Donny Osmond has recalled his close bond with Michael Jackson as the pair sparked up a friendship during their time as child stars in the 1960s and 1970s. 

Osmond, now 66, first rose to fame aged five with his four older brothers in pop band, The Osmonds, while King of Pop Jackson, who died aged 50 in 2009, was the lead singer of the Jackson 5 from the age of five.

As the singers dominated the music scene, they found common ground in their shared experiences in the showbiz industry, with Osmond revealing on documentary Larger than Life: Reign of the Boybands: ‘If you look at the Osmonds and the Jackson 5, the comparisons of the two families are just uncanny

‘There are 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.

He added: ‘Mike would tell me a lot of stories about Joe [Jackson – his father]. You look at the dangers of show business in general, whether you’re a single artist or a boyband, I don’t know if I could have been able to survive show business if I didn’t have my family. 

Donny Osmond has recalled his close bond with Michael Jackson as the pair sparked up a friendship during their time as child stars in the 1960s and 1970s – pictured 1974

‘We would get together and just laugh and reminisce about the comparisons and the similarities. Michael said something to me one day and he said, “Donnie, you’re the only person on this planet that knows what my childhood is like.”‘

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Donny made his professional debut at age five, when he appeared with his brothers on The Andy Williams Show. In the 1970s, at 13, record producers approached him about recording solo albums. Two of his biggest hits were Go Away Little Girl and Puppy Love.

Osmond was also the co-star of his own TV variety show, Donny and Marie. The show ran from January 1976 to May 1979.

After that, Osmond’s career and finances started to tank. The singer says his squeaky clean music wasn’t considered legitimate.

His family also went bankrupt through a series of bad investments. The singer claims a publicity firm suggested he try to shake his good boy image and get arrested for smuggling drugs. The singer, who is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said he ‘sell out.’

His hit Soldier of Love, released in 1989, helped reinvigorate his career. Some DJs refused to play the album because of Osmond’s bubble gum image, others did play it, but referred to the singer as a ‘mystery artist’ until Osmond came out the fans about the single.

Turning to acting, as well as singing, helped keep Osmond’s career going.

Osmond, now 66, first rose to fame aged five with his four older brothers in pop band, The Osmonds, while King of Pop Jackson, who died aged 50 in 2009, was the lead singer of the Jackson 5 from the age of five – pictured 1974 with Ricky Segall

Jackson was a star from early childhood as the lead singer of the Jackson 5 – pictured 1972

He added: ‘Mike would tell me a lot of stories about Joe [Jackson – his father]. You look at the dangers of show business in general, whether you’re a single artist or a boyband, I don’t know if I could have been able to survive show business if I didn’t have my family’ – pictured 1971

His career suffered a huge setback when a revival of the George M. Cohan musical Little Johnny Jones opened and closed on the same night in 1982.

In 1992 he was cast in the тιтle part for Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. The actor’s run ended in 1998, after giving 2000 performances.

The singer has enjoyed an 11-year residency in Las Vegas performing with his sister, Marie and hosted the syndicated game show Pyramid from 2002-2004.  

Donny married his wife Debbie, who he has remained with ever since, on May 8, 1978, and they have five sons.

He has previously discussed his bond with Jackson, revealing after an Oscars bash in the 1980s – when Jackson was approaching the peak of his career, and when Donny says he himself was ‘almost at rock bottom’ – he drove Jackson in a convertible car for a meal. ‘We put the roof down and there were Michael Jackson and Donny Osmond sailing down Sunset Boulevard singing our heads off!’

Both Osmond and Jackson’s careers as adults took vastly different trajectories, Jackson became the King of Pop and the best-selling solo artist of all-time with 500million records sold (pictured 1987)

He turned to Jackson when he couldn’t get his songs played on the radio. ‘He told me to change my name. He said the name Osmond was poison. He was right. When things did turn around and I had a hit again, it was only because people played it without mentioning who was singing it. That was a bittersweet moment.’

‘We were supposed to do a duet, but he called and said, “Donny, I’m having some trouble with the press. Can we put this off?” ‘

A few years later, a distressed Jackson called him, saying he had taken off in a tour bus with his children, to get away from everything. ‘I said come here, the kids can hang out with my kids, go swimming. I said he needed proper family time. He said ‘I would like that’, but he didn’t come. He made some bad choices.’