Donny Osmond, Teen Idol Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Andy Williams Show

Donny's brothers, Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay had been a quartet appearing regularly on "The Andy Williams Show" since 1962. In 1963, young Donny appeared as their special guest and wowed the audience with his version of "You Are My Sunshine" (1939), which soon led to Donny becoming a full time member of the family band.
In later broadcasts of "The Andy Williams Show", both brother Jimmy and sister Marie would also appear as special guests of their brothers.

Answer: Roy Orbison

"Sweet And Innocent" was released by Orbison in 1958, as the B side to his "Seems To Me" single, which failed to chart. Donny's version of the song was actually recorded by The Osmonds, with Donny on lead vocals, but was marketed as being by Donny Osmond of The Osmonds, and is therefore credited as his first solo success. Donny certainly was sweet and innocent when he released the song, being just 13 years old.

Answer: Jeff Beck

Osmond appeared in the video as an out of work singer, delivering the line, "I've sung with my family, and I used to sing with a chick named Marie." The video also featured Al Kooper, Cheech Marin and vocalist from 5th Dimension, Marilyn McCoo. The track was from Beck's "Flash" (1985) album, which also featured Rod Stewart as guest vocalist on a cover of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" (1965).

Answer: Soldier Of Love

"Soldier Of Love" (1988) was Donny's first top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in USA since "When I Fall In Love" in 1973, and his first in UK since "Where Did All the Good Times Go" in 1974.
When the song initially began receiving airplay in USA, the record was not available to purchase in USA and Osmond didn't have a record deal in the country. Following the buzz created by the track, he was soon signed to Capitol Records, with whom he released the albums, "Donny Osmond" (1989) and "Eyes Don't Lie" (1990).

Answer: Dweezil Zappa

Although Osmond gives a good performance as a rock vocalist, real credit here must go the cast of musicians assembled by Frank's son. Guitar solos from Dweezil, Zakk Wylde, Steve Lukather, Warren De Martini, Nuno Bettencourt and Tim Pierce all in one song! How can it fail to be anything other than amazing?

Answer: Mulan

The speaking voice for Captain Li Shang was provided by Tony Award winner, BD Wong, but for the singing voice, the studio gave Donny the nod. His voice can be heard to great effect on the track "I'll Make a Man Out of You" (1998), which is named by many music and film critics as the best song from the movie.

Answer: Eleven years

Donny and Marie's 90 minute show at the Flamingo Hotel proved so popular that its run kept getting extended and actually ran from September 2008 to November 2019. Not bad for a washed up 70s teen idol.
Just to prove that you can't keep an old idol down, Donny was signed up in 2020 by Harrah's Las Vegas for a solo residency initially running from August 31 2021 through to November 20 2021.

Answer: Alice Cooper

"Department Of Youth" (1975) opened side two of Alice Cooper's "Welcome To My Nightmare" (1975) album, and was released as a single. The single didn't perform well in the charts and the track best remembered from the album is "Only Women Bleed", which peaked just outside the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 in USA and was a number one in Canada.

Answer: Gaston in "Beauty And The Beast"

"Beauty And The Beast" wasn't Osmond's first venture into musical theatre as he had replaced David Cassidy to play the lead on Broadway in "Little Johnny Jones" (1904) in 1982. He followed that by starring in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" (1972) between 1992 and 1997, as well as playing the lead role in the movie version of this show. His Broadway role as Gaston was originally due to last nine weeks, but due to excellent reviews from critics and fans alike, this was extended to over three months and he returned to reprise the role in the final staging when the musical closed on July 29, 2007.

Answer: Dancing With The Stars

Donny's sister Marie had previously taken part on the show, finishing third in 2007, behind Mel B and Hélio Castroneves, and Donny has stated that his main reason for appearing on the show was to prove he was a better dancer than Marie.
On his road to the finals, he danced a tango to Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name" (1986), a paso doble to Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) (1985) and a samba to "One Bad Apple", originally a hit for The Osmonds in 1970.