Jimmy Osmond

James Arthur Osmond (born April 16, 1963) is an American singer and businessman. He is the youngest member of the sibling musical group the Osmonds. As a solo artist, Osmond has accumulated six gold records, one platinum record, and two gold albums. He is best known for the 1972 Christmas number one "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool".

He was born in Canoga Park, California, the ninth and last child of Olive and George Osmond. His older siblings are Virl, Tom, Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, Donny, and Marie. He is the only one of the nine Osmond siblings not to have been born in the family's hometown of Ogden, Utah. He was taught by tutors to accommodate his professional life. He was also educated by Mary Osmond, his brother Merrill's wife.

He received his first gold record at age five for a song he recorded in Japanese, "My Little Darling". He was the first Osmond to achieve this. His recording of "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" in 1972 resulted in The Guinness Book of World Records designating him the youngest performer to have a #1 single on the UK Singles Chart. He was known as "Little Jimmy". The song was credited to "Little Jimmy Osmond". In Japan, he had the moniker "Jimmy Boy".

In 1978, Osmond starred in the feature film The Great Brain. He starred in other acting roles as well, including two episodes of the TV series Fame. He performed on stage and television often with his older siblings. In 1985, he met Latino impresario Manuel Montoya at A&M Records, and this led to his only Spanish recording, "Siempre Tu". He toured Latin American markets, including Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela and Chile. On the heels of this, he served as a juror at the 1986 edition of the OTI Festival. The 2012 Osmonds album I Can't Get There Without You was performed with Jimmy Osmond on lead vocals; it was the first album to feature Jimmy as lead singer, as older brother Merrill Osmond historically held that role in the band. In live performances, Jimmy often serves as a co-lead singer with Merrill, a role previously held by Donny during the band's heyday in the early 1970s.

Osmond is president of Osmond Entertainment. He has developed and supervised most of the Osmonds' merchandising business, as well as producing hundreds of hours of programming for networks including ABC, PBS, the BBC and the Disney Channel.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.