LONDON, Dec 2 — US pop singer Jimmy Osmond, who performed the chart-topping hit Long-Haired Lover from Liverpool as a child in 1972, has suffered a stroke and will take time away from the stage, a spokesperson for the singer said on Monday.

Osmond completed a performance of the Peter Pan pantomime on December 27 at the Birmingham Hippodrome theatre in central England before he was driven to hospital and diagnosed with a stroke, the representative said in a statement on the theatre’s website.

Osmond, now 55, was the youngest sibling in The Osmonds family troupe and became the youngest person to reach number one on Britain’s singles charts with the release of Long-Haired Lover from Liverpool when he was aged nine.

"He is grateful for all the well wishes and will be taking time out in the new year,” the spokesperson said. — Reuters