Marie Osmond might be known for her work with her brother, Donny Osmond, but she also had a pretty incredible solo career. In 1974, the duo, billed as Donny and Marie Osmond, released their debut I’m Leaving It All Up To You album. One year earlier, Marie Osmond also released her first solo record. Paper Roses came out in 1973. The title track of the project became Marie Osmond’s first single and her first song to reach No. 1.
Just 14 years old when she recorded “Paper Roses”, the song is actually a cover of a song that was first released by Anita Bryant. In 1960, Bryant included the song, written by Fred Spielman and Janice Torre, on her Anita Bryant in Your Home Tonight! record. “Paper Roses” remains Bryant’s most successful single.
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“Paper Roses” says, “Paper roses, paper roses / Oh, how real those roses seem to be / But they’re only imitation / Like your imitation love for me.”
The Story Behind “Paper Roses” by Marie Osmond
Not only did “Paper Roses” reach the top of the charts for Osmond, but it did so on both Billboard’s country and pop charts. “Paper Roses” is Marie Osmond’s only No. 1 single on the pop chart as a solo artist. Producer Sonny James recalls what it was like when Marie Osmond, still a young girl, recorded “Paper Roses”.
“When I heard it, her voice didn’t sound that different,” James says. “She sounded good. She was a child, you could tell, but I’d hear, every once in a while, this cutting sound. It wasn’t consistent all the way through, but it was just cutting, what I considered an ear-catcher.”
By the time Marie Osmond went into the studio to record the Paper Roses album, several of her older brothers were already achieving musical success. Still, she later admits it was much different when she was behind the microphone by herself.
“I remember walking in the studio and thinking, ‘Good grief!’” she recounts. “I’d seen my brothers do all this stuff, but it’s really different when all of a sudden everybody’s waiting for you to sing it right.”
Osmond had several other hit singles on her own. Still, she didn’t return to the top spot again for 11 years. In 1984, Marie Osmond had a No. 1 country single with “Meet Me In Montana”, a duet with Dan Seals.
Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
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