Donny Osmond Hits: 13 of His Top Tracks, Ranked
While doing an Entertainment Tonight retrospective last year, Donny Osmond recalled being just 5 years old when he made his TV debut on The Andy Williams Show. “I had no idea what roller coaster I had just hopped on to,” he admitted, but that TV spot triggered something inside his young heart. “There were these little things called cameras, and they said, ‘When they turn red, that camera is on you.’ So I said, ‘Sure, OK. I’ve got to do this the rest of my life. This is awesome!’”
Sixty-one years and a bunch of Donny Osmond hits later, the entertainer’s sure proven he’s a man who keeps his word. Whether it’s been performing with his brothers in The Osmonds all over the world, lighting up the small screen co-hosting the Donny & Marie show with sister Marie Osmond (and later on their 90s talk show), or starring on Broadway in Disney’s Beauty & the Beast and internationally in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Donny’s resume just goes on and on.
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Plus, there’s his and Marie’s iconic 11-year residency at the Flamingo Las Vegas and his stellar reality competition streak, during which he was runner-up on The Masked Singer’s debut season and crowned champion of Dancing With the Stars’ ninth season with partner Kym Johnson. “I have never worked harder in my life for an accolade than Dancing With the Stars,” Donny’s shared, noting that by that season’s end, he’d suffered a fractured rib, a broken toe, and a fused neck!
Still, there have also been some tough times when Donny Osmond hits were hard to come by. In 1982, he landed the lead in George M. Cohan’s Little Johnny Jones on Broadway, only to see the show close after its very first performance.
“Donny Osmond was a joke on the streets. I realized, I’ve gotta reinvent myself,” he’s shared, and he even sought advice from friend Michael Jackson about how to reconquer the charts. “[Michael] said, ‘Your name’s poisoned. You’ve gotta change your name,’” Donny told ET, admitting he was offended at first, but he’d go on to learn that the King of Pop was onto something.
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Though Donny didn’t technically change his name, he released a contemporary solo single in 1989 to radio stations and it was promoted as being from “a mystery singer.” Free from any stigma attached to his squeaky-clean Osmond image, that single, “Soldier of Love,” one of our top Donny Osmond hits, went on to become a No. 2 record for him.
“Nothing was working. Nothing,” the singer shared withAARP’s Senior Planet, and then the song “became the number one requested record in New York City – but nobody knew it was me! Which was good because my name wasn’t getting in the way; the music spoke for itself.”
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These days, Donny Osmond hits are an even more unexpected roller-coaster ride: He raps about it all in a 10-minute number during his new solo residency show in Vegas. The unlikely music style might catch people off-guard at first (an Osmond rapping?), but audiences love it — and it helps him pack a lot of information into a limited amount of time.
“I [have to] put six decades of show business in a 90-minute show,” as he explained to Senior Planet. And he’s recently announced he’s taking that residency show out on the road this summer, performing 46 shows all across the country.
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“I have a work ethic that my dad instilled in me that I’m grateful for,” Donny noted about how he’s physically and, more importantly, mentally able to keep up his relentless schedule now that he’s 66. “I always put 110% on stage because I want the audience to leave receiving more than they expected. I thought I’d be slowing down at my age right now – but I’ve never worked harder in my life and I’ve never enjoyed it more.”
13 best Donny Osmond hits, ranked!
His fans certainly enjoy his hard work and perseverance, so let’s celebrate six decades of Donny Osmond hits with a look (and listen) to 13 of his best!
13. “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” (2004): Donny Osmond Hits
Though it never charted, Donny’s spirited track on Disney’s Mulan soundtrack is a fan favorite. “It is one of the highest peaks in the peaks and valleys of my career,” he told Paste of seeing the film’s premiere at the Hollywood Bowl, and the magazine calls it “a catchy, compelling bop. It has everything you could possibly want: Dramatic lyrics, an infectious tune, terrific sound and spot-on vocal delivery.”
12. “My Love Is a Fire” (1990) 21
Of all the Donny Osmond hits, this dance-pop number was released as the first single off of his 1990 album, Eyes Don’t Lie, and the love song hit No. 21 on the charts. “I’m up to the challenge, and I’m willing to fight,” he sings on it, and that’s also a great way to describe how he’s approached his entire career.
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11. “I’ll Be Good to You” (1989): Donny Osmond Hits
“I'll do anything that you want me to, believe me, I’ll be good to you,” Donny sings on this emotional and romantic track off his self-titled 1989 album. The single performed strongly on the Adult Contemporary chart, hitting No. 10. “I’ve got to really stretch and make some changes,” he told Good Morning America of shifting toward a more contemporary rock sound at the time.
10. “The Twelfth of Never” (1973)
Donny tackled this Johnny Mathis classic with a pure vocal delivery that took it all the way to No. 8 on the charts. His version (which he’s noted was “his favorite” that he recorded during the early part of his career) went on to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
9. “Why” (1972): Donny Osmond Hits
This No. 1 Frankie Avalon hit from 1959 also served Donny well decades later, as he took it to No. 13 on the charts. “I’ll never let you go. Why? Because I love you,” as the lyrics say, and clearly that’s how audiences felt about Donny’s endearing delivery of such a well established hit.
8. “Sweet and Innocent” (1971)
Though recorded with his brothers, this Donny Osmond hit was promoted as Donny’s first solo single, and it reached No. 7 on the charts. A previous version was released by Roy Orbison in 1958, but the lyrics and music were tweaked and modernized for Donny’s version. The song “captures Donny at his boyish best with soaring vocals,” SPIN says, adding that’s he was “backed by boogie and soul sounds just as they were making waves with a white audience.”
7. “Who” (2021): Donny Osmond Hits
This song off of his 65th (!) album, Start Again, is “so catchy,” Donny told Gold Radio UK, that he opens his shows with “Soldier of Love” and then goes right into this. One night, driving from Salt Lake City to Vegas, he adds, two young guys in their twenties stopped him at a restaurant and started singing “Who” to him. “I thought, man that is cool. A whole new generation knows my music!”
6. “Sacred Emotion” (1989)
“Our love is like a sacred emotion, and it’s burning bright for the whole world to see.” This romantic song was another Donny Osmond hit off of his self-titled 1989 album, and it reached No. 13 on the charts. On the 30th anniversary of its slick and sensual video, Donny posted on Facebook that he was “experiencing all sorts of emotions” about that milestone. He then revealed that the video was Michael Bay’s “first major project out of film school and his start in the industry,” quipping, “By the way Michael, I’m still waiting for those commission checks from The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor and A Quiet Place.”
5. “Too Young” (1972): Donny Osmond Hits
Young Donny scored again with a remake of a song that had previously been released by an older artist. This time is was Nat King Cole’s “Too Young,” a No. 1 chart-topper from 1951. Donny was just 14 when this was released, which might’ve seemed “too young” for some people, but remember, he was already a nine-year veteran of the entertainment industry when he had this hit!
4. “Hey Girl” (1971)
The legendary songwriting duo of Gerry Goffin and Carole King penned this tune, which first became a hit for Freddie Scott in 1964. When Donny released his take as a young teen, it reentered the charts and landed at No. 13. “‘Hey Girl’ was a great song,” Donny’s shared, and Billy Joel agreed: The piano man also covered it for his Greatest Hits Volume III album in 1997.
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3. “Soldier of Love” (1988): Donny Osmond Hits
“I love that song,” Donny told Entertainment Tonight of the No. 2 hit that helped revive his career. “That’s what catapulted me back into the business,” he told CantonRep.com. “I always believed in my talent, and I knew I could sing a song the way I wanted in whatever style it was. But it was a challenging time.” The tune, and the self-titled album it was on, was recorded at Peter Gabriel’s studios in England, and “Peter was involved to a certain extent,” Donny’s shared. “He’d come in every now and again and give some really strange ideas, as Peter can. But they work. That’s why Peter’s ‘Peter Gabriel.’”
2. “Puppy Love” (1972)
This was “undoubtedly the song that I was known for as a kid,” Donny told Gold Radio UK, noting that “everything was done live. There was a huge orchestra…my family was in the booth, I’m in the little vocal booth, and I’m singing my heart out. I think I did it maybe three times with the orchestra.” Then the song — written by Paul Anka, about the crush he had on Mouseketeer Annette Funicello — hit No. 3 on the charts. “These little girls were listening to it, I don’t know how many times a day,” the singer quipped, adding that he actually forgot its lyrics the very first time he sang it live. “I just made up words and nobody knew the difference,” he revealed, noting that the audience was screaming so loud they couldn’t tell.
1. “Go Away Little Girl” (1971): Donny Osmond Hits
This ultimate Donny Osmond hit is another penned by the dynamic duo of Gerry Goffin and Carole King. It was previously released by Bobby Vee in 1962, then Steve Lawrence in 1963 and The Happenings in 1966. Donny’s version, just like Lawrence’s, became a No. 1 smash.
“I was so young at the time I didn’t really understand how important a No. 1 record was,” Donny told Gold Radio UK. “Everybody around me was, like, saying, ‘You have a No. 1 record.’ And I was, like, ‘OK, that’s kinda cool.’ Everybody thinks ‘Puppy Love’ was my biggest record or ‘The Twelfth of Never’ [but]… no, it was ‘Go Away Little Girl.’”
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