NEW YORK (AP) — Alan Osmond, the eldest member of the chart-topping family act The Osmonds, died Monday after decades with multiple sclerosis. He was 76.
According to a family spokesperson, Alan's wife, Suzanne Osmond, and their eight sons were with him at his home in Lehi, Utah, at the time of his death. Prior to his passing, Alan used a wheelchair and spent a week in intensive care before returning home Thursday on hospice.
A talented songwriter and performer, Alan Osmond helped write some of the Osmond Brothers' biggest hits, including “One Bad Apple,” “Crazy Horses” and “Are You Up There?”
Born in Ogden, Utah on June 22, 1949, Alan Osmond's storied musical career began in the 1950s, when he and his brothers Wayne, Merrill and Jay formed a barbershop quartet. He was the oldest of the performing group and the third oldest of his siblings.
The brothers worked the state fair circuit in Utah until a visit to Disneyland led to a television debut on “Disney After Dark” in 1962.
The group became regulars on “The Andy Williams Show,” where they made their name and forged their wholesome and peppy image, peaking as a quintet in the early 1970s, as younger brother Donny Osmond became the breakout star. In 1971, the Osmonds tallied nine gold records, surpassing single-year bests by Elvis and the Beatles.
In the mid-to-late 1970s, Alan became a principal producer on ABC’s hit television show “The Donny and Marie Show,” starring his brother and sister.
The original Osmond Brothers — Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay — returned to the stage in 1982 as a country group and had a handful of hits, including “I Think About Your Lovin.’” At the time, Alan told The Associated Press he switched from recording rock to country music because it better fit their wholesome image.
“Country music really is the backbone of America,” he said. “It doesn’t just come and go. And we’re kind of flag-wavers. You find that in the country area, too.”
In 1987, Alan Osmond was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. It caused him to retire from performing with his family.
His brother Wayne Osmond died at the age of 73 in 2025 after suffering a stroke.
In a statement on social media Tuesday, Donny Osmond called Alan Osmond his “protector” and “guide,” saying he was “the one who quietly carried so much responsibility so the rest of us could shine.”
Merrill Osmond also paid tribute in a social media post, explaining that he saw his ailing brother two days prior.
“We talked as brothers do, heart to heart. He was struggling, but when I shared a joke or two, he found the strength to chuckle … and then he smiled,” he wrote on Facebook. “I need you to know this … he has not left me. I have felt him. I have felt his quiet encouragement telling me to keep going … to keep building faith … to keep sharing light.”
Alan is survived by his wife, Suzanne; his eight sons, Michael, Nathan, Doug, David, Scott, Jon, Alex, and Tyler; 30 grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, brothers Virl, Tom, Merrill, Jay, Donny, Jimmy and sister Marie.
Service plans are forthcoming.
FILE - Alan Osmond performs during a taping of the Osmonds 50th anniversary show in Las Vegas on Aug. 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken, File)
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The French ambassador to South Africa said Tuesday that the country should be allowed to attend the Group of 20 summit this year in the United States despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to bar the it from the meeting.
Trump said last year he would not invite South Africa — a full G20 member — to the summit that the U.S. will host in Florida in December, following diplomatic tensions between the two. South African officials have said they have also been locked out of G20 meetings that traditionally happen throughout the year ahead of a summit.
The Trump administration has criticized South Africa’s Black-led government as being anti-white and anti-American, while the Republican president has made baseless claims that there is a widespread campaign of violence against the country’s white minority farmers.
The move by Trump has been criticized by other G20 members, who say no country should have the authority to bar another. The bloc of developed and developing nations operates on a consensus basis.
“France being also a founding member of the G20, we consider of course that South Africa is a full-fledged member of the G20 and should be part of all of its meetings,” French Ambassador David Martinon told reporters in Johannesburg.
The tensions between Washington and Johannesburg marred South Africa's hosting of the G20 summit — the first in Africa — last year when the U.S. boycotted. There was a spat at the end of the summit when the U.S. sent officials from its embassy to take part in a handover ceremony to the next host country. South Africa refused that, saying it was an insult that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa should hand over to what it called junior diplomatic officials.
The South African government has referred to the U.S. decision to bar it from this year's G20 as a “punitive move” based on “ completely false” information.
Martinon said there have been discussions among diplomatic officials from G20 countries over South Africa's barring and its potential absence from the summit at Trump's Miami-area Doral golf club. South Africa is the only African nation in the G20.
France also has denied it bowed to U.S. pressure to rescind an invitation to South Africa to attend the Group of Seven summit it hosts in June.
Ramaphosa's spokesperson said last month that a personal invitation extended by French President Emmanuel Macron to Ramaphosa last year was retracted and the reason given by French officials was pressure from the Trump administration, which didn't want South Africa at the G7 summit.
Ramaphosa later backtracked on his spokesperson's comments and said he was not aware of any pressure from the U.S., a move largely seen as an attempt to defuse tensions.
South Africa is not a G7 member but has sometimes attended summits.
Martinon repeated that France had not rescinded an invitation but instead opted for a more “streamlined” G7 summit in the resort town of Évian-les-Bains. The leaders of India, Brazil, Kenya and South Korea have been invited as guests to join those from members Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, U.K. and the U.S.
“As for the G7, I can only refer to what President Ramaphosa said about it, if I remember it's something like ‘you can’t be de-invited from a forum you don’t belong to’, but that’s his words,” Martinon said Tuesday.
AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
FILE - U.S. President Donald Trump attends a session at the G-20 Summit in Osaka on June 29, 2019. (Kazuhiro Nogi/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, right, welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron on the opening day of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (Halden Krog/Pool Photo via AP, File)
