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The Osmonds are an American family music group with a long and varied career—a career that took them from singing barbershop music as children to achieving success as teen-music idols, from producing a hit television show to continued success as solo and group performers. The Osmonds are devout members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and their religious values have influenced their careers.〔Biography: The Osmonds, Pure and Simple (documentary)〕 The Osmonds began as a barbershop quartet consisting of brothers Alan, Wayne, Merril, and Jay Osmond. They were later joined by younger siblings Donny and Jimmy. Their only sister Marie, who rarely sang with her brothers at that time, launched a successful solo career in 1973. Older brothers George Virl Osmond, Jr. (Virl) and Tom Osmond were born deaf and did not originally perform,〔 although they later made occasional appearances, most notably on family Christmas specials in the 1970s. All of the Osmonds were born in Ogden, Utah except the youngest, Jimmy, who was born in Canoga Park, California. They have sold 102 million records worldwide. ==Barbershop and variety shows== The Osmond Brothers' career began in 1958 when Alan, Wayne, Merrill, and Jay began singing barbershop music for local audiences in and around Ogden. In their made-for-TV movie ''Inside the Osmonds'', they explain that they originally performed to earn money to support Virl and Tom in buying hearing aids and serving missions for the church.〔"Inside the Osmonds" (DVD)〕 Despite their young ages (Alan was 9, Wayne 7, Merrill 5, and Jay 3) and within a few years, the boys' talent and stage presence were strong enough that their father, George Osmond, took them to audition for Lawrence Welk in California. Welk was unable to meet with them, but on the same trip, they visited Disneyland and were hired to perform there after joining an adult barbershop quartet for some impromptu singing. While the Osmond Brothers were performing on a televised Disney special, Andy Williams's father saw them and was so impressed he told his son to book them for his television show. Andy did, and the Osmond Brothers were regulars on the show from 1962 to 1969,〔 where they earned the nickname "one-take Osmonds" among staff due to their professionalism and tireless rehearsing.〔''Life is Just What You Make It: My Story So Far'' by Donny Osmond and Patricia Romanowski〕 Donny soon joined them on the show, making the Osmond Brothers a 5-member group. Marie and Jimmy were also introduced on the show as the years went by. During this time, the Osmonds also toured Europe, performing with Sweden's most popular singer, Lars Lönndahl, and even releasing a single where they sang a Swedish version of "Two Dirty Little Hands" ("''Fem smutsiga små fingrar''"). The Osmond Brothers were regulars on the ''Jerry Lewis Show'' in 1969 and they continued to tour and perform with Andy Williams.〔 But soon the Osmond Brothers decided they wanted to perform popular music and shed their variety-show image. They wanted to become a rock and roll band. The change was a difficult one for their father, who was suspicious of rock and roll. But he was persuaded and the boys began performing as a pop band. To this end, the Osmonds recorded a single, "Flower Music", for UNI records in 1967.〔Osmondmania (official Osmond website) captured 10/20/2012〕 They achieved only modest success at first, but they found fame in 1971.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Osmonds」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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