In the early 1970s, there was no bigger pop star in Britain than the utterly wholesome and toothsome Donny Osmond.
A member of the The Osmonds showbusiness family, the teenager was the one who easily aroused the most devotion among legions of teenage and mainly female fans. Arguably, the first ever ‘boy band', the clean-cut Osmonds hailed from Utah in the United States.
From 1971 to 1975, both as The Osmonds and with Donny singing solo, they had hits including Crazy Horses, Love Me For a Reason, Puppy Love, and The Twelfth Of Never . Sister Marie Osmond had a solo hit with Paper Roses , as did younger brother Jimmy with Long Haired Lover From Liverpool .
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It was at Newcastle City Hall in 1980, a few years after the peak in their popularity, that The Osmonds in their entirety first performed in the region. Before then, the group had concentrated their UK gigs in London and the North West.
And it was back in 2007 - 15 years ago - that Donny returned to the city to play a show at Newcastle Arena. Before the show, the singer, a youthful-looking 49 at the time, recalled the old days, telling the Chronicle: "I wore the purple socks, sang Puppy Love and all that kind of stuff. It was great for the time, but it’s nice to be able to laugh at yourself a little bit and say ‘yeah, it was kind of silly back then’. By me laughing at it and having a little self-deprecation it makes everyone feel the same about themselves."
As for the show itself, our reviewer enthused: "Dressed in black, he looked trim and at least a decade younger than his age. I bet there were plenty of women out there wistfully wishing that their men had fared so well over the years.
"Before he came on stage the Arena was strangely quiet, especially when you consider the number of women there. But it must have been quiet expectation because the moment our hero came on stage the place erupted. There were even shouts of ‘We Love the Rollers’, which seemed to amuse Donny no end. There were also plenty of women out there shouting, ‘I love you Donny,’ with the same passion they’d mustered as besotted teenagers.
"He sang Twelfth of Never, Go Away Little Girl, a number of covers, including I Can See Clearly Now , a number of tunes from the new album, and Any Dream Will Do from the musical, Joseph , which Donny accepted, had thrust him back in the limelight after years in obscurity.
"For Veronica Moore, 55, and Judith Walker, 48, both of Sunderland, it was the culmination of a 35-year wait to see their idol. 'Excited? I’ve never slept,' admitted Veronica. While all Judith could say was: 'He’s so lovely.'." In recent years, Donny Osmond, now 64, has released a covers album called The Soundtrack of My Life, and in 2019, completed an 11-year residency with sister Marie in Las Vegas.
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