A quarter century after their marriage ended in divorce, Marie Osmond and first husband Stephen Craig pulled a Taylor-Burton and said “I Do” for the second time, surprising fans and friends but as I learned, certainly not her close brother Donny.
“I knew they were back together but had to keep it a secret,” Donny told me over the phone on Friday. “My sister is happier than ever and I’m happy her son got to witness it. It’s so nice to see her happy again.”
And responding to a National Enquirer claim that his 51-year-old sister is looking to have another child, Donny said “no, she is not adopting a baby.”
Donny admits his sister has been through a lot recently. Her wedding date (May 4) marked the birthdays of both Marie’s late son Michael and late mother Olive. That said, Donny said married life will not slow them down.
“We signed on to perform six weeks at the Flamingo in Vegas and three years later we are still there,” Donny laughs, adding that he’s as surprised as anybody that the show has been such a monster hit.
He explains that when they started, the siblings put so much of their own money into it that everyone thought they were nuts. “We were told we were going to lose money but we stuck to our guns and made a splash.”
They put everything into the show and now are having the last laugh.
“Lots of artists have tricks or gimmicks, but when it gets down to it the quality of the music determines how long you work,” Donny says, before admitting, “and I am the first to say we did a lot of schlock over the years.”
Aside from the stage hit, the singing duo have just released ‘Donny & Marie,’ their first studio album together in 30 years. Donny said that it wasn’t as easy putting an album together after such a long layoff.
“It’s tough working together and not being in charge anymore,” he said. “We have both had separate careers for so long and we both wanted to do it our way. We started with over 200 songs and narrowed it down. It would have been easy to slap together a CD and ride the wave but it actually took a long time to record.”
Their secret to success and longevity in this notoriously fickle business? “Our faith has kept us both grounded. Kept us on a path. We don’t jump on the latest trend.”
Last week I spoke to the two young stars of the hit musical ‘The Book of Mormon,’ who offered an “open invitation” to both Donny and Marie to come see the controversial-but-Tony-nominated show. Donny tells me he’ll probably pass on the invite and explains why he and Marie steer clear of divisive issues and don’t speak out about their political beliefs.
“We are not politicians,” he explains. “We have beliefs and vote certain ways but we are entertainers. We are trying to get people to like us. If you get involved in politics you lose half your audience. I love what I do but it’s a business.”
© Copyright 2011 AOL Inc., All Rights Reserved.
