Alan Osmond, who played piano and guitar and wrote and composed songs as the oldest member of The Osmonds, has died. He was 76 years old.
His family announced that Osmond died Monday night with his wife, Susan, and their eight children at his side. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 40 years ago, forcing him to retire from performing.
He is the second of the nine Osmond siblings to die. His brother Wayne died at the age of 73 on New Year’s Day 2025 after suffering a stroke.
Alan Ralph Osmond was born on June 22, 1949 in Ogden, Utah, the third child of Olive and George Osmond. His two older brothers, Verl and Tom, never performed with the family.
He, Wayne, and his brothers, Merrill and Jay, formed a barbershop quartet that began performing in 1958 for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The foursome soon appeared on ABC Lawrence Welk Show They became regulars on NBC The Andy Williams Showwith two other brothers, Donnie and Jimmy, eventually boarding the ship.
The Osmonds had a hit with “One Bad Apple,” which spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard 100 beginning in February 1971 (the song was originally intended for the Jackson 5). They are also themed Brothers Osmond Special for CBS that year.
In 1972, the boys appeared in cartoon form on a Saturday morning children’s program, and Donnie and his sister Marie Osmond had their own ABC variety show, Donnie and Mary.
Alan and Meryl also created the Playground of Fire, an annual Independence Day celebration held in Provo, Utah, and released his autobiography, One-way ticketin 2024.
In addition to his wife of 51 years (they married in 1974 when she was a cheerleader at Brigham Young University) and his siblings, survivors include his sons Michael, Nathan, Doug, David, Scott, John, Alex and Tyler; 30 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
His children play the role of the second generation of Osmonds.
According to the family, Alan was keen to join Wayne again. “We still have a lot of work to do together, and there’s a lot of catching up to keep us busy for a very long time,” he said.
