Osmond concert in ancestors' town

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Pop icon Donny Osmond has announced he will play an outdoor concert at Merthyr Tydfil after discovering his family roots lie in the south Wales town.

The singer, famed for hits such as Puppy Love and Crazy Horses, agreed to the concert after tracing his family tree back to Merthyr.

Osmond visited the town in 2005 and found the graves of his ancestors.

The Donny Comes Home concert at Cyfarthfa Castle in June 2007 is expected to attract 15,000 people.

Utah-born Osmond travelled to the town last year to track down his heritage and succeeded in tracing his family roots back 500 years.

He found the grave of his great, great, great grandfather Dr John Martin who was chief surgeon at the local steelworks.

I would like the concert at Cyfarthfa Castle to celebrate my family's links with Merthyr's past, present and future Donny Osmond

He also found that his family fled to America to escape the dangers of mid-19th century cholera outbreaks and not to flee religious persecution as was first thought.

"Coming back to Merthyr last year was a very spiritually uplifting experience and I wanted to do something special to mark the fact," said the singer.

"I would like the concert at Cyfarthfa Castle to celebrate my family's links with Merthyr's past, present and future and look forward to next summer's homecoming concert being a very special moment in my career".