In The 1970s Marie Osmond

Born in 1959 as Olive Marie Osmond, she was of course the talented sister of the Osmond family. The Osmond brothers including Donny Osmond were the huge singing sensations in the 1970s. The boys had been on TV since the 1960s, but Marie was mostly in the background.

In 1972 she made several concert appearances with her brothers, but in 1973 she had her first solo hit with Paper Roses which was a country hit in 1960 by Anita Bryant, and written by Fred Spielman and Janice Torre. It was a perfect song for Marie who automatically leaned towards the country style of music.

It was a big No. 1 in the UK and Marie was yet another one of the Osmond clan who would dominate the charts in the early to mid-1970s. But her follow up single did not do it. But Marie had proved she was capable of singing to a large audience, so it was decided to team up Donny and Marie Osmond as a duet couple.

It was a blinding good idea, as with the combined talent and popularity the singles bounced out. More over the singles were very good, which is something that you probably would not have admitted at the time.

In 1974 the duet song I’m Leaving It Up ToYou a 1957 song written by Donald Harris and Dewey Terry and one of the versions was No. 1 when JFK was shot. So it is a song that remains in the American psyche. The song was a big hit for Donny and Marie and was a top ten hit in most territories.