Jeffrey Osborne

Jeffrey Linton Osborne (born March 9, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and lyricist. He is the former drummer and lead singer of the American R&B/soul group L.T.D., with whom he began his musical career in 1970. In 2024, Osborne was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame.

Osborne was born in Providence, Rhode Island. Born the youngest of twelve children which consisted of six brothers and six sisters, Osborne's family was musically inclined. Some of Osborne's siblings went on to have music careers as well; his brother Billy Osborne was his band-mate in L.T.D. Osborne's father, Clarence "Legs" Osborne, was a popular trumpeter who played with Lionel Hampton, Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Osborne's father died in 1961 when Osborne was thirteen.

Osborne began his music career in 1970 becoming a member of the American soul band "Love Men Ltd.", who would later become known as L.T.D. The band recorded hit singles such as "(Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again" (1977), "Concentrate on You," "Love Ballad" (1976) and "Holding On (When Love Is Gone)" (1978). At first, Osborne served as only a drummer, sharing lead vocal duties with his brother Billy Osborne but, by 1976, he became the group's primary lead vocalist. Osborne and his brother both left the band in late 1980 to start solo careers. Osborne sang lead vocals on L.T.D.'s three No. 1 songs on the U.S. R&B Chart and for the band's three gold and platinum albums.

In 1982, Osborne sang the opening song "I Just Want to Be Your Friend" for the comedy film The Toy. Osborne later released his self-titled debut album in 1982, which featured two hit singles, "On the Wings of Love" and "I Really Don't Need No Light" (1982), peaking at No. 29 and No. 39, respectively, on the pop chart. It was followed the next year by Stay with Me Tonight, his first solo gold album, which spawned four more hits, "Don't You Get So Mad" (No. 25), the title track (No. 30), "Plane Love" (No. 10 R&B, No. 6 dance), and "We're Going All the Way (No. 48). "Stay with Me Tonight" (May 1984, No. 18) and "On the Wings of Love" (August 1984, No. 11) would belatedly reach the UK Singles Chart.

In 1985, Osborne wrote the lyrics to the Whitney Houston hit "All at Once" (music by Michael Masser). He appeared on USA for Africa's fundraising single, "We Are the World" in 1985. Osborne sang the unreleased single "Everything Good Takes Time" which was part of a video tribute to Julius Erving ('Dr. J') in 1987. He would later appear on Celebrity Duets in 2006, performing "On the Wings of Love" with Alfonso Ribeiro. Osborne lent his vocals to the theme song of the soap opera, Loving, from 1992 to 1995 as well as the first-season theme song for the Kirstie Alley comedy Veronica's Closet.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.