Alan Osmond, eldest of the Osmonds family band, dies at 76

Alan Osmond, the eldest sibling of the Osmonds family band, has died aged 76. A spokesperson confirmed that he died at 8.30pm local time in Salt Lake City, Utah. His wife and eight children were by his side.

“My brother has now stepped into the presence of our Father in Heaven with honor and peace,” Merrill Osmond, his brother, wrote on Facebook. “He gave everything he had to the Lord, to his family, and to all of you … He truly was a saint.”

Born in Ogden, Utah in 1949, Alan Osmond began singing with his younger brothers Wayne, Merrill and Jay in a barbershop quartet when he was 11. After a move to Los Angeles and a stint performing at Disneyland, the group was invited to perform on the Andy Williams Show in a star-making moment for the family.

The group became regulars on the show and was soon joined by their younger siblings Donny, Marie and Jimmy. In their 1962 to 1967 run on the show, the band became known as the “one-take Osmonds” due to their slick professionalism.

In the early 70s, the band became a pop sensation after signing to MGM Records, offering a wholesome and family friendly alternative to the popular psychedelic rock of the time with hits like One Bad Apple, Crazy Horses and Down by the Lazy River.

While the family band didn’t have the dance moves of the Jackson 5, they found other ways to entertain fans. During performances, the brothers would regularly perform a spot of karate onstage, where Alan would hold out a piece of wood and Donny would chop it in two with his hands or with a high kick.

Alan considered the group’s finest achievement to be 1973’s The Plan, a concept album themed around tenets of the family’s Mormon faith. While the release was overshadowed by the rise of Donny and Marie Osmond as solo artists, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints considered the project as a monumental achievement, crediting it with helping convert thousands to the Mormonism in the 70s.

The elder Osmond wrote and produced many of the Osmonds’ most enduring hits in collaboration with his brother Merrill. Alan was also a producer on the Donny & Marie Show, a showcase for his younger siblings which ran on ABC from 1976-79.

In 1987, Alan was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and largely retired from public life, with only occasional appearances in his later decades. He was determined to not be defined by the condition, and his family say that he would often remark: “I might have MS, but MS doesn’t have me.”