Most people remember the rivalry. In the 1970s, the Osmonds and the Jackson 5 competed for the same fans, the same charts, and the same spotlight. But behind the scenes, Donny Osmond and Michael Jackson shared something far stranger than competition — A CONNECTION SO SPECIFIC IT LEFT BOTH OF THEM SPEECHLESS.
“If you look at the Osmonds and the Jackson 5, the comparisons of the two families are just uncanny,” Donny Osmond said. And uncanny is an understatement.
Donny Osmond Talks About Michael Jackson
Both families had nine children. Donny and Michael were both the seventh of nine children. Their mothers shared the same birthday. They were even the same age.
Both were pushed to the forefront of family bands as young boys, managed by strict fathers, performing before they were old enough to fully understand what fame would cost them.
Both artists started their careers in family boy bands, and both went on to find massive success as solo performers.
THE PARALLELS JUST KEPT STACKING UP EVERY TIME THEY COMPARED NOTES.
Michael Jackson And Donny Osmond On Stage Together
Osmond said the two would get together and laugh about the comparisons, shaking their heads at how far the similarities went.
Michael Jackson felt it too. “Donny, you are the only person on this planet that knows what my childhood was like,” Michael once told him.
That wasn’t flattery. That was one man telling another “you actually get it.”
Osmond shared these beautiful memories about Michael Jackson in the 2024 documentary Larger than Life: Reign of the Boybands, describing the parallels between their lives as deeply personal.
The world saw two rival acts. What it didn’t see was two kids carrying the same weight, finding relief in each other’s company.