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Donny Osmond Reflects On Career, New Album

Over his more than 50 years as a singer, Donny Osmond has racked up 25 singles, two soundtracks, seven compilations, a TV show with his sister Marie, and a whopping 60 studio albums.

Alongside his sister Marie, Osmond has headlined the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas since 2008.

His latest album, the recently released "The Soundtrack of My Life," is a collection of songs that Osmond says has inspired him throughout his career. The tracks include renditions of "The Long and Winding Road" by The Beatles, and "My Cherie Amour" by Stevie Wonder, who is also featured on that song.

Osmond got his start as a 5 year old, performing on The Andy Williams Show. He sang Williams' rendition of "You Are My Sunshine" to a delighted audience.

"I remember the moment," Osmond told KNPR's State of Nevada. "I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea how many millions of people were watching me, so I just sang this song that I learned singing at home."

He said he started singing at home with his father and with his brothers, the musical group known simply as The Osmonds. 

Having been thrust into a life of fame and fortune at an early age, Osmond said there were times when he thought about giving it up.

"There were a lot of times throughout my life I wished I wasn't famous," he said. "Especially the time of making that transition from a teen idol to an adult performer. The backlash of a teen idol career can be really, really tough. History is replete with all of these guys who couldn't make it through the tunnel. It's a very difficult tunnel to get through without being unscathed."

In this wide-ranging interview, Osmond talks about his friendship with the late Michael Jackson, the importance of his faith, how he got asked to be in a "Weird" Al Yankovic music video -- and much more.

Copyright 2015 KNPR-FM. To see more, visit http://www.knpr.org/.

Donny Osmond, singer and entertainer

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Casey Morell is the coordinating producer of Nevada Public Radio's flagship broadcast State of Nevada and one of the station's midday newscast announcers. (He's also been interviewed by Jimmy Fallon, whatever that's worth.)