Donny Osmond has recalled what it was really like at the height of The Osmonds’ success back in the 70s and why returning to London for his upcoming tour 51 years later is like a homecoming.
The singing superstar, 65, was just 14 years-old the first time he visited the capital with his four elder brothers, who made up the rest of the musical group, and it could well have been their last as their arrivals sparked scenes not seen since The Beatles the previous decade.
After their first flight into Heathrow, The Osmonds were banned from further landings there when part of a balcony collapsed beneath the sheer number of fans who had shown up in a bid to get a glimpse of Donny. Gatwick wouldn’t have them either, so Donny and his brothers had to fly to Scotland and take a train down to London.
The reaction to Donny and his brothers – that hysteria – was always greatest in the UK. And that is why Donny has always loved touring here.
Speaking to the Standard, he said: “London is my second home. I always go back to the memories of Osmondmania in the early 70s. It was hysteria on steroids.
“It was pretty cool, the screaming and the adulation, but I remember a moment right after the Heathrow experience where the balcony collapsed and we were banned from the airports.
“I was in the hotel room with my brother Alan and we turn the television on that night and there was this programme with three people on – the presenter, a person from Scotland Yard and a child psychiatrist and they were debating whether or not Donny Osmond should be deported from England because of what he’s doing to all of our young kids. My brother turned to me and said, ‘You remember this moment because this never happens’. It was such a cool moment.”
A natural born storyteller, Donny goes on to recount another standout memory from that time.
“I remember when the screaming girls were chasing us into the underground carpark of the hotel and they took firehoses to keep all of the fans out. I had the time of my life!” he enthused. “Hundreds and hundreds of fans were able to get into the parking structure and ‘cos I had long hair at the time they were just surrounding us. Our security guard, he saw me and because of my long hair, he thought I was one of the fans so he threw me back into the fans and realised what he had done, but he couldn’t get to me because of all the fans. So I got on the floor and I was sneaking to the entrance of the hotel, and one of the other security guards thought I was a fan and grabbed me and threw me back into the fans. It was awesome!”
In more recent years, Donny made his West End debut in 2021 playing the Wizard in Pantoland at the Palladium with a cast including Julian Clary, Nigel Havers and Gary Wilmot – an experience he called “just hilarious”.
“They’ve tried [to bring panto to the US]. Americans don’t get the British humour, but I get it completely because I’ve been there so many times. It was so funny, quite rude.”
He has starred on Broadway many times, including playing Joseph in Lord Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat and Gaston in Disney’s Beauty & The Beast, but could he ever be tempted back to the West End, and does he have a dream role in mind?
His upcoming UK tour – his first since 2017 – is an extended version of his current residency at Hurrah’s Las Vegas and spans his entire 60 years in showbusiness, and takes in 13 dates here, including two at Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo on December 13 and 14. That ticked every box for him, he said.
He added: “This show is a dream role for me because it encapsulates everything that I have done and so when I hit the stage it doesn’t matter how tired I am. It’s so much fun to go through six decades of showbusiness in Las Vegas and that’s why I’m so excited to bring it over to the UK because it really is the dream role of anyone to be able to play themselves for 90 minutes of six decades of things you’ve done.”
He has a vast repetoire to draw on to fill his shows, but will he be digging out any of his old stage costumes to accompany them?
“Somebody asked me about my old jumpsuits, I don’t know if I could fit in them anymore,” he laughed. “But we recreate our first record One Bad Apple with my four dancers and they dance with me kind of like the choreography that we had in the 70s and we play the Osmonds cartoon behind us, it’s really funny.”
Despite having six decades under his belt, he has no intention of retiring or slowing down any time soon, saying he still has to beat Elvis Presley’s record of 68 albums.
Given he released his 65th album entitled Begin Again in 2021 and is currently working on his 66th, he’s not far off achieving that.
