With that, the Osmond Brothers were introduced to a broader audience and eventually became a recurring part of the show. In the early 1970s, they changed their name from the Osmond Brothers to just the Osmonds, Ms. Cook said. The radio hits and touring followed.
“The Osmonds present a kind of theater‐in‐rock ‘n’ roll,” The Times wrote in 1973. “With tight choreography, taken perhaps from Black soul groups, they wheel and strut around the stage, regimented and disciplined, programmed to draw that last squeal out of an ecstatic weeny bopper.”
As a child, Wayne Osmond had a brain tumor that he was told would be fatal and underwent rigorous cancer treatment. In 2012, he suffered a stroke that prevented him from being able to play guitar, Ms. Cook said.
Mr. Osmond spent the last decade of his life with his hobbies, like fly fishing, and his family. He is survived by his wife, Kathlyn; Ms. Cook, and his four other children, Steven Osmond, Gregory Osmond, Sarah Hilton and Michelle Erickson; and 20 grandchildren. He is also survived by his eight siblings: Virl, Tom, Alan, Merrill, Jay, Donny, Marie and Jimmy.
As much as Mr. Osmond was defined by his musical career, his faith, he said, was always a driving force in his life.
“We’re Latter-day Saints, and we have a very high moral and ethical code that we live by,” Mr. Osmond told Deseret News in 2004. “It’s not something that’s forced upon us. Anyone can do what they want to.”
