Marie Osmond doesn’t understand how anyone can feel bored. “It’s so alien to me … there are a billion things I could be doing!” she laughs. When you look at both her professional portfolio and personal passions, you begin to understand.
As someone whose stage debut came as early as age 3, Marie’s childhood wasn’t that of a normal Utah-born kid. The eighth of nine children (and the only girl), Marie was initially one of only two Osmond siblings who didn’t perform regularly. The Osmond Brothers, however, had made it big, so Marie spent much of her time on the road. Because she didn’t attend public school, she says she quickly “learned to entertain myself.” Of course, it wasn’t long before she was entertaining the masses.
After her brother Donny started gaining success as a solo artist, Marie decided to record an album of her own. Instead of going the pop-rock way of her siblings, she opted for the world of country.
In 1973, her debut single, “Paper Roses,” reached the top of the Billboard charts. At just 13 years old, she was the youngest female country artist with a No. 1 debut song (a record she still holds to this day). She was nominated for two Grammy Awards and instantly became a household name, kicking off a decades-long entertainment career that’s crossed industries, including music, television, radio, Broadway, film — you name it.
Perhaps just as diverse as her career is her list of hobbies. “I’m a crafter,” she says. “I made quilts. I crochet. I sew. I’m making two little dresses right now for my two granddaughters.”
She’s also a motorcyclist. She’s passionate about food and healthy cooking. She loves hiking. She also loves makeup. She wants to learn to paint. When it comes to curiosity, Marie never seems to run out.
And then there are the hobbies that have crossed over into professional endeavors, like her hand-sculpted dolls. In 1991, Marie debuted her first sculpture, “Olive May,” a doll she created and named for her mother. In 2010, Marie published a book of DIY projects, including her “Paper Roses” quilt, bags, aprons and more. She also had a line of sewing machines and fabrics.
Perhaps her greatest passion, however, is her family. A mother of eight, Marie also has eight grandchildren. To stay connected with such a large brood, she makes it a priority to video chat and visit them regularly. “We also do trips together,” she says. “You have to make time to do it.”
In 2011, Marie remarried her first husband, Stephen Craig, whom she calls the love of her life. “If you ask him, ‘What is success? How do you have it in a marriage? He would say, ‘Stay apart for 25 years!’” Marie laughs. “No but really, I think — now that my children have left the house — my number one goal is really just to spend time with my sweetheart,” she says. “And that doesn’t mean you stop doing the things you love. This weekend I’ll go out and I’ll sing 60 years of music because of these incredible fans. Then I’ll come home. I’ll go over and see my children and then … I’m doing a speech for mental health. Then I have to go back out again. I mean, it’s crazy.”
She continues: “But I don’t feel it. I don’t feel 63. I believe that positivity is your best pill for youth.”
Although Marie has much to feel positive about, she’s had her fair share of struggle and heartache. After giving birth to one of her children, Marie experienced debilitating postpartum depression (PPD). One night, she left her kids with a babysitter, got in her car and drove away, unsure of where or what was next. “I was in a motel thinking my life wasn’t worth living when my mother called me,” says Marie. “She tracked me down and said, ‘I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told anyone. When I had my last child, I got in the car and I drove out to the coast of California wondering if I wanted to live.’ I never knew that.”
Her mother told her she got through it, and so would Marie. “It was the only piece of hope I had. Because somebody talked about it.” After that, Marie decided to open up about her own experience, writing a book and speaking on talk shows in an effort to destigmatize mental health issues. “[My mom] saved my life. So if I could just help one person, it would be worth it.”
One of the biggest lessons Marie learned from that experience still sticks with her today: “You have go to through life instead of going around it. Too many times we try to avoid things when the very best thing to do is to go through them. Look, I am who I am today not from the great things in my life but from the really hard things.”
Certainly, the most challenging moment came in 2010, when Marie’s son, Michael, took his own life at age 18. “It’s not a fun club to belong to,” she says. “That is something that I could beat myself up to the point I couldn’t breathe … it still hits me. Unfortunately, there’s too much of it in the world. And that’s why you talk about mental health.”
Marie once said in an interview that through anything difficult in life, we have a chance to make something bitter or better. “That’s why we go through things,” she adds. “And a few years ago, I just had a really strong feeling I [needed to] walk the walk.” And walk she did.
In 1983, Marie cofounded the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. The nonprofit has a simple mission: save and improve the lives of as many children as possible. It raises funds for 170 member hospitals that provide 32 million treatments each year to kids across the U.S. and Canada.
“We’ve raised over $8 billion,” Marie says. “All of that money goes to local children’s hospitals, and they determine [what’s needed]. For example, I was just at a children’s hospital. They just got a grant for a million dollars for cancer. They didn’t need that. They needed hospital beds. That’s what we did for them.”
At the end of 2021, Marie surprised fans — and herself — by releasing her operatic album, appropriately titled Unexpected. She dedicated the album to her father, who she says encouraged her to follow her passion and sing every style of music she loved.
“I had great parents that taught me the only failure is to not try. So what if you fall? So what if you make a mistake? Believe me, I’ve made mine. But it’s how you get up and keep moving forward and learn from it. Don’t let it define you.”
Marie continues to tour the U.S. performing songs from across her entire career to sold-out crowds filled with audiences of multiple generations.
So, what’s next for the woman who seems to have done it all?
“The next thing I’m going to do is jump out of an airplane. I’ve always wanted to!”