Marie Osmond Biography
Olive Marie Osmond, 13 October 1959, Ogden, Utah, USA. Following the success of her elder siblings in the Osmonds, Marie launched her own singing career in late 1973. Her revival of Anita Bryant's "Paper Roses" reached the US Top 5 and did even better in the UK, peaking at number 2. Following two solo albums, she successfully collaborated with her brother Donny Osmond on a series of duets. They enjoyed a transatlantic Top 10 hit with a version of Dale And Griffin's "I'm Leaving It All Up To You" and repeated that achievement with a cover of Tommy Edwards' "Morning Side Of The Mountain". Marie simultaneously continued her solo career with a reworking of Connie Francis' "Who's Sorry Now?" The brother and sister duo next moved into the country market with a version of Eddy Arnold's "Make The World Go Away". By early 1976, their popularity was still strong and they featured in a one-hour variety television show titled Donny And Marie. The programme spawned a hit album and another UK/US hit with a revival of Nino Tempo And April Stevens' "Deep Purple". By 1977, the Mormon duo was covering Motown Records material, duetting on Marvin Gaye And Tammi Terrell's "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing". The duets continued until 1978 and their last significant success was a cover of the Righteous Brothers' "(You're My) Soul And Inspiration'. That same year, Donny and Marie starred together in the movie Goin" Coconuts. Following the break-up of the Osmonds the sister continued with her own television series, Marie. Thereafter, she moved successfully into country music and recorded several albums for the Curb label. In addition to several Gold Records, Osmond's other honours have included a 1986 Country Music Association Award for Duo of the Year (with Dan Seals), and a 1979 People's Choice Awards for favourite television variety series. In 1989, she was the recipient of the Country Music Association's prestigious Roy Acuff Award for her efforts with children through the Children's Miracle Network, which she co-founded with actor John Scheider in 1983. In 1994 and 1995, with her music career on hold, Osmond starred as the governess Maria in the US and Canadian national tour of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's The Sound Of Music, and reprised the role in 1997 via a tour across South East Asia. In December of that year she made her Broadway debut, taking over from Faith Prince, as Mrs. Anna, in the Tony Award-winning revival of another Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, The King And I. A year later she reunited with Donny to co-host the television talk show, Donny & Marie. In the early 00s, Osmond made prominent appearances on the reality television shows Celebrity Duets (as a judge) and Dancing With The Stars. In 2007 she released the seasonal Magic Of Christmas, her first studio album in almost 20 years. Osmond has also written several self-help books, including one dealing with her own bout of postpartum depression.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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