“It was on the verge of being a disaster,” Donny Osmond says of meeting a superfan.

Performance was in Donny Osmond’s DNA. Before he was even a teenager, the young child had already risen to fame with his brother in The Osmonds, and his life would never be the same.

Due to his global renown, Donny Osmond was able to travel, meet fans wherever he went, make a lot of money, and pursue his interests. But there were also a lot of disadvantages. In addition to having mental health issues, he saw firsthand the devastation caused by Osmondmania while on tour with The Osmonds.

One Heathrow balcony fell in an instant as fans rushed to greet him. Furthermore, as Donny Osmond recently revealed, he was on another occasion on the verge of losing an eye.

On December 9, 1957, Donny Osmond was born in Odgen, Utah. As a small boy, he performed as part of The Osmonds, sharing the stage with his older siblings.

Donny’s older siblings, Alan, Wayne Merrill, and Jay, had been performing together for many years and were well-known performers by the time he was born. After being admitted into the group, the rest is, as they say, history.

Donny Osmond’s quick ascent

Donny came from a family of nine children. Donny was raised in a devout family and his parents had always desired a big brood. That means a great deal of music as well as strict discipline.

 

Every Friday night, the whole family got together to sing, play saxophone, and talk about the world’s happenings. His parents, Olive and George, were also singers.

When Donny was three years old, his family moved out of Utah to pursue their extensive career in show business. Hollywood was the next destination.

Even though it was initially “traumatic,” Donny Osmond and his siblings got their big break when they started doing stand-up on The Andy Williams Show when they were just five years old.

“I became a national television star from being an innocent child.” He remarked, “My career took on a life of its own.”

Tens of thousands of screaming fans saw the Osmond brothers perform all around the United States and even in Europe. It became known as Osmondmania, and in the UK, it got to be too much for the brothers and fans to bear.

At the age of sixteen, Danny Osmond and his family were welcomed by a boisterous assembly of ten thousand adoring fans as their aircraft landed at London’s Heathrow Airport on October 21, 1973. When The Beatles toured several countries in the 1960s, similar pictures were seen.

Like Beatlemania, the day The Osmonds landed at Heathrow turned out to be a significant event with possibly dire consequences.

The infamous crash at Heathrow

More than ten thousand people crowded the roof garden of Heathrow Airport’s Queen’s Building when Donny and his siblings’ plane touched down. However, part of the balcony railing and wall collapsed because too many people were permitted into the observation area. Just eighteen girls were injured, four of whom needed to be hospitalized, which was something of a little miracle.

Further examination, as reported by The Guardian, showed that a 15-foot section of the wall and fence had collapsed 12 feet from an upper balcony to a lower one. It’s possible that many teenagers were spared because they rushed forward when they saw the Osmond brothers approaching an outer barrier.

At the time, a staff member at the Queen’s Building medical institution, which provided initial help, noted that “hysteria was the worst problem.” “At first, it was challenging to tell the difference between girls who were screaming and crying out of fear or disappointment that they hadn’t seen the group.”

It was unknown to Donny Osmond and his siblings what had happened. As they departed the airport, they smiled and waved to the thousands of fans who had waited to see them. But they knew right away what had happened when they got to the motel room.

In an interview with the Standard, Donny Osmond remarked, “I remember a moment right after the Heathrow experience where the balcony collapsed and we were banned from airports. It was pretty cool.”

 

“That night, while my brother Alan and I were in the hotel room, we turned on the television. The presenter, a representative from Scotland Yard, and a child psychiatrist were arguing over whether or not Donny Osmond ought to be deported from England due to the harm he is causing to all of our young children.” My brother told me, “You remember this moment because it never occurs.” It was a very wonderful occasion.

It was evident that the trip to London did not start off properly. Still, as mentioned before, there were no losses. Like many other celebrities, The Beatles had to escape insane fans.

It almost cost Donny Osmond an eye.

Donny Osmond remembers going into the hotel’s underground parking lot with his siblings and being followed by “screaming girls.” Security had to use a fire hose to keep them out.

“It was the best time ever!” Osmond recalled. “Because I had long hair at the time, hundreds and hundreds of fans were able to enter the parking structure and were just surrounding us.” Because of my long hair, our security guard thought I was one of the fans and shoved me back into the crowd before realizing what he had done. However, he was unable to reach me because of the large numbers. I went on the ground and crept toward the hotel door when I was thrown back into the fans by a security guard who thought I was a fan. It was amazing!

Although the incident involving the crowd chasing the Osmonds under their hotel was not disastrous, Donny Osmond came dangerously close to getting seriously hurt because of the people.

Donny told Metro about an incident that almost cost him his sight one day in Manchester during the height of “crazy Osmondmania.”

“As I entered the hotel, a group of admirers hurried over to me.” And one of the girls was heading straight for it. She came up to me with a pen in one hand and an autograph book in the other. She just put her arms around me as tightly as she could, and then the pen turned and hit me in the eye. Osmond remarked, “I almost took my eye out.”

“She held it that close to my eye, and I still have a mark from where the flashbulb went off—it kind of burned the retina a little bit back then, when cameras still had flashbulbs.” I remember that because I witness it every day. She was just overwhelmed at the moment, so she had no idea. She was just glad to be there; she had no idea what she was doing. However, I was really lucky not to lose one eye and develop blindness in the other. It was about to become a catastrophe.

Family is important to Donny Osmond.

Donny Osmond was able to resume his incredibly prosperous career as if nothing had happened, and he did not lose an eye.

The legendary performer has achieved nearly everything in the modern era, including two stints in Las Vegas and a wonderful family he raised with his wife, Debbie. They had six children and fourteen grandchildren together after being married in 1978.

“Watching your child become a parent, raise their own kids, and continue the family traditions that Debbie and I started is such a wonderful, warm feeling.” Observing your children become parents is a beautiful dynamic. Osmond told People earlier in 2023 that “they graduate into that echelon of life just finding their own feet, finding their own wings.”

Osmond manages to find time for his kids and grandkids even though he is constantly traveling and working on numerous projects.

 

He becomes aware of how chaotic his own life has been as his grandchildren, one of whom is now an adult, get older.

“Having an 18-year-old grandson and remembering doing the Donny & Marie show when I was his age is really fun,” Donny remarked. “I began singing professionally at the age of four. Looking at my grandchildren, I wonder how I ever managed to get on stage and perform with my brothers at that age.”

Not everyone could have managed celebrity the way Donny Osmond has. The former child star is still very busy and in good health, giving his fans exciting gigs and new music even after he battled anxiety and mental health issues.

“I always make an effort to do my best,”

Throughout his career, Donny Osmond has had to make a number of important choices that have influenced both his work and personal life.

However, he wouldn’t alter a thing in retrospect.

“There are some things that cross my mind, like the reason behind my purple socks.” It was still nice though, because it was my signature. I can’t regret anything I’ve done because I’ve always tried my hardest, Osmond told Metro. “There were certain songs I wish they had given me more time with or that I had done a better performance on,” Osmond said.

“Even during my shift from being a teenybopper to an adult performer,” he remarked. “I didn’t want to go back to certain songs and parts of my career.” I was trying to get away from it all, so I stopped wanting to sing Puppy Love. Then I matured, turned around, and came to terms with it. One day, even Justin Bieber will attempt it. He’ll go back and enjoy himself while singing, “Baby, baby, baby ooh!”

If you liked this article, you might be curious to know why Marie, the sister of Donny Osmond, won’t give her kids any money.

Donny Osmond is a fantastic entertainer. Please share this post if you agree!

 

Rate article