NEW YORK (AP) — Alan Osmond, the eldest member of the chart-topping family act The Osmonds, died Monday after decades with multiple sclerosis. He was 76.
According to a family spokesperson, Alan’s wife, Suzanne Osmond, and their eight sons were with him at his home in Lehi, Utah, at the time of his death. Prior to his passing, Alan used a wheelchair and spent a week in intensive care before returning home Thursday on hospice.
A talented songwriter and performer, Alan Osmond helped write some of the Osmond Brothers’ biggest hits, including “One Bad Apple,” “Crazy Horses” and “Are You Up There?”
Born in Ogden, Utah, on June 22, 1949 and raised in a Mormon household, Alan Osmond’s storied musical career began in the 1950s, when he and his brothers Wayne, Merrill and Jay formed a barbershop quartet. He was the oldest of the performing group and the third oldest of his siblings.
The brothers worked the state fair circuit in Utah until a visit to Disneyland led to a television debut on “Disney After Dark” in 1962.
