Return to Transcripts main page
Piers Morgan Live
Interview with Donny and Marie Osmond
Aired May 16, 2011 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PIERS MORGAN, HOST: I'm here at the Flamingo Theater in Las Vegas, current home of American pop icon Donny and Marie Osmond.
MARIE OSMOND: I'm a little bit country.
DONNY OSMOND: And I'm a little bit rock 'n' roll.
MORGAN: And they sat down to give me an extraordinary interview in which Marie talks frankly about her shocked remarriage to her first husband here in Vegas recently.
M. OSMOND: We're grateful for what we have now. And he is my best friend. And we have history. And my children love him.
MORGAN: She also talks emotionally about the death of her son last year.
M. OSMOND: It doesn't heal. It just God gives you respites, you know, just little breathers. And, you know, he's my baby.
MORGAN: And Donny, well, he gives great advice to Justin Bieber on life after being a teen idol superstar.
If I was Justin Bieber, what would you say?
D. OSMOND: Put the seatbelt on, buddy, because it's going to be a bumpy ride.
MORGAN: The pair of them also explain how they look so damn good after more than 40 years in the business.
You've admitted to one dose of Botox?
D. OSMOND: Oh, yes, I tried it.
MORGAN: This is a primetime exclusive of PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT.
MORGAN: Marie --
D. OSMOND: Hey.
M. OSMOND: I love that.
D. OSMOND: It's Donny and Marie.
MORGAN: I know.
(CROSSTALK)
D. OSMOND: Anyway, I just want to say welcome to the Flamingo, home of Donny and Marie.
MORGAN: I love this.
D. OSMOND: Do you know when you call the hotel, that's what they say, welcome to the Flamingo, home of Donny and Marie?
MORGAN: Do they really?
D. OSMOND: It's so cool.
MORGAN: You see, even for you guys, being in show business all your lives, to have your own very classic, old-style theater in Vegas.
D. OSMOND: Yes.
MORGAN: Your name in lights on the strip. When I walked down this morning, there you are, these huge billboards.
D. OSMOND: Yes.
MORGAN: It must still give you even you guys a buzz, isn't it?
D. OSMOND: It's an ego builder, let me tell you.
MORGAN: Is it?
D. OSMOND: If you're ever feeling bad about yourself, you just drive past the Flamingo and it's like the biggest billboard in the city.
MORGAN: Did you ever imagine in the '70s when you started that show, did you ever imagine that here you'd be 40 years later doing this in Vegas?
M. OSMOND: No, I mean, you know, you think about a career. And especially being a woman in the entertainment business, you know, you're lucky to get seven, eight years and, you know, we're going on what, how many --
D. OSMOND: Forty-eight years.
M. OSMOND: Forty-eight years now.
MORGAN: Incredible.
D. OSMOND: It is incredible.
M. OSMOND: And it's consistently, too. And you know even in the show, I say, you know how grateful can I be. And I know we're both so grateful. We always knew we would do something together again but you know it's like you said to be in Las Vegas -- MORGAN: I mean if I spend 48 hours with my sister, bottles would start being thrown in my direction.
D. OSMOND: Believe me, bottles were thrown backstage.
(LAUGHTER)
M. OSMOND: I've heard that about you.
MORGAN: It wouldn't be by me. If you ask me.
(LAUGHTER)
D. OSMOND: You know, come on, let's call it the way it is. You know we do rub each other wrong every once and a while. But see, that's what works for Donny and Marie on stage. You know everybody can relate to it who has a sibling, but there's something about this relationship that works on stage.
MORGAN: It is almost unique, I would say, in show business, your relationship. A brother and sister who have been doing what you've doing for so long who still like each other.
D. OSMOND: Well, let's don't push it.
(LAUGHTER)
M. OSMOND: Well, you know, there is -- there is a different relationship as we have matured. You know, definitely, it's not 14 and 16 years old anymore. But you know there's a mutual respect. And it's nice to be out there with somebody who they can tell if something's not working and they're there to cover each other or whatever it is, you know?
D. OSMOND: It just happened the other night. Marie was feeling under the weather and I filled in for her. And just a couple of weeks prior to that, just the reverse thing happened. I was really feeling bad. She filled in and did some more in the show --
MORGAN: I mean is the bottom line --
D. OSMOND: And pulled it off.
MORGAN: If it's your sister.
D. OSMOND: Yes.
MORGAN: You can completely trust each other?
D. OSMOND: Yes. I can --
MORGAN: In a way that maybe --
D. OSMOND: Emphatically say yes, I can trust her.
MORGAN: Whoever else you work with? M. OSMOND: Yes.
D. OSMOND: Well, see, that's the thing --
MORGAN: It'll be 100 percent.
D. OSMOND: That's the thing about us, is that people say what keeps you going? I mean why are you still in the business after these many years? Our father taught us such a work ethic that if there's something worth doing, it's worth doing well. When we hit the stage -- I'll tell you something, Piers, when we started this thing, we got so much ridicule and comments about oh, you're spending too much money. Too many lights.
The set, the orchestra, the dancers, the multimedia. You know you're only going to be here six weeks. So Marie and I stuck to our guns, we said this is going to be a great show. We're going to put everything into it.
M. OSMOND: And you have to remember, we did our own things for many years. This is like the first time we've worked together.
D. OSMOND: A long, long time.
M. OSMOND: In a long, long time.
D. OSMOND: So it's almost like, I'll use the analogy of getting a value meal. You know, somebody -- they get more than what they paid for. You come to the Donny and Marie show -- I mean we hear it every night.
MORGAN: Do you think you're kind of -- not the last star, because there are still some others around, but that old school ethic of doing these kind of shows. When you see the young performers today, it seems to me they don't have that same ethic.
M. OSMOND: You know, I'll tell you what I feel, is I feel very blessed that I got to grow up working with, you know, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin, with Elvis Presley. I mean, we worked with --
D. OSMOND: Sinatra.
M. OSMOND: Sinatra.
MORGAN: Sinatra performed in this theater.
D. OSMOND: Absolutely.
M. OSMOND: Right.
D. OSMOND: Yes.
M. OSMOND: And to learn, to watch, to be literally -- not just watch them, but to work with them.
D. OSMOND: Work with them. M. OSMOND: And --
MORGAN: What did you learn from the greats? What made them great? What's the thing that takes you to that level?
D. OSMOND: I don't know if I speak on behalf of Marie, but when we put this show together, you could throw as much money as you want at a show. People don't walk out humming the lights and they say, those are the great -- greatest costumes in the world. You've got --
(CROSSTALK)
M. OSMOND: But it's important to have those things.
D. OSMOND: But you got to walk out with people saying, I know a little bit more about Donny and Marie.
Here's the mark that a lot of people miss nowadays. Producers missed. They leave out the heart and soul. And that's what I learned from Sammy Davis Jr., from Frank Sinatra, is when you went to go see those shows, you got to know them. So when people came to see this show --
(CROSSTALK)
D. OSMOND: What are you laughing at?
M. OSMOND: We did --
MORGAN: That's true. I like that.
M. OSMOND: We did QVC the other day, OK?
D. OSMOND: Don't go into that.
M. OSMOND: No --
(CROSSTALK)
M. OSMOND: Not even that.
MORGAN: I've heard about it.
M. OSMOND: Yes. But not even that. He did leave his fly down but before that --
MORGAN: He did just to sell a record --
D. OSMOND: Yes, exactly. I would do anything to sell a record.
M. OSMOND: But just to continue what you were saying.
D. OSMOND: What?
M. OSMOND: Learning from old school. We walk out and immediately he goes and grabs something that somebody is selling and he starts modeling it. Well, the producer cuts to a shot, a still shot, of the product. And I thought, boy, that is so not what I learned in television.
D. OSMOND: Yes.
M. OSMOND: We did -- to catch those live moments and to see him modeling a dress and to do -- that's television. You know?
MORGAN: But who would you like to --
M. OSMOND: But today, it's like, it's not on the script.
D. OSMOND: Thank you for telling the world that I modeled a dress.
(LAUGHTER)
M. OSMOND: No, but it wasn't on the script so they panic, you know.
MORGAN: I know what you mean. I know what you mean. Who of all the greats that played in Vegas mould you most like to have seen in a theater like this?
D. OSMOND: We did.
M. OSMOND: We did.
MORGAN: You saw them all?
M. OSMOND: We worked with them.
D. OSMOND: I'll give you a great example. I remember going to the Hilton --
M. OSMOND: Yes.
MORGAN: I mean, see, that's amazing to me.
D. OSMOND: Yes.
MORGAN: You performed --
M. OSMOND: You name a name and we'll tell you if we worked with them.
MORGAN: Did you perform with Sasha and Sinatra?
M. OSMOND: Yes.
D. OSMOND: Yes.
MORGAN: And Sammy Davis?
D. OSMOND: Yes.
M. OSMOND: Yes.
MORGAN: Dean Martin?
D. OSMOND: Yes.
M. OSMOND: Yes .
D. OSMOND: Elvis?
M. OSMOND: Yes.
D. OSMOND: I'll tell you a story about --
MORGAN: Elvis in Vegas?
M. OSMOND: Lucille Ball.
D. OSMOND: I'll tell you about Elvis.
M. OSMOND: John Wayne. I mean you name -- it's crazy. It really is nuts.
(CROSSTALK)
D. OSMOND: I went to go see Elvis Presley, his last show -- his closing night show, I should say, at the Hilton and we were hoping up the next night. And I remember watching the king on stage. He could do no wrong. I mean the audience was in the palm of his hand.
The next night I'm in his my room with my brothers, getting ready, and the door opens up, hi, everybody, I'm Elvis Presley. And he just really talked like this, too.
MORGAN: That's good.
D. OSMOND: I want to come say hi and good luck. And --
M. OSMOND: It's my brother.
D. OSMOND: And I thought, how cool is that? The king of rock 'n' roll just walks to the door and is a real person. It taught me a lot about leaving the star on stage. When you go off stage, you're just another person. And it really put it the whole show business --
M. OSMOND: It was their job.
D. OSMOND: Into perspective.
MORGAN: What else made those guys?
(CROSSTALK)
D. OSMOND: They worked.
M. OSMOND: I think they didn't look at it as being a celebrity. They looked at it as being an entertainer. It was their job. And it was every day, how do I be better? How do I get -- I mean, they love that audience.
We love our audiences. We want them to leave feeling that, you know what, it's an expensive ticket. It's not as expensive as some of them here, but when they leave, they got their money's worth. They had an experience.
They had something that brought them back to some kind of memory. Whether it was way back to the Donny and Marie original shows or whether it was current something they saw from -- like "Dancing with the Stars" or whatever. They walk away feeling that they got to know us better.
D. OSMOND: Here's another thing, Piers. Sometimes I feel like entertainers, young entertainers that jump in the business get a lot of fame and fortune --
M. OSMOND: Wait a minute, we're young.
D. OSMOND: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: You actually look ridiculously young. I'm going to come to this in a moment. On how you've done this.
D. OSMOND: So many people feel entitled. You know? I'm on stage, you need to like me. Well, yes, there's that attitude of confidence on stage. But they forget about getting out there and working and doing all of those little gigs, 366 days a year. And going through the work. Going through the motions.
M. OSMOND: You know --
MORGAN: So being a proper star, really, from what you're saying is, look out to an audience and making them feel as important as they're making you feel?
M. OSMOND: Absolutely. And you know, and when he said --
MORGAN: Because I don't detect that in so many of the new acts.
M. OSMOND: But what he said though that's really crucial is, I mean, I remember Milton Beryl, the first time I worked with him. And he came on and he took a script and he just started -- no, this won't work and this.
He worked to make that silly little three-minute sketch brilliant. And it wasn't just, oh that's OK, well, the writers -- he worked with the writers. He -- it was a constant effort by the people we've got to work with.
MORGAN: Do you remember --
M. OSMOND: To make everything the best it could be, even if it was a stupid sketch, which usually it was on our show.
(LAUGHTER)
D. OSMOND: Do you remember what Groucho Marx did to you?
M. OSMOND: Yes.
D. OSMOND: OK. This dirty old man.
MORGAN: Groucho Marx?
D. OSMOND: Groucho Marx.
M. OSMOND: Pinched my butt.
MORGAN: No.
D. OSMOND: Pinched Marie's butt the whole time.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: Serious?
D. OSMOND: He was on the "Donny and Marie Show" and -- yes.
M. OSMOND: I mean how many people gets to say that about Groucho?
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: Well, you did tell me -- I think Groucho, I said, you're only as old as the woman you feel.
(LAUGHTER)
D. OSMOND: I love that.
M. OSMOND: That's Groucho.
D. OSMOND: I've never heard that one but that is perfect.
M. OSMOND: And I would have been 14 1/2.
D. OSMOND: Yes.
M. OSMOND: No, 15.
MORGAN: So this was completely inappropriately.
M. OSMOND: Which would have been illegal.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: Good old Groucho.
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: What was John Wayne like? D. OSMOND: John Wayne was a very stoic man.
M. OSMOND: Tall.
D. OSMOND: And just --
M. OSMOND: So sweet.
D. OSMOND: He talked like this really, you know?
M. OSMOND: He was John Wayne.
D. OSMOND: I've done a lot of impressions.
MORGAN: You're very good.
D. OSMOND: Well, thank you, kid.
(LAUGHTER)
M. OSMOND: Please don't encourage him.
MORGAN: You should come on "America's Got Talent."
D. OSMOND: I probably should. Maybe I'll get a gig.
MORGAN: We'll go to a little break now. When we come back, we're going to get to the nitty-gritty, you got married.
M. OSMOND: Thank you.
MORGAN: Not you.
D. OSMOND: I got married 33 years ago.
MORGAN: You just got remarried.
M. OSMOND: Yes.
MORGAN: To your ex-husband.
M. OSMOND: My first husband.
MORGAN: Unbelievable. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
D. OSMOND: Fair maiden. Fire. Why does the maiden who keeps a crackling fire on such a frosty day?
M. OSMOND: Sir, you cannot imagine how glad I am to see you.
D. OSMOND: I smell smoke.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
SPITZER: So, Donny and Marie, we're talking about Vegas, it's great to be there. And it's all very exciting. The most exciting thing to happen in Vegas is you got married.
M. OSMOND: That's the most exciting thing?
MORGAN: Well, because you got married to a guy you married before.
M. OSMOND: It was the most exciting thing for me in my life.
MORGAN: Tell me how did -- how did this happen?
M. OSMOND: Well --
MORGAN: You got married how long ago?
M. OSMOND: It's been 29 years.
MORGAN: So 29 years ago you get married to this guy.
M. OSMOND: See, I'll forever be 29.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: So 29 years ago, you married this guy, and the marriage only lasts three years? And you get divorced. Why did you split up then? What was -- what was wrong then?
M. OSMOND: You know, Piers, I think too young. The world was watching us under a microscope. Just a lot of things went into play. But, you know, you move on. Your heart is broken. We have a child together. And, you know, looking back, it is what it is. The thing that I find fascinating about now is that, you know, he's so sweet. And he still is the core of who I fell in love with.
MORGAN: You remarried, but he never did, is that right?
M. OSMOND: No, he never remarried, no.
MORGAN: Because he never remarried, did you, in the back of your mind, ever think I wonder if one day --
M. OSMOND: I really did not. No. There was no -- we would ever get -- I mean, really, do you really think that way?
(LAUGHTER)
M. OSMOND: No. But, really, it was our son who I was moving here. And he said, you know, dad, mom needs some help moving. And we have always kind of known each other and been amicable and friendly. But it wasn't until about two years ago that we thought, well, let's give this a shot.
MORGAN: And that was after you'd split up and -- (CROSSTALK)
M. OSMOND: Oh, yes, I'd been divorced almost, what, six years now or something like that?
MORGAN: So you were a single woman, and he was a single guy. Circumstance of Vegas, what goes on in Vegas --
M. OSMOND: Stays in Vegas.
MORGAN: In your case, stayed in Vegas.
M. OSMOND: No, it was just -- we didn't really want anybody to know we were dating because if it didn't work out, that hurts children. I really was set on being single.
MORGAN: Did your son know that you were dating?
M. OSMOND: No.
MORGAN: How long did you keep it from him?
M. OSMOND: When we told him we were getting married.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: Seriously?
M. OSMOND: Yes.
D. OSMOND: Can I just interject a thought? I thought the most beautiful part of that wedding was the fact that Stephen, their son, was one of the witnesses to that marriage. And to me that was the culminating -- it just gave me chills when I saw that.
MORGAN: Amazing.
D. OSMOND: It was beautiful.
MORGAN: It's an amazing story. But what --
D. OSMOND: The story is, it's a Cinderella story with a lot of bumps in the road, with a beautiful ending.
MORGAN: Yes. I mean it is completely that. And wonderful for you after all you've been through. What I find extraordinary is that you're dating your son's dad.
M. OSMOND: Yes.
MORGAN: And he doesn't know.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: What do you say when you told him?
M. OSMOND: Well, can you imagine if it didn't work out? That would be a double hurt. You know, because he was very young --
MORGAN: And your son is, what, nearly 30 now?
M. OSMOND: He's 28. Yes.
MORGAN: Twenty-eight.
M. OSMOND: Don't make me any older than I am.
MORGAN: What was your reaction?
D. OSMOND: I thought it was fantastic.
M. OSMOND: He was the first person I've told.
D. OSMOND: I've always had this familial relationship with Steve. I've always loved the guy. You know he's just a -- he was a great brother-in-law. It hurt me for my sister but really hurt me to see them fall apart like the way they did.
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: I mean, for any brother, when you see a sister have her heartbroken as you said you did the first time when the marriage fell apart, doesn't part of you feel that protective thing, I hope this doesn't happen again with this guy?
D. OSMOND: Let's go one step further, it's always been uncomfortable between -- at least for me, between us, that I have a very successful marriage for 33 years and she didn't. Because we've always shared our careers and everything together.
And so it's always been a very difficult for me. When I saw that -- kind of getting emotional about this. When I saw them come back together again, it was just a great moment.
MORGAN: It is emotional. It's a remarkable story.
M. OSMOND: The best was when we were kneeling across the altar, we got -- when we were married in Vegas, not by Elvis, it was in our --
(LAUGHTER)
M. OSMOND: In a Mormon temple.
D. OSMOND: It wasn't a drive-through chapel.
M. OSMOND: But they ask the man first, and he said yes. And then I -- you know, our eyes were very teary-eyed. It was -- it was beautiful. But I saw our son sitting there and he was smiling. And then it was my turn to say it next. And all of a sudden, this look on his little face kind of like, mom, you better say yes.
(LAUGHTER)
M. OSMOND: And then I said, yes, and his little face just beamed.
D. OSMOND: It was perfect.
M. OSMOND: Beautiful.
MORGAN: What was the moment for you when you thought, I want to be back with this guy? Was there a moment?
M. OSMOND: You know, the only thing I can say is when it's right, it's really right. And there is not one piece of doubt in me that we weren't always right. It's just that we're smarter now.
MORGAN: Do you think the reason that Stephen never remarried is that he quietly hope one day -- you're nodding. You think that? Do you think that?
M. OSMOND: I just think I'm a hard habit to break.
(LAUGHTER)
M. OSMOND: No.
MORGAN: There's another song I feel coming out. And even more incredibly, you wore -- you wore the same dress that you wore when you first married him.
M. OSMOND: Yes, I had designed this beautiful dress. My daughter Rachel helped me design it. She designs my clothes in the show. But it showed up five days before the wedding in pieces. It was crazy. And four days, five days before, I got my dress, I found out in my garage a box with my original wedding dress.
Piers, I didn't even know I had it still. And so I took it down and I was having it, you know, dry cleaned and whatever, put away again because it had been opened. Well, immediately I started crying because this dress was a mess the one I designed. And the lady who was helping me, she goes, where's that dress. I said it's at the dry cleaners. So we called them up and said, have you started cleaning it yet, they said no, we haven't, I said, I need it back.
(LAUGHTER)
M. OSMOND: And I put it on and --
MORGAN: When you tried it on --
M. OSMOND: And it fit. Yes.
D. OSMOND: Yes.
M. OSMOND: Yes. It's crazy.
MORGAN: You're the same size exactly as you were 26, 27 years ago.
M. OSMOND: I had to let it out just a tiny bit right across my upper back. And you know just like that much.
MORGAN: So there are women all over America going --
M. OSMOND: But no, it fit everywhere.
MORGAN: I wish I could get in my dress --
(CROSSTALK)
M. OSMOND: Even my little waist cinch belt, I was so happy.
MORGAN: Yes. When you saw yourself -- and what did you think, Donny, when you saw her in that dress again?
D. OSMOND: It was beautiful. I mean I have a picture up in my dressing room. They gave me the picture.
M. OSMOND: Did you get it?
D. OSMOND: Yes.
M. OSMOND: I left a picture up there for him.
D. OSMOND: And I mean I just -- I started crying. There's my sister in her wedding dress, the original wedding dress. And it was --
MORGAN: Back with the guy that she loves the most.
D. OSMOND: Back with the guy -- I mean it's a picture of my wife and myself, Steve and Marie, it's just -- it's one of my favorite pictures right now.
MORGAN: We're going to take another short break. When we come back, I want to talk more about the wedding and some special significance to the day that you got married.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MORGAN: Marie, I want to talk to you about the day that you got married.
M. OSMOND: What do you want to talk to me about?
MORGAN: Well, actually a sort of serious thing, actually.
D. OSMOND: Shall I leave?
MORGAN: No, I want you to stay. I want you to stay, too.
The day you that you chose to get married was a very significant day. People didn't realize that really until they worked it out. It was the day that your mother was born. And it was the day that your son Michael was born who so tragically passed away a year ago.
Did you choose that day deliberately or was it just a freak coincidence?
M. OSMOND: No, I chose it deliberately. It was one of the reasons why we kind of hurried to do it. It was either do it then or do it --
D. OSMOND: The next break of dawn, end of August.
M. OSMOND: End of August. And I didn't want to wait until August. And I was born on my father's birthday. And I always celebrated with him. And Michael always celebrated with my mom. And it was chosen because I -- that was a great day, that's the day he was born.
And it was a wonderful, wonderful gift. He's amazing boy.
MORGAN: What did you --
M. OSMOND: And that way, they could all be there kind of symbolically. You know?
MORGAN: Yes, completely, I get that.
M. OSMOND: And I know my mom had something to do with getting Steve and me back together.
MORGAN: You think that.
M. OSMOND: I know she did. I think she even put that dress in my garage.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: Would she have been happy, your mom?
M. OSMOND: Oh, that would have been something my mother -- yes. My mother --
D. OSMOND: Our parents really loved Steve.
M. OSMOND: They loved Steve, yes. Right.
MORGAN: What were you thinking about Michael on the day you got married? Given that it was the day he was born.
M. OSMOND: As a matter of fact, we took a picture with -- I took a picture with Steven and all the kids, and I had Donny stand in for Michael. And we're going to take -- put Michael's face on his body.
D. OSMOND: Photoshop me out.
MORGAN: Really?
M. OSMOND: And put Michael's picture.
D. OSMOND: She does that a lot. She Photoshop me --
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: I mean it was -- I watched the Oprah interview that you did about -- you talked about Michael's death.
And Donny, you came on as well. I was getting emotional watching it. I mean it was heart rending to see you talk about it. And I don't want to go over that all over again. I was struck by one thing. I mean do you ever get over it or do you just learn to deal with it? What's the reality?
M. OSMOND: You never get over that. Somebody walked up to my daughter and said, so, are you over that now? And she -- her heart broke. No. You know, there's always a place that is set in your heart at the dinner table. There's always a celebration where he's there.
It doesn't heal. It just -- God gives you respites, you know, just little breathers. And you know, he's my baby. So kind of a -- I had -- always had great empathy for people who lost a child because of my work with Children's Miracle Network. And being one of the founders. And I've been with people who have lost their children.
And I really thought I felt what they feel. And you do. But it's a really lousy club to belong to.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: It's just the worst parental nightmare, isn't it?
M. OSMOND: Well, you know, God says you go through the sorrow to know the joys. And I know the great joy of his life. And he went through so much. And I learned a lot from the things that he went through, too. Actually, in a lot of ways, going through -- his challenges helped me wake up from my own bad situations.
And my past marriage and everything else. And he was -- you know, Michael, little archangel. He was an angel and is an angel still.
MORGAN: And Donny, for you --
M. OSMOND: And I feel him. I felt him that day. I really did.
MORGAN: You did?
M. OSMOND: Yes.
MORGAN: You felt his presence on your wedding day?
M. OSMOND: Yes. And my mom. I'll tell you, I know my mom.
MORGAN: Yes.
M. OSMOND: I'm her only daughter, I know my mom.
MORGAN: Donny, what was it like for to you see your sister go through such a crushing tragedy and be working with her at the same time?
D. OSMOND: You can only imagine what we went through here at the Flamingo. She went on -- tried to go on stage a week after that ordeal and she did. But then after a week of doing it, she just collapsed and said, I can't do it. But you know she's like, I've got to keep working.
M. OSMOND: Plus I was sick. And lungs -- the symbolic or whatever emotional is grief. But I couldn't breathe. We were coughing. I just -- I couldn't even sing.
MORGAN: Does performing act as a release as people often say it does? Is it a way of getting back into your life?
D. OSMOND: I think you've got to be careful about that, Piers. Because it can be the wrong kind of medicine if you take too much of it.
If you live for this, that's wrong. This is our job. I mean we love doing what we do. But if you use it to cover up pain, just cover up pain, then you disregard all the things -- all the dirt in your life, you keep sweeping under the carpet. And it gets really dirty under there.
At some point in time, you got to pull back the carpet and clean up the dirt. So it's great that Marie was busy doing the show but she had -- you know, and she did. She faced the issues and she addressed them and she took care of them.
MORGAN: I mean, Marie, for you, when you looked out, you first went back out and saw this audience, they would have all known what had happened to you. Probably amazed that you're even performing. Did you draw a great comfort from the audience reaction?
M. OSMOND: You know, everybody will have their reasons for doing things. For me, I had postpartum depression. I think part of me was if I didn't work, I don't know that I ever would again. And also I believe in service, when you're in really great pain. If you step outside of your own pain and serve other people, it really helps.
And that was my way of serving, making people feel better, and the way I coped with it at that time.
D. OSMOND: But it was so interesting, Piers, the amount of support that she got. Not just from her family. But the band, the audience, everybody here at the Flamingo. They rallied around Marie. It was so interesting. It was so cool for us to see the amount of friendships that come out of the wood work when you're hurting.
M. OSMOND: Yeah.
D. OSMOND: I think that really helps --
M. OSMOND: Actually that week, a lady came through and gave me the best piece of advice. I asked her, I said, does it ever get better. She said, no, it won't. That actually was very comfortable to me. Because -- and I never would have had that advice if I had just gone in my room.
I needed to be strong for my children. I need to show them that you have to keep moving forward. And it was really tough.
D. OSMOND: We do a meet and greet after every show, where quite a few people come back to get autographs and sign pictures, all of that kind of stuff, get to talk to us. And it comes up nightly obviously. And the support and the stories that people tell us -- that's one of the nicest things about this.
M. OSMOND: He was my rock.
D. OSMOND: The nicest thing about this gig is those meet and greets after the show where you have that one to one contact with the fans, with the public, that really have supported us.
MORGAN: When you say Donny was your rock, in what way?
M. OSMOND: Well, you know, he could tell I was hurting. I think there were times that I think he was hurting even more in some ways when I was feeling strong. So just the fact that I said I need to work. He said, OK, I'm here for you, whatever you need.
And I just -- I really was afraid if I didn't, I would never be able to get back again, working and doing things. And I'm glad I worked through it. It was really hard, really hard.
But it was -- like you said, the fans, the support, it pulled it through.
MORGAN: When we come back, I want to talk to you about the door marked fame that you two were shoved through when you were very young?
D. OSMOND: I remember when you asked me this question. You sure you want to go there?
MORGAN: Would still want to go through that?
D. OSMOND: Oh, Piers, Piers, Piers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MORGAN: When I was a young lad, about -- I don't know, I must have been seven or eight years old -- this group exploded around the world and particularly in Britain.
D. OSMOND: The Jackson Five, they were amazing, weren't they. Tito, Jermaine, Michael.
MORGAN: The Osmonds.
D. OSMOND: Oh, the Osmonds, the other ones?
MORGAN: Every girl I got my eye on, age -- I don't know -- nine or 10, didn't want to know because she had Donny bloody Osmond on her wall. D. OSMOND: Yes, that's my middle name.
MORGAN: Everywhere I went, "and they called it puppy love."
M. OSMOND: So you do that very well.
MORGAN: I had to. Every girl I went out with used to sing it. So you kind of dominated my early life and ruined it.
D. OSMOND: Thank you. I meant to do that.
MORGAN: It was a phenomenon.
D. OSMOND: It was a crazy time in my life.
MORGAN: The Osmonds were just -- I remember you were arriving at Heathrow Airport to be met by tens of thousands of screaming people.
M. OSMOND: Do you remember when the balconies collapsed from the weight?
MORGAN: Yes, I do.
M. OSMOND: I saw that happen.
MORGAN: Can you remember much about that? Was it all just a weird --
D. OSMOND: I do. But what's interesting, Piers -- I've had obviously many years to reflect upon that and figure out what those feelings were really like. When I look at those pictures and the footage and everything, it's almost like I'm looking at a different person. It was a different life.
I've gone through so many different incarnations in my life. I look back at the Andy Williams days. We've gone through this in years past. The "Puppy Love" days, the Donny and Marie days, the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Days.
MORGAN: Let me ask you question, Donny, because you became one of the most famous people on the planet. The Osmonds remain, along with the Jackson, the most famous show business family in the world. Yet it's taken a heavy toll on the family, on all of you, in various ways.
If I could -- because you have no choice for it. You were thrust through that door at a very young age. If I could take you back to the door marked fame and give you the option not to go through that, to lead a completely normal, anonymous life, without everything that fame brings, would you take that option?
D. OSMOND: If I could have it the way I have it at this very moment, I would walk through that door. I look at the experiences that I've gone through as a teeny bopper. I look at Justin Bieber and my heart breaks for him, because I know what he's going to go through. He knows it. Everybody knows it. MORGAN: What he's going to go through?
D. OSMOND: He's going through so much heartache. "Baby, Baby, Baby," he's going to hate that. He probably hates it right now, just as much as I hated "Puppy Love."
M. OSMOND: Do you still hate "Puppy Love"?
D. OSMOND: No, I love -- I was just about to say, I've gone through many, many doors where I have actually made full circle and I've embraced "Puppy Love" to where I absolutely enjoy singing that song.
I sing it here in the Flamingo. I have the footage of me singing with 14 behind me.
MORGAN: There be have moments in your career when "Puppy Love" has been this massive millstone around your neck, hasn't it?
D. OSMOND: Yes, it was a millstone.
MORGAN: Will Justin Bieber have that, do you think? Is it inevitable?
D. OSMOND: He's got it now. He's got it now. You know, that kind of success at that age can really bite you in the shorts, as it was, the proverbial shorts.
MORGAN: What would you say to him? You've got the chance now. If I was Justin Bieber, what would you say?
D. OSMOND: Put the seat belt on, buddy, because it's going to be a bumpy ride. There are going to be times when people say you're not talented anymore. Never give up on yourself.
My wife was the only person on this planet that I could turn to and say am I able to be a star again. She said, yes, you can do it, despite everybody saying, no it is over with. Everybody said it is over with.
When I was 20, 21 years old, I had just got married. Put yourself in my wife's shoes. All of these fans all across the world would have Donny Osmond burning -- record-burning parties. They would put my albums and burn them.
MORGAN: And I remember girls having Donny Osmond wife burning parties? It was like Linda McCartney.
D. OSMOND: Yeah. If anybody could write a book, my wife could. But she never would. She's not that kind of person.
MORGAN: How important to you, Donny -- we talked about Marie's life, but how important has it been to you to have the love of a steady wife for 30 odd years?
D. OSMOND: Thirty three Years? It's the only thing that kept me sane. I'm not saying this -- because I'm going to sound egomaniacal saying this. But point to another teeny bopper star who didn't go through the drugs, you know, the alcohol, the women, things like that.
I have to say, my wife is the one that got me through it. My faith obviously was a big factor. But my wife went through it with me. And she was my rock. She kept me strong. Five kids and three grand kids later --
M. OSMOND: But he's always been there for his wife. That's the great love story that they have. You know, Donny could have had anything. He really -- he's had everything in the world offered to him, as I have, as well. As a man, this says a lot about my brother, and my brothers. They're good men.
They learned that from my father, who was an amazing man. But he's been there for his wife and his kids too, which is very commendable.
MORGAN: We're going to take another short break. When we come back, I want to talk to you about the miracle of the new album after 30 years.
D. OSMOND: After 30 years, we finally decided to record again. Yeah, we can hardly wait to talk about that one.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWS BREAK)
MORGAN: You two have gone back in the studio and made an album together.
D. OSMOND: After 30 years, Piers. Can you believe?
MORGAN: What finally brought you back to recording?
D. OSMOND: Well, I had to wait until she stopped playing with dolls. Then you could get serious about recording.
M. OSMOND: Then my comment would be -- no.
MORGAN: Was it fun?
D. OSMOND: Well, you know -- I don't know fun is the right word.
MORGAN: Neither of you said yes first.
D. OSMOND: When you are putting an album together, it's a work of art. We could slap a bunch of songs on a CD and call it go, because -- ride this Donny and Marie wave. But you know what, you have to put your producer's hat on and your artist's hat on.
It's like a blank canvas and you start painting. You know what you want it to look like, but until you start painting, until you see the final product, you never know. We took a lot of time and a lot of effort putting this -- M. OSMOND: Was it fun? It was fun.
MORGAN: Is it hard or easy to be with your own brother when you're making a record?
M. OSMOND: Oh, you know, I think initially --
MORGAN: Clearly some hell has going down here.
(CROSS TALK)
M. OSMOND: The thing that was fun was the process of picking songs. That was fun.
D. OSMOND: That was fun.
M. OSMOND: That was fun. Recording, it was really tough, because I was working on that album, doing this show and my other album at the same time. So I turned my closet into my vocal booth. I would go home and finish this show and I would sing until 7:00 in the morning.
D. OSMOND: I recorded up in my dressing room here at the Flamingo between shows.
M. OSMOND: So if I did lead, I would do lead there. Then I'd ship it to him. Then he'd put the harmony. If he did the lead, I would do the harmonies. It's not like we really sat and did it together.
MORGAN: Are you pleasantly surprised?
D. OSMOND: Yes, I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised because, because Donny and Marie is a big target. For critics, it's so easy to not like Donny and Marie.
M. OSMOND: Why do you say that?
D. OSMOND: I'm serious. Let's call it the way it is. It's Donny and Marie. To hardcore rock 'n' roll and country critics, we're easy targets.
MORGAN: What do you think?
M. OSMOND: I don't. I think people grew up with us. And I think that it's like you can see at the shows the last three years.
D. OSMOND: Come on.
MORGAN: Why would you care what the rock audience think of you?
D. OSMOND: To be honest with you, I don't care anymore, because I am who I am.
MORGAN: I think you do.
M. OSMOND: I think he does, too.
D. OSMOND: Maybe deep down inside, because everybody wants to be accepted. When you go out on stage, you want a standing ovation. You don't want to get booed off.
MORGAN: You never get booed off.
D. OSMOND: When you do this show, you want it to be accepted.
MORGAN: Yes, but I'm quite realistic about who I think watches my show and likes it.
(CROSS TALK)
D. OSMOND: I'm going to tell you something Sammy Davis Jr. told me, the day you stop caring your show is the day you should quit.
MORGAN: I agree with that.
D. OSMOND: I care what about I do. When this album was put together, I was painstakingly recording my vocals, selecting the tracks. I know she did, too. I did more.
But I care about the product that comes out. When I say Donny and Marie is an easy target, come on, Piers, to some people they are. Because they still put me in the "Puppy Love" category, "Paper Roses" category. So when they do -- hold on. Hold on
Hold on. When they do come and they say Donny and Marie is great, it means so much to me.
MORGAN: I can tell.
D. OSMOND: It means the world to me.
D. OSMOND: And it's not like it doesn't mean the world to me too. And especially I think where we agree is we did this album knowing that this could probably be our last album together too.
M. OSMOND: Oh, I don't know about that.
MORGAN: I think she's decided.
M. OSMOND: -- that every song would have great meaning and a purpose. And there is something unique about us in the sense I think our blend.
MORGAN: Well, I'll tell you what's unique about the pair of you, actually.
D. OSMOND: What?
MORGAN: It's what you look like is unique to me. You have no right to look that beautiful or youthful.
D. OSMOND: Thank you. I -- oh, you're talking to her. MORGAN: When you shook my hand earlier, it was like I was being crushed by some iron man.
M. OSMOND: He's tough. He's in shape.
D. OSMOND: I'm going to the gym all the time.
M. OSMOND: This show will keep new shape.
MORGAN: We're going to take a little break. When we come back, I want to talk about your guns and your whole thing.
D. OSMOND: There's a loaded statement.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MORGAN: So come on. What is the secret to you two looking so youthful? I need to know. Start with you, Donny, Because you nearly ripped my arm off earlier. You are ripped.
D. OSMOND: I go to the gym all the time.
MORGAN: Every day?
D. OSMOND: Not every day. I am very careful what I eat. I do take supplements, you know, because of food nowadays --
MORGAN: Do you drink alcohol?
D. OSMOND: I have never -- well, accidentally a couple times. But no, I don't drink alcohol, don't smoke. Never smoked. I've never really --
MORGAN: Never taken drugs?
D. OSMOND: Never had a desire to take drugs, no.
MORGAN: You are Mr. Squeaky clean, aren't you?
D. OSMOND: Well, you know what, if that's what it takes to live a good life, yeah, call me squeaky clean. I used to hate that term. Goody-goody and all that kind of -- don't you dare. You want to get beat up, call me goody-goody or squeaky clean.
But you know what, it's a compliment to me now because it got me through the hard years.
MORGAN: When you see the likes of Lady Gaga and others really pushing it in terms of language and --
D. OSMOND: Yeah.
MORGAN: -- sexuality, all that kind of stuff in their lyrics and so on, do you feel offended?
D. OSMOND: First of all, let me just make the statement, I think Lady Gaga is brilliant. You know, as a marketer, as a writer, as an artist, she is Madonna incarnate, in my opinion. You know?
But I don't agree with a lot of the shock elements nowadays that a lot of artists take to get their face on a cover, to get on the charts. You know, in my opinion, it's a cheap way to become popular. But I do think she's a very talented woman.
MORGAN: You've admitted having one dose of botox.
D. OSMOND: Oh, yeah. I tried it. And you know, the reason why I don't want to do it anymore? Because I was smiling like this. It's like who wants that kind of face?
MORGAN: Marie, talk me through this. I mean, this is --
M. OSMOND: talk me through this.
MORGAN: Dazzlingly sculpted. I mean, I don't even know how old you are, and if I was to guess --
M. OSMOND: I'm 29.
MORGAN: If I met you, I would say 40. I would.
M. OSMOND: Oh, you're so sweet.
MORGAN: No, but I'm actually being realistic. You look like you're 40. I know you can't be because we've already discussed your history.
M. OSMOND: How come I can't be?
MORGAN: Why don't we pretend you are?
N. OSMOND: I like that. That would be my illusion.
MORGAN: We know about your nutrition thing that you do. But what else do you do to keep in this kind of shape?
M. OSMOND: Well, I mean, I lost 50 pounds. I think the biggest thing is that when women kind of -- you get to a place in life where you take care of your kids, you take care of your husband, you take care of your parents, you stop taking care of yourself. And I think it's important to.
MORGAN: Do you exercise?
M. OSMOND: I do. Yeah, I do.
MORGAN: What's the future holding for you? How long are you going to be performing here, for starters?
D. OSMOND: Until the end of this year. They want us longer, but we'll see what happens.
M. OSMOND: We'll see if we can handle it.
D. OSMOND: Yeah, without killing each other.
MORGAN: Is there anywhere you'd rather be performing?
D. OSMOND: There's all kinds of opportunities. But what's different about nowadays than it was in the early '70s, when we first started, is that things are apt to change quickly. It can change on a dime. So you don't lock the future too far in advance, because there's so many opportunities. Especially right now, with this wave that we're riding with Donny And Marie. We still have our --
MORGAN: What's your anthem? When you finish up here, the shows -- because you're playing tonight -- what do you go out on?
M. OSMOND: We just changed the show. We have a brand new show. Well, I'd say almost 80 percent is brand new. You can't take away some of the staples.
MORGAN: What's the song that --
D. OSMOND: Well, "country rock and role" is what we're known for. I'm a little bit country
MORGAN: But the ones that we can't take out of the show is like -- what do we end the show with?
D. OSMOND: May tomorrow be a perfect day
M. OSMOND: He has no clue what that is.
MORGAN: I love that one.
(CROSS TALK)
D. OSMOND: Sing it, Marie. I go through this every night.
MORGAN: Sing it. Sing the last song.
M. OSMOND: I said do you even know this song? And I said be honest. He goes, well, I never watched the TV show.
MORGAN: It didn't air in Britain.
D. OSMOND: Piers, we never watch your show either. How do you feel?
MORGAN: Well, sing me the song.
M. OSMOND: He loves to sing.
(SINGGING)
D. OSMOND: Finish the song. Come on, Marie.
(SINGING)
MORGAN: You know what I really want to hear? I never watched "Donny and Marie." Let me just make one thing clear, we never had it in Britain, "Donny and Marie."
M. OSMOND: Yes, you did.
MORGAN: Well, we had it, but not in a way that we used to watch in mainstream Britain. What I want -- this is just for me -- I just want to hear one more time the song that broke my heart.
M. OSMOND: That wasn't our song.
MORGAN: I want a little bit of "Puppy Love." The song that you've loved and hated all your life. Now I want a bit of "Puppy Love."
D. OSMOND: I'm going to undo my microphone.
M. OSMOND: You don't know what you do when you do this.
MORGAN: What are you doing?
D. OSMOND: Wait. No. Bad lighting.
MORGAN: Better lighting.
(SINGING)
M. OSMOND: You should be. He should be.
MORGAN: That's what I grew up on. Never mind "Donny and Marie" the TV show. It was always about "Puppy Love" for me. Donny, Marie.
M. OSMOND: Is this the new side of you that we're learning?
MORGAN: It's just a tender side I hide so cleverly. I've loved it. Thank you.
D. OSMOND: Same here.
MORGAN: Good luck tonight with your show here.
D. OSMOND: Thank you.
MORGAN: And I hope you rock and roll here for years.
D. OSMOND: Thank you.
MORGAN: I can't think of a better place.
M. OSMOND: Oh, you're so sweet.
MORGAN: Lovely to see you both.
D. OSMOND: You too.
M. OSMOND: And it's nice to have you here in Vegas.
MORGAN: It's really been such a pleasure. It is. Thank you. That's it for tonight. And now "AC 360" with Anderson Cooper.
