Pop stars should treat their early chart-toppers with more respect, says Donny Osmond

SINGER Donny Osmond has said he still enjoys performing his hit Puppy Love and believes pop stars should treat their early chart-toppers with more respect.

The former teen idol admitted he rejected the song at one point because he did not want to be pigeon-holed but now he is grateful to have enjoyed such success.

Osmond, 59, told the Press Association: “Puppy Love is probably the most recognisable song to a certain generation so why turn away from it?

“I did for a while but I realised it made me who I am today so why would I turn a blind eye to something so successful? Maybe one day Justin Bieber will sing Baby (his breakout hit) with more respect.

“I understand what he’s going through though, when you start at such a young age and you get put in a box and want to back out.

“Justin Timberlake was in N Sync and did that silly stuff in a boyband, the same thing applied to me.

“It’s 45 years I’ve been singing that song, in a different key now mind you.”

The singer found fame in the 1960s with his older brothers as The Osmonds, and then enjoyed a smash hit as a soloist with the ballad in 1972.

Osmond still performs it every night in his hit Las Vegas variety show with his sister Marie and said it reminds him of when he was at the height of his fame.

He said: “It’s a great memory, being in London in the 70s. It really does remind everyone of those innocent but hysterical years.”

Osmond says he made it through child stardom relatively unscathed but believes some performers who find fame too young are not cut out for it.

He said: “It has to do with family life. It is fraught with ups and downs and keeping forging ahead.

“It’s a tough business to be in and some artists can’t handle it. I talked to Lionel Ritchie about this and what he said was quite profound – he said fame, in general, doesn’t change anyone, it amplifies them.

“I’ve been through peaks and valleys and I’ve come through relatively unscathed. There are some scars but they make you stronger.”

Osmond will soon be embarking on a UK tour and plans to carry on performing as long as audiences want to see him.

“As long as the ticker is still ticking I will never lose my passion. There is something invigorating about it, you manipulate people’s emotions and it is powerful, it is my drug of choice,” he said.

Another pleasure is his brother Jimmy’s cooking, after he revealed his unexpected talent when he was crowned runner up of Celebrity MasterChef in July, losing out to actor Alexis Conran.

Osmond said: “Jimmy text me and swore me to secrecy. I didn’t know he could cook.

“When I first heard he was going to do it I thought he would get kicked off quickly, he couldn’t even boil water.

“When he came second I thought that either the judges don’t have tastebuds or he really can cook. He surprised everyone.

“He came home to Utah and he invited us over for a dinner party and I was gobsmacked, seriously there was just amazing food, I thought ‘Who catered this?”‘

Donny Osmond’s The Soundtrack Of My Life UK tour will kick off at the Manchester Arena on January 21 2017, before travelling to Glasgow, Brighton, Cardiff, Nottingham, Liverpool, London and Birmingham.