Wayne Osmond, a singer, guitarist, and founding member of the famous family group The Osmonds, passed away at the age of 73. His brother, Merrill Osmond, shared the news on Facebook, revealing that Wayne died after suffering a massive stroke at a hospital in Salt Lake City.
Merrill remembered Wayne as a humble and kind person, noting that he was a man full of forgiveness and unconditional love for everyone he met.
Wayne was the fourth oldest of nine siblings in the Osmond family, raised in a Mormon household in Ogden, Utah. He was the second oldest among the musical performers in the family. The Osmonds began their career in the 1950s as a barbershop quartet consisting of Wayne, Alan, Merrill, and Jay. They gained greater popularity in the 1960s with the support of singer Andy Williams. Their success peaked in the 1970s as a quintet, with younger brother Donny becoming the breakout star. The Osmonds’ songs, including the hit “One Bad Apple,” were often compared to the music of the Jackson 5, with Donny being positioned as the white counterpart to Michael Jackson.
The Osmonds’ fame began to decline by the mid-1970s, though Donny and Marie Osmond continued to have successful solo careers and performed together as a brother-sister duo.
In the 1980s, Wayne Osmond rejoined his brothers Alan, Merrill, and Jay to form a country music group, achieving some success with songs like “I Think About Your Lovin’.”
However, in the mid-1990s, Wayne was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which resulted in significant hearing loss due to surgery and treatment. A stroke in 2012 left him unable to play the guitar.
Reflecting on his life in 2018, Wayne told Deseret News, “I’ve had a wonderful life. And you know, being able to hear is not all that it’s cracked up to be, it really isn’t. My favorite thing now is to take care of my yard. I turn my hearing aids off, deaf as a doorknob, tune everything out, it’s really joyful.”
Wayne married Kathlyn White in 1974, and together they had five children.
