{"id":83532,"date":"2025-08-20T11:11:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T11:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/83532\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T11:11:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T11:11:08","slug":"donny-osmond-remembers-the-very-offensive-career-advice-michael-jackson-gave-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/83532\/","title":{"rendered":"Donny Osmond remembers the ‘very offensive’ career advice Michael Jackson gave him"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Jackson<\/a> did not mince words when giving advice to Donny Osmond<\/a> back in the day.<\/p>\n

Both Osmond and Jackson rose to popularity at a young age as part of their respective family bands, before eventually going off to start their own successful solo careers. But Osmond initially found the transition from child star to adult singer difficult and asked Jackson, who\u00a0died in 2009 at age 50<\/a>, for advice as a result.<\/p>\n

“The name Donny Osmond was a joke, years ago,\u201d Osmond said in a clip<\/a> shared recently on his Instagram account, which was initially from his 2023 appearance on The Adam Carolla Show<\/a>. \u201cI mean, if you said you like Donny Osmond music, you were ousted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, WPLJ in New York, they got a hold of \u2018Soldier of Love\u2019 as an import,\u201d he added, referring to his 1988 single that was initially not released in the U.S. due to his lack of a record deal. \u201cThey played the record to test it because they liked the song, but they just didn\u2019t want to say my name.\u201d<\/p>\n

The singer then explained to Carolla that circa 1983, after the massive success of Jackson’s Thriller album, Osmond remembered asking him, “Mike, how do I get back on the charts?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018Your name\u2019s poison, Donny. You gotta change your name,\u201d Osmond recalled, laughing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very offensive,\u201d Osmond said. \u201cIt was tough to hear that. But he was right, because in \u201889, radio stations all across the country played my music, but didn\u2019t say my name.\u201d<\/p>\n

He concluded, \u201cAnd they did me a favor by not saying who I was, and it became a hit. Then they found out it was me.”<\/p>\n

\"Santiago<\/p>\n

Santiago Felipe\/Getty<\/p>\n

Donny Osmond in 2022<\/p>\n

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Osmond previously opened up<\/a> about his and Jackson’s friendship in last year’s MTV Entertainment Studios documentary,\u00a0Larger than Life: Reign of the Boybands<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent a lot of time with Michael Jackson. I mean, you look at the Osmonds and the Jackson 5, the comparisons of the two families are just uncanny,” Osmond explained at the time. “There\u2019s nine children in each family. Mike and I are both the seventh child of nine. Our mothers’ birthdays are on the same day. Michael and I are the same age.”<\/p>\n

The “One Bad Apple” singer also said that he and Jackson would often get together to \u201claugh and reminisce\u201d about their similar childhoods and career moves.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichael said something to me one day,\u201d he recalled. \u201cHe said, \u2018Donny, you\u2019re the only person on this planet that knows what my childhood was like.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly<\/a><\/p>\n