Jay Wesley Osmond (born March 2, 1955) is an American musician. He is best known for being a member of the Osmond family of performers. He was the drummer for the group although has now retired from performing continues to work in other areas, such as support for the 2022 musical ''

The Osmonds The Osmonds were an American family music group who reached the height of their fame in the early to mid-1970s. The group had its best-known configurations as a quartet (billed as the Osmond Brothers) and a quintet (as the Osmonds). The group ...

Life and career

Jay Wesley Osmond was born in Ogden, Utah, the sixth son of Olive May (née Davis; 1925–2004) and George Virl Osmond (1917–2007). Four of the Osmonds were cast over a seven-year period on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's ''

The Andy Williams Show ''The Andy Williams Show'' was an American television variety show that ran from 1962 to 1971 (alternating during the summer of 1970 with ''Andy Williams Presents Ray Stevens'')Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time N ...

''. They also appeared in nine episodes of the 1963-1964

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

television series, ''

The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters ''The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters'' is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel written by Robert Lewis Taylor, which was later made into a short-running television series on ABC from September 1963 through March 1964, featuring Kurt Russell as Jaimi ...

'', with Jay in the role of young Lamentations Kissel. The series starred then 12-year-old Kurt Russell on a

wagon train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings ...

headed to the American West. In addition to drums, he shared lead vocals on the group's hit "

Crazy Horses "Crazy Horses" is a 1972 hit single by The Osmonds, the title track from the album of the same name. The song, the only hit record from the Osmonds to feature Jay Osmond as lead vocalist, reached number 14 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and num ...

," a hard rock song that fit Jay's more guttural voice better than usual lead singers

Merrill Merrill may refer to: Places in the United States * Merrill Field, Anchorage, Alaska * Merrill, Iowa *Merrill, Maine * Merrill, Michigan *Merrill, Mississippi, an unincorporated community near Lucedale in George County *Merrill, Oregon *Merrill, W ...

or Donny; he occasionally contributed lead vocals to other tracks, usually ones with a harder-driving sound, such as "One Way Ticket to Anywhere" and " Having a Party." Jay continued with Merrill and Wayne (later joined by Jimmy) as a member of the Osmond Brothers when the group shifted to country music in the 1980s. Osmond wrote the story to the 2022 musical ''The Osmonds.'' It is based on the life and music of The Osmonds musical group and family.

Personal life

Jay married Kandilyn Harris on August 25, 1987. They were divorced in 2011. Together, they have three sons: Jason George (born on September 23, 1988), Eric Clinton (born on January 2, 1991) and Marcus Jay (born on January 8, 1996). Jay's oldest son Jason married Lauren Merrill on March 11, 2011, and they have one son, Grayson George, born 2013, and two daughters, Roslyn Renee born 2015 and Charlotte Dee born 2018. Jay married Karen Randall in May 2014. Karen was a fellow divorcee who had never heard of The Osmonds before meeting Jay and eventually became involved in the Osmonds' business enterprises, including the Osmonds musical. His step-granddaughter London Brise Mortensen (born on October 14, 2006) was accidentally killed on September 18, 2014, at age 7. Like the rest of his family, Jay Osmond is a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

References

External links

* Osmond, Jay American Latter Day Saints American male singers American rock drummers American rock singers American country drummers American country singers Musicians from Ogden, Utah Musicians from Los Angeles People from Branson, Missouri Living people The Osmonds members Osmond family (show business) 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Country musicians from California Country musicians from Missouri 20th-century American male musicians {{US-drummer-stub