The eldest brother of the iconic 1970s group has passed away. Alan Osmond is dead at 76, according to his brother and former bandmate Merrill Osmond, who announced the news on Facebook early Tuesday morning. Alan died Monday evening with his family at his side. Though no official cause of death was given, Alan had been battling multiple sclerosis since 1987, nearly four decades of living with the progressive disease.
The Osmond Brothers, originally Alan, Wayne, Merrill, and Jay, became a household name in the 1970s. Later joined by younger siblings Donny and Jimmy, the family group dominated charts and variety show stages. Alan was the secret weapon. He co-wrote many of their biggest hits, including “One Bad Apple,” “Crazy Horses,” and “Are You Up There?”
Behind the harmonies and matching suits, Alan was fighting a private war. Alan Osmond’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis came in 1987. The disease eventually forced him to retire from performing. He was only in his late 30s when his body began betraying him. The band’s momentum shifted. But Alan never stopped writing, arranging, and mentoring from the shadows.
Merrill’s Facebook post revealed a tender detail: he saw Alan two days before his death. They had a heart-to-heart “as brothers do,” talking about their musical accomplishments and the decades of memories. “We laughed, we cried, and we remembered,” Merrill wrote. He didn’t announce a cause of death. He didn’t need to. Everyone who followed the Osmonds knew what Alan had been carrying for 38 years.
Alan leaves behind a complicated legacy. He was the oldest. The architect. The one who held the group together before MS pulled him away from the spotlight. He watched his younger brothers, especially Donny, become global superstars while his own performing days faded. But there was no bitterness. By all accounts, Alan remained the family’s quiet backbone, arranging vocals from a chair when he could no longer stand on a stage.
He was 76. The music doesn’t stop. But the man who helped write it has.
