Wayne Osmond, singer and guitarist of The Osmonds, has died

Wayne Osmond, singer, guitarist and founding member of The Osmonds, has died aged 73 after suffering a stroke.

The group, which had its hour of glory in the 70s, popularized the titles One Bad Apple, Yo-yo et Down By the Lazy River.

His brother Merrill Osmond posted on Facebook that Wayne died this week at a Salt Lake City hospital.

I have never known a more humble man, Merrill wrote. [C’était] an individual who was quick to forgive and had the ability to show unconditional love to everyone he met.

Wayne Osmond was one of a Mormon family of nine children raised in Ogden, Utah. He was the second oldest among the group members.

The siblings’ careers began in the 1950s when Wayne, Alan, Merrill and Jay sang as a quartet.

Their popularity grew in the 1960s and reached its peak in the early 1970s, when their younger brother Donny Osmond joined the group.

One Bad Apple and other songs have often been compared to the music of Jackson 5and Donny was often seen as Michael Jackson’s white counterpart.

The Osmonds’ popularity subsequently declined, despite Donny and Marie Osmond’s popularity as solo artists and as a duo.

In the 1980s, Wayne Osmond formed a country group with Alan, Merrill and Jay which had some hits, including I Think About Your Lovin.

But in the mid-1990s, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and lost much of his hearing due to surgery and treatment. A stroke in 2012 left him unable to play guitar.

I had a wonderful lifehe declared to the Deseret News in 2018. My favorite thing now is taking care of my garden. I turn off my hearing aids, I’m as deaf as a doorknob, I don’t pay attention to everything, it’s really happy.

Wayne Osmond married Kathlyn White in 1974. They had five children.