By: Cathy Padilla | April 4, 2018 | , Home , Entertainment |
FEATURED PHOTO: Donny & Debbie Osmond at home in Utah.
But for the past seven years, Donny Osmond and his wife Debbie have been running Donny Osmond Home, a home collection of casual, comfortable premier quality furniture and products. What seems like a reinvention of his brand is in fact a fusion of all that has come before. Donny Osmond Home is symbolic of everything that matters to Donny Osmond the man, as well as to the teen idol, musician, actor, author, and Vegas performer. His offerings are personal, often signed, and tell stories of his life. Accustomed to traveling long hours and being on the road, he has always found a way to stay connected to his family. His wife and five sons are the most important aspect of his life. Donny and Debbie create products to encourage people “to make home and family priority number one.” Something that has grounded the man who has achieved legendary status in the field of entertainment.
The line of home décor continues to gain rave reviews and has made its way to Monmouth County. Local designers are finding his products well-constructed, on trend, and at a price point that conveys quality without imposing punishment. Peggy Marchese, owner of Upstaged, LLC of Rumson and Red Bank, uses many of Osmond’s offerings when she renovates homes or stages them for sale.
“Most recently I used Donny Osmond Home in Colts Neck, Rumson, and Spring Lake,” says Marchese. “The homes were gorgeous and stately, and the pieces I chose were the perfect ones for the job. In the Rumson house, which is entirely custom built, we used a dining set that I just love. The chairs are linen with antique bronze nail heads and washed wood legs. Lovely. While in the Colts Neck house I used a bench in the entry foyer. It’s my favorite bench. I love the elegant lines and natural linen fabric. It is versatile and works just as well in a bedroom or dining room. I find their furniture well-made and just beautiful.”
But Donny’s connection to our area goes deeper than finding his furnishings in local homes. One of the many times he performed in Red Bank brought with it a life-changing event. “There are certain moments in our lives that determine the direction we take and the decisions we make,” says Donny. “One of those moments for me happened right at the loading dock of the Count Basie Theater back in 1989 during the Soldier of Love Tour.”
Hoping to shake his teen idol image, Donny was often reluctant to perform his earliest songs, in particular Go Away Little Girl and Puppy Love. While standing on the loading docks outside the Basie, a fan who had attended his show earlier that night came up to him angry. She was upset that he had made a derogatory remark about Puppy Love during the show. The song had important meaning to her, and him putting it down hurt her deeply. Donny admits at first, he dismissed the woman, saying it was his song and he could do with it as he liked. But after a moment of reflection, and seeing the woman’s sincere pain, he came to understand the songs didn’t just belong to him but to all who listened to them and had them as part of their lives.
PHOTO: Check out the spread in our digital edition.
Now he embraces his initial recording period with fondness, and recognizes that his many fans around the world are always excited and appreciative to hear his earliest chart successes. That single encounter in Red Bank changed how he would perform from that point forward.
CM: What made you and Debbie want to start a Home Décor business?
Donny: This is something my wife, Debbie, and I started talking about when we got married almost 40 years ago now. When we travel the world we see certain things, and people do this all the time, they purchase things not just because they look good but because they remind them of a moment. And that’s what you should decorate your home with. Our furniture is conversational pieces, yes, they look good and they enhance your home, but they also invoke emotion. We realized this is something we can do the rest of our lives, I don’t know how long I’ll be on stage, but this is something we can do in our sunset years. It’s more than just a hobby, it’s something that I do with my wife as my business partner.
CM: Who is your target market?
Donny: We try to have something for everyone. We found it can be very expensive out there and we tried to find a price point for everyone. It’s easy to put out expensive furniture, and we don’t want to put out cheap stuff, so it’s been a learning curve over the last seven years. And it’s fun. We want people to buy these items, whether it reminds them of the old Donny and Marie days or they just happen to like it. I just ran into a lady at one of the meet and greets after one of the shows in Vegas. And she told me she had one of the pictures and she told me which one she had. And then she said, “Oh I just love that picture because of the story you told (on Evine).” And right there in that moment it solidified the philosophy I go by works, it all comes down to emotion. And she said, “Every time I see this picture I’m reminded of the story.” That’s why I spend hours and hours signing every piece of artwork we sell on Evine.
CM: Do you get involved in the design of the pieces?
Donny: Most definitely. There’s a lot of celebrities out there that just slap their name on it and it’s a money grab and it lasts for a couple of years and just fades. So we’ve already passed that point, because people are starting to realize this is not just me slapping my name on. I do get involved in the selection, in the design, in the color schemes…which is quite interesting. Do you know what the Pantone color is this year? Purple. It’s different shades of purple.
CM: Do you have a favorite piece you’ve created or worked on?
Donny: That’s like picking a favorite child, come on. (Laughs) I would have to say, well there are some that are my least favorites, but that’s because I really try to keep a low price point on some things. But, some of the artwork is absolutely gorgeous. The outdoor furniture, which is not going to be ready this year, that’s probably going to be my favorite next year. But right now, probably the lighting.
CM: What is it like working with Debbie? You’ve worked your whole life with your sister and your brothers.
Donny: I’ll be very honest…I don’t have the eye that she’s got. She studied interior design. She’s got the taste, although our styles are very, very similar, when it comes to certain…say our rugs…oh that’s another one that’s going to be unbelievable, they’re coming out later this year…picking out the pile and the color pattern, when it comes to that I really acquiesce to Debbie because she really knows what she’s talking about. At times I can get a little blingish. With my showbiz background, I just love things that sparkle, and she tones me down. Other times we prove that I’m right because we’ll test it and we’ll show people and immediately they’ll go to the bling. And right now, if it’s the right kind of bling…wait until you see the pillows coming out…
CM: Do you decorate your home in Utah and your home in Vegas with your pieces?
Donny: Of course, absolutely. Now we can’t use all of it, we have over a thousand SKUs and we can’t use them all. But most of it we absolutely use.
CM: Do you take inspiration from the look of Utah?
Donny: No, it’s not rustic like that. We have some pieces which are, but no. It’s midcentury modern.
PHOTO: Bench from Donny Osmond Home in a Colts Neck home staged by Upstaged, LLC
CM: It must be challenging to stay ahead of the design curve?
Donny: You have to know what’s coming a year in advance, you have to know the Pantone color. Furniture has to be planned a year in advance. Artwork is a quick turn-around, you can do that in a couple months. Lighting takes about six months. But furniture, it’s so far ahead. It’s hit or miss. That’s why you have to have your own style. At the end of the day you have to be able to say, I like it.
CM: Do any of your five sons work in the business?
Donny: No, just Debbie and myself.
CM: You’re up to 10 grandchildren now? How do you like being a grandfather?
Donny: Oh, I love it. I wish you could start with the grandkids first. You spoil them and send them home.
CM: You’ve been in showbiz for five decades. How did you get started?
Donny: I was three years old when I started singing because I saw my brothers on the Andy Williams Show. One thing led to another, and I had rehearsed some songs, and I debuted at five-years-old. Joined the group officially when I was seven and had my first hit record when I was twelve.
CM: How did it go from the Osmond Brothers to just you and Marie?
Donny: It was about 1973, we were headlining in Las Vegas at Caesars and as a little novelty act Marie came on and she and I did Where is the Love by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, and one thing led to another and she got a recording contract. She recorded Paper Roses at thirteen and Freddy Silverman, who was President of ABC, saw us on The Mike Douglas Show and he called us up and said he had an idea for The Donny and Marie Show. We did a pilot, and by the end of 1975 we had a show that ran for four seasons, went sky high, world-wide, and that was the first of Donny and Marie.
CM: Why can’t we buy the Donny and Marie Show on DVD?
Donny: I own the show. It wouldn’t work on television today, in my opinion. The problem is, our show, unlike so many other shows, was more music than anything. And because of the restrictions of the Guild, it would trigger like a nine or ten-million-dollar residual. And it just doesn’t make sense financially. It’s financially not viable at this moment.
CM: That’s disappointing. There are those of us who would love to see the show again.
Donny: The little kids now-a-days don’t know anything about those shows. They know me from Joseph or Mulan. When I sing Mulan in Vegas, I’ll Make a Man Out of You, the teenagers who come are like, “You’re kidding, that’s you!” It’s really funny. (Donny played Joseph in the stage production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoatnd the . Creator Andrew Lloyd Webber chose him for the 1999 film adaptation. In Disney’s Mulan, he is the singing voice of Shang.)
CM: Is there a moment in your career that stands out to you?
Donny: Well, that’s hard, because I’ve had so many different kinds of careers because I started so young. Most everyone starts their career in their late teens or whatever and has one transition into adulthood. Last I counted I’ve had six different careers. I was with my brothers on The Andy Williams Show; and then we had our career with One Bad Apple as a recording band. Then I had my own separate career when I released Go Away Little Girl and Puppy Love. And then the Donny and Marie career started. Then I had the Broadway career, and prior to that was Soldier of Love, which was a reinvention of me. It’s difficult to answer the question.
CM: You started in Vegas and now you’re back in Vegas going on your 11th year, is that right?
Donny: It’s our 10th year and it was supposed to be six weeks. We moved over to the Flamingo and I thought, and I called Marie, and I said you have to come see this. It reminded me of the original Las Vegas we started in. Just the right size, almost 1000 people. We can do this for six weeks and then go do what we want to do, Broadway, whatever, touring. Those plans got thrown out the window. (Laughing). Ten years later we’re still doing it.
CM: Dancing with the Stars…
Donny: I’m still recovering.
CM: Is it as physically grueling as they say?
Donny: I had a conversation with Jerry Rice a few years ago, and he was on season one, I believe. He said something I’ll never forget, he said it was harder than the NFL. And I was doing Las Vegas at the same time as Dancing with the Stars. I’d do a show at night and then rehearse all day.
CM: How exciting was it to win Dancing with the Stars after everything else you’ve achieved?
Donny: I don’t even have words how euphoric it was. It was just pure elation. And I remember the first thing I did when I heard the announcement, I mean I hugged Kim because we had worked so hard together, and then I ran over to my wife and I picked her up out of the audience and carried her on stage because she went through a lot watching her husband dance with another woman with almost nothing on. It was tough on her. But I got the trophy, baby, I got it! It’s one of the biggest highlights of my career because I don’t think I’ve ever worked harder for an accolade than I did on Dancing with the Stars. (Donny and partner Kim Johnson won the 2009 season of the hit show.)
PHOTO: Chairs from Donny Osmond Home in a Rumson home staged by Upstaged, LLC
CM: Is there some part of your career you’ve enjoyed more than the others?
Donny: They’re all different. I love live entertainment. That’s why this Vegas gig is so satisfying and very fulfilling for me, because you get immediate feedback. Broadway is a little bit different. It’s ah…you’re restricted. Andrew Lloyd Weber writes the scene and that’s the way you do it. When I did Gaston in Beauty and the Beast (on Broadway) it was by the book. It’s not like a concert. I absolutely love touring. My favorite tour ever, of all time my whole life, was a year ago January over in the UK. And the reason, and I made a DVD out of it, and the reason I say that is because I wasn’t restricted. When I put the show together I wanted no restrictions at all. I put stuff in there I’ve never done before.
CM: Anyone you’ve met through your career that stands out the most?
Donny: Well there’s one that I have to meet, that I haven’t met, and that’s Elon Musk. He’s my hero.
CM: You have the Tesla, don’t you?
Donny: Yes, I do, I’ve had that about 10 years now. And I just think he’s amazing. It was a magical moment when I met my musical hero Stevie Wonder. It was kind of cool, it was the Grammy Awards. And when we met he started singing Go Away Little Girl to me, and here’s my hero singing my song to me. It was an amazing moment.
CM: You’ve really met and performed with some phenomenal people.
Donny: When I look back on my life in the third person, I’m a little bit amazed at the people I’ve been able to call my peers. Whether it’s Bob Hope or Groucho Marx or Ronald Reagan. (Despite remaining outside politics, Donny and Marie were asked to perform at Reagan’s second inaugural.) Did you ever hear the story about the moon?
CM: No…
Donny: I was nine, when the moon landing took place, when Neil Armstrong landed and I was just dumbfounded. I was bowled over that somebody was walking on the moon. So, after it was all over on TV, I went outside and was lying in the grass in the backyard looking up at the moon. It was a little kid’s dream; someday I want to be one of the first singers on the face of the moon. (Laughs). Right? Dream on. I think Buzz Aldrin told me this story when I met him. He said that on one of the Apollo missions they took up with them a tape of music, and one of the songs was Andy Williams singing Aquarius. I’m singing background on that song. They left the tape on the moon, and my voice is sitting up on the moon. So when I think back at the life that I’ve led, it’s kind of surprising even to me. In our Vegas show one of the last songs we do is a highlight of all the people we’ve worked with, and we’ve been doing this for ten years since we started there. And every time I look at the video I’m kind of taken back by all these people I’ve known over the years.
CM: Is there someone who most inspired you in show biz?
Donny: That’s an interesting question. I can’t point to one. I’d like to glean the best from everybody. I think of the time I auditioned for Gene Kelly, and the way he pushed me real hard. I didn’t get the gig, but he pushed me hard in that audition. When I was working with Lucille Ball on The Lucy Show and she was teaching me the timing of comedy. Or Jerry Lewis taught me how to do a prat fall when I was maybe seven or eight. The training I got from all these amazing pros is priceless. You can’t learn it out of a book or in a university. It’s on the job training. So I gleaned little bits from everyone here and there. Even today, I love Bruno Mars.
CM: Do you think you’ve stayed relevant all these years because of how you’ve lived your lives? I have always admired you and your sister.
Donny: I’d like to think so. We’ve taken a lot of shots from hard-core mainstreamers because they say we’re not really that cool. But I’d rather live my kind of lifestyle. It works for me, it may not work for you. I say live and let live, baby! (Laughs).
CM: What’s next for Donny Osmond?
Donny: Summer tour is going to be happening. Vegas keeps me pretty busy. There is something coming out in May that is really kind of fun from American Greeting, I think I can tell you that much. I’m not allowed to announce anything until May. But, yeah, go ahead and say that. (Laughs). I’m just grateful for being in this business that’s so fickle for so long. Yeah, I’ve worked hard, but without the fans I wouldn’t be able to do what I love to do. Despite the fact I work hard, a lot of people in the business work hard, but it always goes back to the fans. In fact, Elvis Presley told me that when I was talking to him one time. He said, “If I ever had to do it over again I’d get closer to my fans.” And at fourteen that kind of made a big impact on me.
Favorite song that he sings: My favorite that I ever wrote was Whenever You’re in Trouble. My third son was in Scotland and I was recording an album at the time. I had forgotten to turn my phone off. Right during a vocal my phone goes off and starts ringing. Ruined a perfect take. I was just about to shut it off when something inside me said to read this one, it was a text. It was from Brandon and all it said was, “Are you out there, I need your help.” When your child says that, you’re like hold on. So I said “Hi, I’m here, what do you need?” and we started to text back and forth. And then all of a sudden he sends this text that says, “Okay Dad, I’m fine now, I’ll see you later.” And I immediately texted back, “Why the change, why did you change so quickly?” Then he said something, “I just needed to know you were there any time I needed you.” And I looked at my producers and said, “Guys, I have to go write a song.” And so many parents have come up to me and said that that song has helped them with their children so much.
Favorite song in general: Uptown Funk
Favorite singer: Ed Sheeran. Stevie (Wonder) takes me back to the day and I’ll always love him. But Ed Sheeran’s writing and producing. I’m just a big Ed Sheeran fan. Sam Smith’s song Latch, does it get any better than that?
Favorite meal: Italian food lover. I love that. I’ve also acquired a taste for Indian food spending so much time over in London. I love Tandoori chicken and naan bread. I could eat that all day.
Favorite city or location: I absolutely love New Zealand. I just went for my 60th birthday. I went to my three favorite places. I started out in Bora Bora, then New Zealand, and then Hawaii. Just Debbie and myself, that’s all I wanted.
Favorite local spot: I love to go to Sundance. That’s like 20 minutes from where we live. I’m not a Black Diamond skier anymore, but I love going there because we have so many memories of dating there.
Favorite passions or hobbies: I’m a real tech geek. The Google Pixel 2, it’s worth it.
Favorite quote: My mom, whenever times got rough she’d say, “This too shall pass.” I’m going to give two though. One for my mom and one for my dad. This too shall pass gave me the patience to just hang in there and it’s true. And my dad would say, “Anything worth doing is worth doing well.” A lot of wisdom in those two statements.
Favorite movie: Well, I love Spartacus. My favorite movie now is The Greatest Showman. For drama I always go back to The Fugitive.
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