Wayne Osmond, Beloved Osmond Brothers singer, passes away

Los Angeles [US], January 3 (ANI): Wayne Osmond, one of the original members of the Osmonds sibling singing group, is no more.

As per Variety, he breathed his last on Wednesday in Salt Lake City. He was 73.

Merrill Osmond, one of Wayne Osmond’s brothers, shared on Facebook that Wayne suffered a massive stroke, and that he was able to get to the hospital in Salt Lake to say his goodbyes before he passed.

The family also issued a statement that read, “Wayne Osmond, beloved husband and father, passed away peacefully last night surrounded by his loving wife and five children. His legacy of faith, music, love, and laughter have influenced the lives of many people around the world. He would want everyone to know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, that families are forever, and that banana splits are the best dessert. We love him and will miss him dearly.”

Donny Osmond also shared a heartfelt tribute on X, writing, “Wayne brought so much light, laughter, and love to everyone who knew him, especially me. He was the ultimate optimist and was loved by everyone. I’m sure I speak on behalf of every one of us siblings when I state that we were fortunate to have Wayne as a brother.”

My dear brother Wayne passed away peacefully last night from a stroke. I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to visit him in the hospital before he passed.

Wayne brought so much light, laughter, and love to everyone who knew him, especially me. He was the ultimate optimist… pic.twitter.com/J0I2W2QwMG

— Donny Osmond (@donnyosmond) January 2, 2025

Wayne Osmond, known for his baritone voice, first performed with his siblings Alan, Merrill and Jay as the Osmond Brothers, when they began performing at their LDS church in Ogden, Utah, and then developed as a barbershop quartet on the secular circuit. Discovered singing at Disneyland, they made their television debut on “The Andy Williams Show” in 1962, and eventually became series regulars, according to Variety.

In 2004, Wayne did an interview with Coping With Cancer magazine in which he was candid about health problems he’d had up to that point, including having a brain tumor as a child. At the time, he was celebrating his 10-year anniversary as a cancer survivor after suffering what he had been told was a recurrence of his childhood cancer, which was finally diagnosed as ependymoma, “a childhood cancer that is very fatal for kids.” He remained undaunted as he went through treatment, saying, “I went back to performing six months after I was diagnosed. I wore my cowboy hat on stage since all of my hair had fallen out from radiation. But after a while it grew back.”

“The greatest part of all this is that I’ve become even closer with my sweetheart, Kathy,” Wayne said about his wife in the 2004 interview. “She’s an absolute angel. I’m a very, very blessed man. That’s what I am. … I’ve been enlightened. And now I look back at it and I think to myself, I’m glad that I got cancer. Isn’t that something? It really opened up my eyes. It made me realize that life really is important. And I’m only 52 years old – I hope I can go another 52!”

There were further health challenges, though, as Wayne lost almost all of his hearing as a result of the cancer treatment, and suffered what was described as a major stroke in 2012.