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Donny Osmond and sister Marie announce 2013 UK tour

Posted: 11 years ago
Former pop teen-idols to revisit classics by The Osmonds with solo work and surprises during 'Donny & Marie' UK tour. Tickets on sale Friday 8th June
Donny Osmond - Image: https://www.donny.com

If you think the attention heaped upon Justin Bieber and One Direction is beyond the pale, seek out online articles about one Donny Osmond. At a time in the '70s when Britain's pre-pubescent population would scream, cry in sobbing fits or lose control of their bladders at anything with a pulse (and usually male), Donny was as near to fresh-faced pop perfection as you could wish to have adorning your bedroom wall, school books or copy of Jackie magazine.

You can imagine what effect an entire family of Donnys (or is that 'Donnies') would have on an adoring audience, but collectively The Osmonds themselves proportionally didn't get the same devotion. Put simply, with The Osmonds it was a choice between Merrill, Jay, Wayne, Alan or, if you happened to be a red-blooded (fe)male, Marie. With Donny, you got Donny and no other distractions - well, at least when he sang solo.

And solo was something he 'did' rather well, initially. In fact, for around 12 months, Donald Clark Osmond owned the pop charts on both side of the Atlantic with three UK #1 singles in "The Twelfth of Never", "Young Love" and the saccharine-powered "Puppy Love", as well as a string of other Top 5 smashes. OK, nothing hit the creative joy of "Crazy Horses" or the globally-dominating "Love Me For a Reason", but well enough to add coffers to the bank-account.

Ironically, Donny Osmond's star began to fade by 1974 and his last hit of any note was "Where Did All the Good Times Go", a portent of events to come. To answer that song's question though? He came back. Twice. During the '80s, he notched up a minor success with the song "Soldier of Love" and some 15 years later, edged into the Top 10 with "Breeze on By". Marie, his sister and future country-music star, has experienced a different parallel with a more modest career centred mainly on a certain song called "Paper Roses", her only hit. In the US she's drifted in and out of hit-albums and collaborations with her brother. Which neatly brings us onto their next move.

In 2013, long after The Osmonds themselves announced a final farewell tour, Donny and Marie will perform a clutch of shows around the UK, singing classics by their extended family, as well as their own successful solo efforts. The chosen stops include London's O2 Arena on 20th January, followed by Birmingham, Bournemouth and several more until Liverpool on 2nd February. We will have tickets on sale from Friday 8th June at 9am, starting from £40 (from €54 for Dublin).

Paul Pledger