Merrill Davis Osmond (born April 30, 1953) is an American musician, singer, and occasional actor. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and bassist of the family music group

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 ...

and The Osmond Brothers, as well as an occasional solo artist.

Early life

Osmond was born in Ogden, Utah, the fifth of the nine children of Olive May (née Davis; 1925–2004) and George Virl Osmond (1917–2007).

Career

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 ...

'', a musical variety program. They also appeared in nine episodes of the 1963–64

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 Merrill in the role of young Deuteronomy Kissel. The series starred then 12-year-old

Kurt Russell Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began acting on television at the age of 12 in the Westerns on television, western series ''The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (TV series), The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters'' (19 ...

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. It ...

headed to the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

. A

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

countertenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a s ...

vocalist well into adulthood, Merrill was either lead singer or co-lead singer (usually sharing duties with younger brother Donny) on almost all of the Osmonds' songs and co-wrote, along with older brother

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name **List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' *A ...

, many of them. When Donny began to focus on his own career in the late 1970s, Merrill grew out his beard and, along with his brothers, shifted to country music, recording a number of hits on the country charts in the 1980s; he also had one hit independent of his fellow Osmonds, a duet with session singer Jessica Boucher (younger sister of

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

and

Sherry Boucher Sherry Lynn Boucher (also known as Sherry Boucher Peppard or Sherry Boucher-Lytle; born July 25, 1945) is a former American actress. She currently works as a realtor. Partial filmography * '' Prescription: Murder'' (TV movie – 1968) as Ai ...

), "You're Here to Remember (I'm Here to Forget)," which peaked at number 62 on the

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart in May 1987. Osmond announced his intent to retire from performing in 2022 and performed his last American show in April of that year, with a UK tour to follow. MerrillOsmond

Merrill's final show took place at the Concorde Club, in Eastleigh, UK, on 19th October 2022. Merrill has been twice knighted, once by the

Order of Saint Michael of the Wing The Royal Equestrian and Military Order of Saint Michael of the Wing ( la, Regia Equitum et Militum Ordo Sancte Michaelis Sive de Ala, pt, Real Ordem Equestre e Militar de São Miguel da Ala) is a Portuguese Roman Catholic dynastic order that i ...

and once by the

Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem The Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem ( la , Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani, OSMTH, french: Ordre Souverain et Militaire du Temple de Jérusalem, OSMTJ) are a group of self-styled chivalric orders of common des ...

. In May 2017, he received an honorary doctorate in humanities from Dixie State University, now known as

Utah Tech University Utah Tech University (UT), formerly known as Dixie State University (DSU) and similar names, is a public university in St. George, Utah. The university offers about 240 programs (4 master's degrees, 53 bachelor's degrees, 18 associate degrees, 4 ...

. Osmond has sporadically hosted the podcast ''Sound Advice'' with his son Justin since 2020, produced by KSL radio.

Personal life

Merrill was the first of the performing Osmond siblings to marry. He wed Mary Carlson on September 17, 1973; they have four sons, two daughters, and 15 grandchildren. Merrill's second son, Justin, is deaf, as are Justin's uncles, Virl and

Tom Osmond Thomas Rulon Osmond (born October 26, 1947) is a mostly non-performing member of the Osmond family. Life and career Osmond was born in Ogden, Utah to Olive May (née Davis; 1925–2004) and George Virl Osmond (1917–2007). The second of ...

, Merrill's two oldest brothers. Justin Osmond works with several organizations and launched the Olive Osmond Perpetual Hearing Fund in 2010. Merrill's youngest son, Troy, died in his sleep at age 33 on November 9, 2018 from an undiagnosed heart condition. Like the rest of his family, Merrill 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 Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

. A statement of faith on his Web site expresses support for the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude date ...

and the prophecies of

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

, as well as the church's compatibility with mainstream Christianity.Beliefs - Merrill Osmond
Retrieved July 5, 2022. In keeping with church tradition, all his sons have served as missionaries. In a 2021 interview with

GB News GB News is a British free-to-air television and radio news channel. The channel is available on Freeview, Freesat, Sky, YouView, Virgin Media and via the internet. Since 4 January 2022, an audio simulcast of the station is available on DAB+ ...

, Osmond described himself as "very

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

" person. He expressed mixed feelings toward former President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, noting that his experience with Trump was that Trump was a "nice guy" but that Osmond was never comfortable with the way Trump spoke.Merrill Osmond: Trump ‘is a really nice guy’ but was ‘never really a fan of how he spoke’
''GB News'' via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2022.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Osmond, Merrill 1953 births American Latter Day Saints American male pop singers American pop rock singers American tenors American rock bass guitarists American country bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Songwriters from Utah American country singers Musicians from Ogden, Utah Living people The Osmonds members People from Branson, Missouri Osmond family (show business) Guitarists from Utah 20th-century American bass guitarists Country musicians from Missouri 20th-century American male musicians