Donny Osmond on How 'One Bad Apple' Propelled The Osmonds to Boy Band Fame

Mar. 15, 2025

The Osmond Brothers perform a 30-minute musical variety show on CBS in March 1971.Photo:CBS via Getty

CBS via Getty

It’s hard to pinpoint just when boy bands became a phenomenon, but many music historians point tothe Jackson 5andThe Osmondsas the start.

The single that catapulted the brothers into the spotlight, “One Bad Apple,” was a song that fell into their laps, Donny revealed.

" ‘One Bad Apple,’ our first No. 1 record, was written for the Jackson 5 and they turned it down, from what I understand," he shared. “We got the song and we got the number one record. So I think they probably said, ‘Dang it, we should have gotten One Bad Apple.’ ”

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The change in the group’s profile was felt as soon as the next time they got out on stage. In a short time, the energy of the crowds became something they never experienced.

“We run on stage. Massive screams are taking place. I think to myself, as I look out, ’Somebody’s hurt. They’re screaming because something’s happened out there,' " Donny, now 67, recalled.

“And then I realized, they’re screaming for us. I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. I’ve got to do this for the rest of my life.’ "

It was an interesting time, both in music history and his own life, for Donny to experience the “beginning of the popularity of the Osmonds as a boy band.”

“I would come to the edge of the stage and reach my hand out and a couple of girls would grab my wrist. My brother, Alan, saw what was happening. He would grab me and pull,” he explained.

“Two things would go through my head – ‘Alan, save me,’ and ‘Alan, let me go,' " Donny added with a laugh. “I wanted so badly to have them pull me in the audience and just rip me apart.”

On Thursday, Jan. 2,Donny, Merrill and Jay announced the death of brother Wayne, revealing that he died on Jan. 1 in Salt Lake City after suffering a stroke.

Larger than Life: Reign of the Boybandsis now streaming on Paramount+

source: people.com