Donny Osmond Speaks Up About The Underlying Issues That Could Have Changed His Career

You might think that Osmond's misfortunes haven't managed to damper his career. After all, as of 2021, he was busy with a solo residency at Harrah’s Las Vegas Hotel and Casino and the promotion of his new album. Still, he admitted that he's come perilously close to never hitting the stage or studio ever again.

Osmond had faced hardship before, but never like this. In late 2019, he underwent a major surgery to realign his spine. He knew something was wrong when he felt his limbs go numb during one of his Vegas concerts. "I couldn’t feel my arms, then suddenly my legs too,” Osmond said.

“I didn’t tell anyone what was happening to me,” he said. “I just kept dancing and finished the show." The surgery was the beginning of a medical crisis for Osmond. After his spine operation, however, his health took a sudden turn for the worse. "I thought everything was going to be fine, but it couldn’t have been worse,” he said. The star was scared, and part of him wondered if his long performing career was reaching its end.

It was his entire life. Osmond’s entertainment career began in 1962, when his family band — a singing quintet consisting of Donny and four of his brothers — performed on The Andy Williams Show. The Osmonds were so popular, they regularly returned to the show throughout that decade, though they were destined for even bigger things.

In 1976, the singer teamed up with one of his sisters, Marie Osmond, to host a variety show called Donny & Marie. Every Friday night for three years, the program began with an ice skating performance and ended with the teenagers singing songs like "I'm a Little Bit Country, I'm a Little Bit Rock and Roll."

The show was known for being both family-friendly and corny. Ever since the debut, Osmond was teased for his co-hosting skills, which he acknowledges. “It was really difficult to overcome that because of the image of what the Donny & Marie show was,” he said.

Having the Donny & Marie show in his past doesn’t bother Osmond too much though. “I can’t really poke too much fun at it because it was so successful,” he said. Osmond also emphasized that the program's cheesy reputation didn't define who he was.

“But when you strip it down, you realize what I was doing, I was playing a character. I was the straight man, I was the fall guy, the stupid one who got hit with the pie all the time,” Osmond said. “I played a character, and that character’s name was Donny.”

While Osmond was playing "Donny," his career was cresting to a major peak. He had a dozen songs chart inside the Top 40 by the time he turned 17, and just a year later, the premiere of Donny & Marie made him a TV star too. Unfortunately, there was something Osmond couldn’t control that would soon derail his success.

Osmond and his fans were aging, and the clean-cut singer no longer appealed to their adult tastes. “When I lost my career in the ‘80s... it was horrible,” he said. The performer couldn’t find the right style for his now young adult audience. His ticket sales plummeted.

"I can't find the words to tell you what the feeling was of being rejected after selling out stadiums and all this stuff and then playing half-filled high school gymnasiums,” Osmond said. This enormous rejection soured his mental health. The singer pin-pointed the start of his anxiety to this time in his life.

The feeling of being ignored and unneeded filled the rest of Osmond’s life. "I couldn't get arrested. Couldn't get a record deal, nothing," he said. For most of the ‘80s, Osmond didn’t receive many offers for work. By 1989, the singer's prospects finally improved when he released the song “Soldier of Love.”

This tour marked Osmond’s first comeback — he was back in front of packed stadium crowds again. His new success created other opportunities for the singer, like getting cast as the lead in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 1992. He spent five years in that memorable part.

"You'd think that that would fix anything right?" Osmond asked. The pressure of live performance flattened him. "It did just the opposite because now, I've gotta be perfect, because, if I'm not, I'm gonna lose it again,” he said. Before the musical started, Osmond would sometimes grapple with a serious threat backstage.

He started getting panic attacks. One night, Osmond was feeling extra anxious and wasn’t sure if he could make it to curtain. “They called half-hour to showtime. My hands started getting clammy. 15 minutes to show time, they announced, and I started shaking," Osmond said. "Finally, about 10 minutes before the show, I’m throwing things in my dressing room.”

Over the years, Osmond learned to keep those panic attacks at bay, and he stayed relevant into the 21st century. However, that 2019 health scare was certainly the greatest obstacle he'd ever faced. It wasn't just a matter of being able to perform — doctors were concerned that he would never walk again.

“I got a secondary infection which meant I wasn’t able to move," Osmond recalled. Being immobile made him worry about never regaining his ability to walk — he didn’t let this fear stop him. "But I just didn’t take no for an answer," he said. Osmond’s recovery meant months of difficult rehab.

Osmond used a walking frame to cautiously maneuver around his home. And at rehab, his team of medical professionals ran him through exercises to make his legs work independently again. Osmond, frustrated as he was, explained that his Mormon faith helped him stay motivated and keep a positive mindset. But one person really kept him going through it all.

That was his wife, Debbie Osmond. The couple have been married for more than 40 years and have five sons and 12 grandchildren, so they weren't going to give up without a fight. “She knows exactly the sort of determination that I have and she knew I would be fine,” he said.

Start Again, his 2021 album, was the result of this rough time for Osmond. With its release and his return to singing, he’s feeling much better. “I started from below ground zero but it feels like coming back from the dead. I’m pain free now, maybe even stronger than I was before,” Osmond said. The singer was also lucky to have his family behind him.

The Osmonds have been through a lot, but it never stopped them from losing touch with each other. In fact, in 2018, Marie Osmond, who was always the biggest supporter of her brothers, organized a reunion concert in Hawaii for the famous siblings. The emotional moment brought a flood of old memories.

Of course, Marie has always been careful about the overlap between her personal and professional lives. Because she so badly wanted to honor her inspiring brothers, Marie had all of the proceeds from the reunion concert go to only them. “My brothers are my heroes," she said.

"Everything I have learned from a professional standpoint," she continued, "from having honesty and integrity and doing what’s right, I learned from them. These are strong men, and I love them." Fans know the Osmonds have been through hell and back, but recently, Marie dove into further detail on one scandal that nearly tore them apart.

Though she wasn't a part of the original Osmond group, Marie’s breakthrough came in 1973 when, at only 14, she scored a number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with her debut single “Paper Roses.” Interestingly, her country sound was vastly different than the Osmonds' pop stylings.

She then followed up with "In My Little Corner of the World," which charted on the Billboard country Top 40 in 1974. It seemed like young Marie was headed for the very top, but that wasn't true for everyone in her inner circle.

While Marie's popularity was growing steadily, the Osmonds had begun losing steam. Record sales had dipped considerably by the mid-70s, leading a number of the brothers to branch off into solo careers.

Donny seemed to benefit the most from the band's split, establishing himself as a teen idol and producing a slew of pop hits. With both he and Marie taking the industry by storm, fans were eager to see if the star siblings would eventually join forces.

Audiences got their wish in 1974 when the duo released a pair of duets: "I'm Leaving It All Up To You" and "Morning Side of the Mountain." Both songs reached Top 10 on the pop charts, making it clear the pairing of Donny and Marie was one people loved.

On the heels of this success, Donny and Marie took a shot at entertainment by hosting their own variety show. The gamble paid off, and after a midseason pickup by ABC, Donny & Marie became one of television's most popular programs from 1976 to 1978.

Yet while life seemed perfect for Marie Osmond, things weren't as they appeared on the surface. Despite her bright smile and bubbly personality, the teen star concealed a dark secret for most of her young life.

Though mentions of it have popped up here and there over the years, Marie herself only recently confirmed the rumors during an interview with Dr. Oz. According to the superstar, this seemingly idyllic period of her life was plagued by regular sexual abuse.

She refused to name names – her abusers are long dead – though she revealed she was victimized by "people with very temporary access to my life, people I didn't know well." The star also claimed that her abusers invaded her privacy and even stole from her.

When asked about why she stayed silent for so long, Marie explained that abuse in the industry wasn't something people were comfortable with talking about at the time. But perhaps her biggest reason to keep quiet – at least in her mind – was to protect her family.

According to Marie, her abusers were very well connected in the industry, and she feared reporting the abuse would cost the rest of her family their careers. So she hid her secret from the world, unaware of the toll it'd soon take on her physical and mental health.

For years, Marie struggled publicly with her weight, with many believing that the stress of superstardom had finally gotten to her. But Marie offered a different explanation: her weight gain wasn't because of stress — it was because of the abuse.

"For me, I think part of my weight issue was I didn’t want to be pretty," she told Dr. Oz. "It was almost like a defense." Subconsciously, Marie believed that the more she ate and the heavier she became, the less inclined her abusers would be to pursue her.

But her weight problem quickly became a bane to her professional life, as her appearance was regularly scrutinized due to her constant presence in front of the camera. And these weren't just kind suggestions – producers were merciless when it came to their criticisms.

"I had producers take me out into the parking lot when I was 103 pounds and tell me that I was obese, disgusting, and a disgrace to my family," Marie recalled. "[They told me] that I needed to keep food out of my fat face."

Not only did these comments destroy Marie's self-esteem, but they also made her fear for her family much in the same way her abusers had done. She felt that if she didn't lose enough weight, Donny & Marie would fail and hundreds of people would lose their jobs.

Yet despite years of struggle, Marie would overcome her weight problem and is now a spokeswoman for the Nutrisystem weight-loss program. With her abusive past behind her as well, she's now free to focus on her still-thriving career alongside her brother.

For eleven years, Donny and Marie were performing a live version of their popular variety show at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. The duo has earned a number of awards for their performances, including the Las Vegas Review-Journal's "Best Show" award in 2012. The show came to a close when Donny's health struggles forced them to step back.

When it comes to her personal life, Marie has been married three times – though only to two men. She was with her first husband Stephen Craig from 1982 until 1985. Only a year later she married Brian Blosil, and they were together until they divorced in 2007. She then reconnected with Craig, remarkably, and they remarried in 2011, 29 years after they first tied the knot.

Marie and Craig had had a son back in 1983, Stephen James Craig. Then, when she was with Blosil, Marie had two more biological children: Rachael and Matthew. Adopted children Michael, Brianna, Abigail, Jessica, and Brandon were also all added to the Osmond/Blosil brood during this marriage. Talk about a supermom!

Yet despite lasting for over two decades, Marie would later claim that she had been unhappy in her second marriage with Blosil. During a podcast appearance in 2020, she said that she had an epiphany after a terrible house fire in 2005. “I just went, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ And my children came and said to me, ‘Mom please leave. We gotta get out of here,’” she admitted.

Strange though it may seem, Marie believed losing the house actually lifted a weight off her shoulders. She said, “It was probably one of the most freeing things that ever happened to me. Because I realized this home I had created was a façade to a marriage that wasn’t happy for 20 years. I really believe it was God – they say, ‘the burning within.’”

Regarding the rekindling of her relationship with her first husband Craig, Marie told People magazine in 2019, “Nothing is an accident. I am a spiritual person. So, God has his timing.” She confessed that following her second divorce she’d never wanted to be married again. This meant that reconnecting with Craig came as a total shock.

It was such a shock that even their son Stephen didn’t initially know what to make of his parents getting back together. And Marie said that he was a little bit scared of them trying to make a go of it so many years after calling it quits. But stranger things have happened in life, and who could possibly stand in the way of rekindled love?

You might not believe this, but it was Stephen’s own impending nuptials that made his parents decide to remarry themselves. “Stephen was getting married and we [realized] we can’t go to our son’s wedding and not be married,” laughed Marie to People. “So, we got married a few months before he did. He joked that he never thought it would happen, but it did!” 

Marie admitted that she and Craig have since become more comfortable in their second marriage together. She said, “The thing about a second marriage is that you realize things you thought were so important, aren’t. I love being with my husband. He is the sweetest man I know. He lives to serve and really listens to people’s needs.” Perhaps this selflessness was true for Marie herself, too, when it came to looking after children... 

Because during an appearance on Larry King Live in 2000, Osmond discussed how she feels about adoption, something especially close to her heart. When asked why she is someone who adopts, she began by saying that she doesn’t see a difference between a biological child and an adopted child. This is because, spiritually, she believes her children choose her.

“It was almost like God put them in front of me,” Marie revealed. “And if you ask a lot of adoptive parents, it really was almost that. It was a gut feeling they had. It was almost like I knew where to go.” She added that she felt as though her mother’s intuition had kicked in for the adopted children, too. 

Plus Marie revealed that she is always up front with her children about their parentage. She told Larry King Live, “My children have known from day one that they’ve been adopted. My one little girl says I am more special than you because I am adopted. And she’s just fabulous.” Her kids know, “some came in mummy’s tummy and some didn’t.”

Rachael, the first-born child of Marie and Blosil, came into the world in 1989. And as she grew up it became obvious that she was becoming the spitting image of her beautiful mother. But even though she certainly inherited her looks, Rachael never attempted to follow her mom onto the stage.

Preferring to operate behind the scenes in the entertainment industry, Rachael has worked as a hairstylist and a costume designer. And she was reportedly part of the team surrounding her mom and her uncle Donny during their Vegas residency. That’s over a decade of solid backstage showbiz experience.

Rachael is married to Gabriel Krueger, whom she met in 2012 when he was a fashion design student at the Illinois Institute of Art. And they instantly connected with each other. Rachael, Marie, and Donny were in Chicago, at the time, while they worked on wardrobe choices for the Donny & Marie holiday special. 

And just after a year together, Rachael and Gabriel decided to tie the knot. On Christmas Day in 2013 they married in a small ceremony at a cabin in Park City, Utah. Marie told People magazine, “I have never seen Rachael look happier! We welcomed Gabriel with open arms into our loving family.”

Marie was unrelenting in her praise for the couple, saying, “I absolutely love Gabriel and couldn’t be more excited for the two of them to start a wonderful life together!” Gabriel has since established his own costume design business in Las Vegas. So it’s no wonder he and Rachael gravitated towards each other, sharing such close interests. 

Gabriel specializes in, according to his website, “the design and production of men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, costumes, sample sewing, pattern making and styling.” He has designed custom pieces for a host of people in the entertainment industry. Just a few of the famous names are Ashanti, Heidi Montag, Lil Kim and, of course, his mother-in-law Marie!

In 2019, Marie spoke to Closer Weekly about her close bond with Rachael, whom some fans have dubbed her mini-me. She revealed, “My daughter Rachael and I are very similar in a lot of ways. She has that same personality that I have where she wants to know and do everything. She’s never satisfied. She just took a hair class and now she’s taking [another] class.”