He received his first gold record at age five for a song he recorded in Japanese, "My Little Darling". He was the first Osmond to achieve this. His recording of "
Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" in 1972 resulted in
The Guinness Book of World Records designating him the youngest performer to have a #1 single on the
UK Singles Chart. The song was credited to "Little Jimmy Osmond". In Japan, he had the moniker "Jimmy Boy". In 1978, Osmond starred in the feature film
The Great Brain. He starred in other acting roles as well, including two episodes of the
TV series Fame. He performed on stage and television often with his older siblings. In 1985, he met Latino impresario Manuel Montoya at
A&M Records, and this led to his only Spanish recording, "Siempre Tu". He toured Latin American markets, including Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela and Chile. On the heels of this, he served as a juror at the 1986 edition of the
OTI Festival. The 2012 Osmonds album ''I Can't Get There Without You'' was performed with Jimmy Osmond on lead vocals; it was the first album to feature Jimmy as lead singer, as older brother
Merrill Osmond historically held that role in the band. In live performances, Jimmy often serves as a co-lead singer with Merrill, a role previously held by Donny during the band's heyday in the early 1970s. Osmond is president of Osmond Entertainment. He has developed and supervised most of the Osmonds' merchandising business, as well as producing hundreds of hours of programming for networks including
ABC,
PBS, the
BBC and the
Disney Channel. He has also performed in
musical theater. Like his brother Donny many years earlier, he starred in
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He also starred in
Boogie Nights in 2004 at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool. In 2005, ''Jimmy Osmond's American Jukebox Show'' toured the UK in 2005, again to the Grand Theatre in Blackpool. Co-stars of the show included
Billy Pearce and Jimmy's brothers Jay and Wayne. From December 11, 2010 to January 2, 2011, he played Buttons in
Cinderella at the
White Rock Theatre in Hastings; from December 16, 2011, to January 15, 2012, he played the role of Wishee Washee in
Aladdin at
Grand Theatre, Swansea; and from December 1, 2017, to January 7, 2018, the role of Abanzar in the
pantomime Aladdin at
His Majesty's Theatre in Aberdeen. He has appeared on several UK TV shows, including the reality TV series ''
I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! broadcast by ITV in 2005 (he finished in fourth place), a 2006 appearance on All Star Family Fortunes, a celebrity version of Come Dine with Me, Celebrity Family Fortunes
, and Everybody Dance Now
. In January 2010, Osmond participated in the British ITV1 celebrity reality television programme Popstar to Operastar''. In 2016 Jimmy was a finalist on the UK version of
Celebrity Masterchef. In 2014, Osmond authored a semi-autobiographical children's picture book,
Awesome Possum Family Band. The same year, he took over the operations of the Andy Williams Moon River Theatre in
Branson, Missouri, where he took charge of producing and booking shows. In 2015, Osmond was awarded an honorary doctorate of arts and humanities by
Iowa Wesleyan University. The first Osmond family member to receive that distinction, he delivered the keynote commencement speech on May 9, 2015. == Personal life ==