Alan Osmond, who played piano and guitar and wrote and composed songs as the oldest member of The Osmonds, has died. He was 76.
Osmond died Monday night with his wife, Suzanne, and their eight sons at his side, his family announced. 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 age 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, Virl and Tom, did not perform musically with the family.
He, Wayne and brothers Merrill and Jay formed a barbershop quartet that began performing in 1958 for their Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregation. Soon, the foursome was appearing on ABC’s The Lawrence Welk Show and becoming regulars on NBC’s The Andy Williams Show, with two more brothers, Donny and Jimmy, eventually coming aboard.
The Osmonds scored a hit with “One Bad Apple,” which spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 100 starting in February 1971 (the song was originally meant for the Jackson 5). They also headlined The Osmond Brothers Special for CBS that year.
In 1972, the boys appeared in animated form on a Saturday morning kids show, and Donny and sister Marie Osmond would have their own ABC variety show, Donny & Marie.
Alan and Merrill also created Stadium of Fire, an annual Independence Day celebration held in Provo, Utah, and he released his autobiography, One Way Ticket, in 2024.
In addition to his wife of 51 years (they married in 1974 when she was a Brigham Young University cheerleader) and his siblings, survivors include his sons, Michael, Nathan, Doug, David, Scott, Jon, Alex and Tyler; 30 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
His sons perform as The Osmonds Second Generation.
According to the family, Alan was eager to rejoin Wayne. “We still have a lot of work to do together — there is much catching up to keep us busy for a very long time,” he said.
