Utah-born singer dies at hospital after ‘massive stroke’, making him first of hugely successful US pop group to die
Wayne Osmond was born in Ogden, Utah, on August 28, 1951, the fourth of nine siblings. He began singing as a young boy in a barbershop quarter with his older brother Alan and younger brothers Merrill and Jay. In 1958, the group started performing for the family's Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints congregation, even though they are no longer formally acknowledged as Mormons.
The quartet, which included brothers Donny and Jimmy, received additional recognition after being spotted in Disneyland and on ABC's The Andy Williams Show and The Lawrence Welk Show. Wayne was a multi-instrumentalist who played guitar, bagpipe, and other instruments. He mostly provided background vocals.
The group, then known as the Osmonds, peaked in popularity in the 1970s, with the smash song "One Bad Apple" peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks in early 1971. The group headlined an Osmond Brothers Special for CBS that year. Donny and sister Marie Osmond would go on to host the ABC variety show Donny & Marie from 1976 to 1979, which became a Vegas strip staple in the 2010s.
Grabba Talks speak for all the smokers of the world, You will be missed!