Jeffrey Linton Osborne (born March 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, lyricist and lead singer of the band,L.T.D..
On the Wings of Love
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, sharing lead vocal duties with his brother Billy, but by 1978 he became the group’s primary lead vocalist. He and Billy both left L.T.D. in early 1980 to start solo careers. His solo success includes five gold and platinum albums.
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” (April 1984, #18) and “On the Wings of Love” (June 1984, #11) reached 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 as well as the first season theme song for the Kirstie Alley comedy Veronica’s Closet
You Should Be Mine
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 dueting 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.
Stay with me Tonight
After scoring two more substantial R&B hits in the early 1990’s, “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 1980’s, 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).
We’re Going All the Way
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 performed the national anthem prior to Game 3 of the 1988 World Series, a feat he repeated two years later at Game 3 of the 1990 World Series, both at the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California. He also regularly sang the national anthem before Hartford Whalers games.