Alan Osmond

Alan Ralph Osmond was born on June 22, 1949, in Ogden, Utah, to George Virl Osmond (1917 to 2007) and Olive May Osmond, née Davis (1925 to 2004). He was the third of nine children. His older brothers Virl and Tom were born with severe hearing impairment, so Alan was the oldest of the siblings who sang. The family were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the boys gained their first musical experience in church. According to the TV film Inside the Osmonds, the brothers first performed partly to pay for hearing aids for Virl and Tom and to raise money for church missions.

In 1958 Alan and his brothers Wayne, Merrill and Jay began singing as a barbershop quartet. In 1961 they went to Los Angeles to audition for The Lawrence Welk Show; Welk refused to hear them, but The Lennon Sisters sent them to Disneyland, where they found paying work. Jay Emerson Williams, father of Andy Williams, saw them there, and from 1962 they appeared regularly on NBC's The Andy Williams Show, making more than 60 appearances. Alan also played young Micah Kissel in nine episodes of ABC's The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (1963 to 1964).

Alan led the group from about age 12 and was known to his brothers as "No. 1". He played piano and guitar, co-wrote many songs with Merrill, co-produced most of their recordings and arranged their choreography, while usually singing backing vocals. After One Bad Apple gave The Osmonds their first number one in 1970, Alan co-wrote hits including Down by the Lazy River, Hold Her Tight and Crazy Horses. With Merrill and Wayne he wrote the 1973 concept album The Plan, which yielded the UK hits Goin' Home and Let Me In; he sang a rare lead vocal on its track Movie Man. He became one of the producers of the Donny and Marie show (1976 to 1979).

When the family lost most of its fortune at the end of the 1970s, the brothers toured to clear their debts. In 1982 the original quartet returned as a country act and charted with I Think About Your Lovin' and It's Like Falling in Love (Over and Over). Alan largely stopped performing after 2007. His professed final concert with the brothers was on October 13, 2018, at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, and in 2019 he joined them again for Marie's 60th birthday on The Talk, where they sang The Last Chapter.

In 1980 Alan and Merrill Osmond created Stadium of Fire in Provo, Utah, which became one of the largest Independence Day celebrations in the United States. Alan linked it, and the group's move into country music, to the family's patriotic values: "we're kind of flag-wavers." It also reflected his lifelong love of pyrotechnics. Beyond the group he produced television shows, large events and music videos, including Marie Osmond's video for There's No Stopping Your Heart, and he later made videos of his own sons performing.

Alan enlisted in the California Army National Guard in the late 1960s and served as a clerk in a 144th artillery unit at Fort Ord. He dated widely before marriage, including a brief courtship with Karen Carpenter in the early 1970s. He married Suzanne Pinegar, a Brigham Young University cheerleader, in the Provo Utah Temple on July 16, 1974, and flew to Las Vegas that evening for a show. They had eight sons: Michael, Nathan, Doug, David, Scott, Jon, Alex and Tyler. He at first warned his sons away from show business because of touring, but later took pride in their careers as The Osmond Boys (from 1986) and The Osmonds Second Generation. Son David Osmond is also a singer and was himself diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Alan first noticed dysfunction in his right hand during an Osmond Brothers concert in 1987 and was later diagnosed with progressive multiple sclerosis. He announced it publicly during the MDA Labor Day Telethon in 1994. The brothers adapted their routines for him until he left the road in the late 1990s, though he continued to appear with the group into the 2000s. He credited his faith, including belief in the pre-existence of the soul, with his optimism, and in later years used a wheelchair. His motto was "I may have MS, but MS does NOT have me!" He and Suzanne founded the OneHeart Foundation, and he worked as a motivational speaker.

Like all the Osmonds, Alan was a devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His funeral home obituary says he would most want to be remembered for his testimony of Jesus Christ and his love for Suzanne and their sons. The Plan (1973) was his attempt, with Merrill and Wayne, to set the church's Plan of Salvation to rock music. Marie Osmond said his last words to her were that he could not wait to see their brother Wayne "so we can be missionary companions together."

In September 2024 Alan published his autobiography, One Way Ticket, launched with a book signing on September 28, 2024. In February 2025 an audiobook followed, which he insisted on recording himself despite his MS. With Suzanne he also wrote the children's book Twice Upon A Time Tales, with new stories about the families of Cinderella, The Three Bears and The Three Pigs.

In 1986 Alan and his brothers received honorary lifetime membership of the Barbershop Harmony Society (the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America). In 2000 he received the Dorothy Corwin Spirit of Life Award from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. In November 2021 Alan and Suzanne Osmond were honoured as Pillars of Utah Valley.

Alan is remembered as the organiser behind one of the most successful family acts in pop history, and as co-writer of songs such as Crazy Horses, which won praise from Ozzy Osbourne. Stadium of Fire continues as a major July 4 event in Utah. His siblings described him as the family's protector and leader. Merrill said his testimony "will continue to be felt far beyond this life", and Marie said he told her leading the family felt like "a mission... a long one, but I loved doing it."

Alan Osmond died at about 8:30 p.m. on April 20, 2026, at his home in Lehi, Utah, aged 76, with his wife and eight sons with him. He had spent a week in intensive care and returned home on hospice four days before his death. No official cause of death was released; family members noted he had lived with multiple sclerosis for about 40 years. Viewings were held on May 1 and 2 and funeral services on May 2, 2026, in Orem, Utah, followed by burial at Spanish Fork City Cemetery. The service included music and a daytime fireworks display he had arranged.