–2023 |
| Spouse | Mary Carlson (m. 1973) |
| Children | 6 |
Merrill Davis Osmond (born April 30, 1953) is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and bassist of the family music group The Osmonds and The Osmond Brothers, as well as an occasional solo artist.
Osmond was born in Ogden, Utah, the fifth of the nine children of Olive May (née Davis; 1925–2004) and George Virl Osmond (1917–2007).
Starting in 1958, Merrill and three of his brothers (Alan, Wayne, and Jay in their respective age orders) began singing as a barbershop quartet. They were later discovered in 1961 by Jay Emerson Williams, Andy Williams's father, at a performance at Disneyland which was being filmed for the Disneyland After Dark episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. In 1962, the four Osmonds were regular guests over a seven-year period on NBC's The Andy Williams Show, a musical variety program. They also appeared in nine episodes of the 1963–64 ABC western television series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters , with Merrill in the role of young Deuteronomy Kissel. [1]
A tenor/countertenor vocalist well into adulthood, Merrill was either lead singer or co-lead singer (usually sharing duties with younger brother Donny) on almost all of the Osmonds' songs and co-wrote, along with older brother Alan, many of them. [2] Like the rest of his family, he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When Donny began to focus on his own career in the late 1970s, Merrill grew out his beard, let it naturally go gray, [2] and, along with his brothers, shifted to country music, recording a number of hits on the country charts in the 1980s; he also had one hit independent of his fellow Osmonds, a duet with session singer Jessica Boucher (younger sister of Savannah and Sherry Boucher), "You're Here to Remember (I'm Here to Forget)," [3] which peaked at number 62 on the Hot Country Singles chart in May 1987. [4] Osmond announced his intent to retire from performing in 2022 and performed his last American show in April of that year, with a UK tour to follow. [5] Merrill's final show took place at the barn, Ringwood on January 19, 2023. He later added a limited run of performances for September 2024. He has named Nathan Osmond, one of his nephews, his successor, both as Jay's singing partner [6] and as head of the annual Serenity retreats.
Osmond has sporadically hosted the podcast Sound Advice with his son Justin since 2020, produced by KSL radio. [7]
Merrill was the first of the performing Osmond siblings to marry. He wed Mary Carlson on September 17, 1973; they have four sons, two daughters, and 15 grandchildren. Merrill's second son, Justin, is deaf, as are Justin's uncles, Virl and Tom Osmond, Merrill's two oldest brothers. Justin Osmond works with several organizations and launched the Olive Osmond Perpetual Hearing Fund in 2010. Merrill's youngest son, Troy, died in his sleep at age 33 on November 9, 2018 from an undiagnosed heart condition.
Like the rest of his family, Merrill is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [8] A statement of faith on his Web site expresses support for the Book of Mormon and the prophecies of Joseph Smith, as well as the church's compatibility with mainstream Christianity. [9] In keeping with church tradition, all his sons have served as missionaries.
In a 2021 interview with GB News, Osmond described himself as "very conservative" person. He expressed mixed feelings toward former President Donald Trump, noting that his experience with Trump was that Trump was a "nice guy" but that Osmond was never comfortable with the way Trump spoke. [10]
He and his wife are currently serving as missionaries for their church at the Washington, D.C. temple. [11]
Merrill has been twice knighted, once by the Order of Saint Michael of the Wing and once by the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem. [8] In May 2017, he received an honorary doctorate in humanities from Dixie State University, now known as Utah Tech University.
Olive May Osmond was the matriarch of the American Osmond singing family.
Donald Clark Osmond is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host and former teen idol. He first gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gold albums. Then, in the early 1970s, Osmond began a solo career, earning several additional top ten songs.
Olive Marie Osmond is an American singer, actress, television personality, author and businesswoman. She is known for her girl next door image and her decades-long career in many different areas. As a singer, she has had several chart-topping country music songs such as "Paper Roses" and "Meet Me in Montana". As a television personality, she has been a host of Donny & Marie and more recently on The Talk. As an actress, she had appeared in television films and Broadway musicals. As a businesswoman and author, she has written several books and helped found the Children's Miracle Network.
The Osmonds were an American family music group who reached the height of their fame in the early to mid-1970s. The group had its best-known configurations as a quartet and a quintet. The group has consisted of siblings who are all members of a family of musicians from Ogden, Utah, and have been in the public eye since the 1960s.
Alan Ralph Osmond is an American former singer and musician. He is best known for being a member of the family musical group The Osmonds. At the time, Alan and his brothers were performing as the Osmond Brothers Boys' Quartet.
James Arthur Osmond is an American singer and businessman. He is the youngest member of the sibling musical group the Osmonds. As a solo artist, Osmond has accumulated six gold records, one platinum record, and two gold albums.
Music has had a long history in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from the days in Kirtland, Nauvoo, and the settlement of the West, to the present day. In the early days of the Church, stripped-down Latter-Day Saint folk music, which could be sung without accompaniment due to the lack of instruments in Utah, was popular. In the 19th century, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was created and began touring, while musicians began writing devotional and praise music with a Latter-Day Saint influence, paralleling the success of Christian Contemporary Music. Several organizations have existed and do exist to promote these artists, such as Deseret Book and the now-defunct Faith-centered Music Association. Starting in the late 20th century and to the present day, Latter-Day Saints have been increasingly involved in modern popular music in America and elsewhere in the World.
Jay Wesley Osmond is an American musician. He is a member of the Osmond family of performers. He wrote the story to the 2022 musical The Osmonds, a musical based on the life and music of the family. The musical was shown around the United Kingdom and Ireland in 2022, after being previously postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Melvin Wayne Osmond is a retired American musician and singer. He is the second oldest of the original Osmond Brothers singers and the fourth oldest of the nine Osmond children.
Leigh Adrian Harline was an American film composer and songwriter. He was known for his "musical sophistication that was uniquely 'Harline-esque' by weaving rich tapestries of mood-setting underscores and penning memorable melodies for animated shorts and features."
A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familial relationships. A full brother is a first degree relative.
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters is an American Western television series based on Robert Lewis Taylor's 1958 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, and starring Kurt Russell, Dan O'Herlihy and Charles Bronson. The series aired on ABC for one season, 1963–64, and was produced by MGM Television.
George Virl Osmond Sr. was the patriarch of the singing Osmond family.
"Crazy Horses" is a song by the Osmonds, the title track from the album of the same name. It was released as the album's second single and reached number 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. The song is the only hit record from the Osmonds to feature Jay Osmond as lead vocalist. It has since been covered by numerous other performers.
Thomas Rulon Osmond is a member of the Osmond family, though he rarely performs with his musical family.
Osmond is a surname of English origin. It is derived from Anglo-Saxon or Norman, itself from Old Norse Osmundr ; Osmund, a variant form of Old Norse Ásmundr.
Side by Side: The True Story of the Osmond Family is a 1982 American made-for-television biographical film about the earlier years of the famed entertainment family, starring Marie Osmond as matriarch Olive Osmond, and Joseph Bottoms as patriarch George Osmond. This film was released on VHS tape in 1998 but has never had an official DVD issue.
The Clingers was one of the first rock-and-roll girl bands. They started as a barbershop quartet and recorded five singles before transitioning to playing their own instruments in a rock band in 1966. The members consisted of the four Clinger sisters: Patsy (drums), Debra (bass), Melody (guitar) and Peggy (keyboard). They performed on many variety shows and with other artists to promote their music. Melody, the oldest of the sisters, was born in 1947 and sang duets with her mother before joining her sisters in a barbershop quartet, known as The Clinger Sisters, starting in 1956. Val Hicks became their vocal coach, and the family moved to California, where the Clinger Sisters appeared on The Andy Williams Show with the Osmonds and in several episodes of The Danny Kaye Show. They signed with Vee-Jay Records in 1964, recording three singles for them. They spent summers performing in fairs, headlining with Liberace and Donald O'Conner at the Great Allentown Fair. They released two singles independently in 1965.
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