Early life and career
Osborne was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He is the youngest of 12 children and is part of a musical family. He has five brothers and six sisters, some of whom went on to have music careers (his brother Billy was an L.T.D. bandmate). Osborne's father, Clarence "Legs" Osborne, was a popular trumpeter who played with Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington and died when Osborne was thirteen. Osborne started his music career in 1970 with a band called Love Men Ltd., who would later become known as L.T.D. The band recorded hit singles such as "(Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again", "Concentrate On You," "Love Ballad" and "Holding On (When Love Is Gone)". At first, Osborne was a drummer, but then became the lead vocalist. He left L.T.D. in late 1980 to start a solo career. His solo success includes five gold and platinum albums. Solo career
In 1982, Osborne released his self-titled debut album, which featured two hit singles, "On the Wings of Love" and "I Really Don't Need No Light", peaking at #29 & #39 on the pop chart respectively. This was followed up the next year by Stay With Me Tonight, his first gold album (later reaching platinum album status), which spawned two more hits, "Don't You Get So Mad" (#25) and the title track (#30). "Stay With Me Tonight" (Apr 1984, #18) and "On The Wings Of Love" (June 1984, #11) reach the UK Singles Chart.
In 1985, he wrote the lyrics to the Whitney Houston hit "All at Once" (music by Michael Masser). He appeared on USA for Africa's fundraising single, "We Are the World" in 1985. He would later appear on Celebrity Duets in 2006, performing "On The Wings Of Love" with Alfonso Ribeiro. Osborne lent his vocals to the theme song of the soap opera, Loving, from 1992 to 1995
Osborne had two more gold albums, Don't Stop and Emotional, the latter of which had his highest charting solo pop hit, "You Should Be Mine (The Woo Woo Song)", which peaked at #13 in 1986.
The following year, Osborne had the highest-charting hit of his career duetting with Dionne Warwick on "Love Power", which reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also topped the Adult Contemporary singles chart. This was a turning point in his pop success, as his albums and singles began charting lower and lower on the pop charts. Osborne's 1988 single "She's on the Left" would be his final Hot 100 entry, as well as his only #1 R&B hit.
After scoring two more substantial R&B hits in the early 1990s, "Only Human" and "If My Brother's in Trouble", Osborne would be absent from the charts for the remainder of the decade.
In the new millennium, he returned with a series of albums that, while far from the success he enjoyed in the 1980s, returned him to Adult R&B radio, scoring modest chart singles such as "Rest of Our Lives" (#75, 2003) and his cover of Barbara Mason's classic "Yes, I'm Ready" (#64, 2005).
In 2008, Osborne sang the national anthem before Game 4 of the NBA Finals at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, a feat which he repeated in 2009, before Game 1 of the 2009 NBA Finals, and also again in 2010 before Game 1 of the NBA Finals, all at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. He also regularly sang the national anthem before Hartford Whalers games.
On March 1, 2010, Osborne appeared in the The Bachelor (TV series) season finale, "After the Final Rose" singing his hit "On the Wings of Love" while Bachelor Jake Pavelka took to the dance floor with his newly announced fiance, Vienna Girardi.
Jeffrey Osborne performed a rousing rendition of the National Anthem on Thursday before Game 1 of the NBA Finals in Los Angeles.
Osborne, known for such hits as "On the Wings of Love" and "Stay With Me Tonight," got the Staples Center crowd roaring prior to tipoff.
This wasn't the first time the former L.T.D. frontman was center stage before a NBA Finals game at the Staples Center. In 2008, Osborne sang the National Anthem before Game 4 of the NBA Finals. He repeated the feat last year before Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Earlier this year, Osborne appeared on ABC's The Bachelor, where he sang "On the Wings of Love" for Jake Pavelka and new fiance, Vienna Girardi.
The Lakers went on to take Game 1 of the series, defeating the Celtics 102-89.
Filmography
* The Young Messiah - Messiah XXI (2006) (DVD)
Occurrences of songs in the media
* He sang with Vonda Shepard at the bar in the end of episode four ("Without A Net") of season four of the television show Ally McBeal.
* Pam sang the first bars of "On The Wings of Love" from the album Jeffrey Osborne with Dwight's recorder accompaniment during a bird's funeral on The Office third season episode "Grief Counseling."
* A snippet of "On The Wings of Love" is often played on the E! show The Soup as a reoccurring joke every time Joel McHale mentions the current Bachelor season. On the 5th of March he was nominated for one of The Soup Awards and lost to Heidi Montag. Despite the loss, he sang a parody of this song.
"Stay With Me Tonight"
* Played in the 1984 movie, Splash
* Played in the television shows, Sisters and Knight Rider
* Portrayed by J.O. on the Robert Townsend sitcom, The Parent 'Hood
* Played in the 1988 TV movie, Ladykillers and was the showpiece song
* Part of the playlist of 80s radio station Vice City FM in Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City
