Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass.

Several of Lloyd Webber's songs have been widely recorded and widely successful outside their parent musicals, such as "Memory" from ''Cats'', "The Music of the Night" and "All I Ask of You" from ''The Phantom of the Opera'', "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from '' Evita'', and " Any Dream Will Do" from ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat''. In 2001, ''The New York Times'' referred to him as "the most commercially successful composer in history". ''The Daily Telegraph'' named him in 2008 the fifth-most powerful person in British culture, on which occasion lyricist Don Black said that "Andrew more or less single-handedly reinvented the musical."

Lloyd Webber has received numerous awards, including a knighthood in 1992, followed by a peerage for services to the arts, seven Tony Awards, seven Laurence Olivier Awards, three Grammy Awards (as well as the Grammy Legend Award), an Academy Award, 14 Ivor Novello Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Brit Award, the 2006 Kennedy Center Honors, and two Classic Brit Awards (for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 2008, and for Musical Theatre and Education in 2018). In 2018, after ''Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert'' won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live), he became the thirteenth person to win an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Tony. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is an inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and is a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors.

The Really Useful Group, Lloyd Webber's company, is one of the largest theatre operators in London. Producers in several parts of the UK have staged productions, including national tours, of Lloyd Webber musicals under licence from the Really Useful Group. He is also the president of the Arts Educational Schools, London, a performing arts school located in Chiswick, west London. Lloyd Webber is involved in a number of charitable activities, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Nordoff Robbins, Prostate Cancer UK and War Child. In 1992, he started the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation which supports the arts, culture, and heritage of the UK."What we do"
. Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation. Retrieved 16 August 2015

Early life

Lloyd Webber was born on 22 March 1948, at Westminster Hospital in London, the elder son of William Lloyd Webber (1914–1982), a composer and organist, and Jean Hermione Johnstone (1921–1993), a violinist and pianist. His younger brother, Julian Lloyd Webber, is a world-renowned solo cellist. On the BBC's genealogy series '' Who Do You Think You Are?'', he learned that his mother's great-great-uncle was the soldier Sir Peregrine Maitland who in 1815 served as a major general at the Battle of Waterloo.

Lloyd Webber started writing his own music at a young age: a suite of six pieces at the age of nine. He also put on "productions" with Julian and his aunt Viola in his toy theatre (which he built at Viola's suggestion). In his memoir, he writes: "mum was determined that I should be a prodigy in something or other." His aunt Viola, an actress, took him to see many of her shows and through the stage door into the world of the theatre. His father enrolled him as a part-time student at the Eric Gilder School of Music in 1963. At this time he was working on a Genghis Khan musical called ''Westonia!''.

From 1960 to 1965, Lloyd Webber was a Queen's Scholar at Westminster School. An avid listener of 1960s rock and pop music, he called The Rolling Stones song "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" the "best record of the Sixties", and Dusty Springfield's rendition of "Son of a Preacher Man" the song that taught him "the power of a perfect pop song". He studied history for a term at Magdalen College, Oxford, although he abandoned the course in the winter of 1965 to study at the Royal College of Music in London and pursue his interest in musical theatre.

Career

Early years

In 1965, when Lloyd Webber was a 17-year-old budding musical-theatre composer, he was introduced to the 20-year-old aspiring pop-song writer Tim Rice. Their first collaboration was '' The Likes of Us'', an ''Oliver!''-inspired musical based on the true story of Thomas John Barnardo. They produced a demo tape of that work in 1966, but the project failed to gain a backer.Ellis, Samantha
"Joseph, London, February 1973"
''The Guardian''. 24 September 2003.

Although composed in 1965, ''The Likes of Us'' was not publicly performed until 2005, when a production was staged at Lloyd Webber's Sydmonton Festival. In 2008, amateur rights were released by the National Operatic and Dramatic Association (NODA) in association with the Really Useful Group. The first amateur performance was by a children's theatre group in Cornwall called "Kidz R Us". Stylistically, ''The Likes of Us'' is fashioned after the Broadway musical of the 1940s and 1950s; it opens with a traditional overture comprising a medley of tunes from the show, and the score reflects some of Lloyd Webber's early influences, particularly Richard Rodgers, Frederick Loewe, and Lionel Bart. In this respect, it is markedly different from the composer's later work, which tends to be either predominantly or wholly through-composed, and closer in form to opera.

In the summer of 1967, Alan Doggett, a family friend of the Lloyd Webbers who had assisted on ''The Likes of Us'' and who was the music teacher at the Colet Court school in London, commissioned Lloyd Webber and Rice to write a piece for the school's choir. Doggett requested a "pop cantata" along the lines of Herbert Chappell's ''The Daniel Jazz'' (1963) and Michael Hurd's ''Jonah-Man Jazz'' (1966), both of which had been published by Novello and were based on the Old Testament. The request for the new piece came with a 100-guinea advance from Novello. This resulted in ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', a retelling of the biblical story of Joseph, in which Lloyd Webber and Rice humorously pastiched a number of pop-music styles such as Elvis-style rock'n'roll, Calypso and country music. ''Joseph'' began life as a short cantata that gained some recognition on its second staging with a favourable review in ''The Times''. For its subsequent performances, Rice and Lloyd Webber revised the show and added new songs to expand it to a more substantial length. Continued expansion eventually culminated in a 1972 stage musical and then a two-hour-long production being staged in the West End in 1973 on the back of the success of ''Jesus Christ Superstar''.

In 1969, Rice and Lloyd Webber wrote a song for the Eurovision Song Contest called "Try It and See", which was not selected. With rewritten lyrics, it became "King Herod's Song" in their third musical, ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' (1970). Debuting on Broadway in 1971, by 1980 the musical had grossed more than worldwide. Running for over eight years in London between 1972 and 1980, it held the record for longest-running West End musical before it was overtaken by ''Cats'' in 1989. The planned follow-up to ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' was a musical comedy based on the ''Jeeves and Wooster'' novels by P. G. Wodehouse. Tim Rice was uncertain about this venture, partly because of his concern that he might not be able to do justice to the novels that he and Lloyd Webber so admired. Rice backed out of the project and Lloyd Webber subsequently wrote the musical ''Jeeves'' with Alan Ayckbourn, who provided the book and lyrics. ''Jeeves'' failed to make any impact at the box office and closed after a run of only 38 performances in the West End in 1975. Many years later, Lloyd Webber and Ayckbourn revisited this project, producing a thoroughly reworked and more successful version entitled ''By Jeeves'' (1996).

Mid-1970s

Lloyd Webber collaborated with Rice once again to write '' Evita'' (1978), a musical based on the life of Eva Perón. As with ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', ''Evita'' was released first as a concept album (1976) featuring Julie Covington singing the part of Eva Perón. The song "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" became a hit single and the musical was staged at the West End's Prince Edward Theatre in a production directed by Harold Prince and starring Elaine Paige in the title role. This original production was enormously successful, eventually running for nearly eight years in the West End.

''Evita'' transferred to Broadway in 1979, in a production starring Patti LuPone as Eva and Mandy Patinkin as Che; it won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, helped launch the careers of both LuPone and Patinkin, and ran for almost four years. Rice and Lloyd Webber parted ways soon after ''Evita'', although they have sporadically worked together since then.

In 1978, Lloyd Webber embarked on a project with his cellist brother Julian, the ''Variations'', based on the 24th Caprice by Paganini; this reached number two in the pop album chart in the United Kingdom. The main theme was used as the theme tune for ITV's long-running ''South Bank Show'' throughout its 32-year run. The same year, Lloyd Webber also composed a new theme tune for the long-running documentary series '' Whicker's World'', which was used from 1978 to 1980. He also composed the instrumental " Argentine Melody" as the theme music for the BBC's coverage of the 1978 FIFA World Cup held in Argentina.

1980s

Lloyd Webber was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in November 1980 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews in the foyer of Thames Television's Euston Road Studios in London. He would be honoured a second time by the television programme in November 1994 when Michael Aspel surprised him at the West End's Adelphi Theatre.

Lloyd Webber embarked on his next project without a lyricist, turning instead to the poetry of T. S. Eliot. ''Cats'' (1981) was to become the longest-running musical in London, where it ran for 21 years and 8,949 performances before closing. On Broadway, ''Cats'' ran for 18 years, a record which would ultimately be broken by another Lloyd Webber musical, ''The Phantom of the Opera''. Elaine Paige collaborated again with Lloyd Webber, originating the role of Grizabella in ''Cats'', and had a Top 10 UK hit with "Memory".

''Starlight Express'' (1984) was a commercial hit, but received negative reviews from the critics. It ran for 7,409 performances in London, making it the ninth longest-running West End show. It ran for less than two years on Broadway. The show has also seen two tours of the US, as well as an Australian/Japanese production, a three-year UK touring production, which transferred to New Zealand later in 2009. ''Starlight Express'' runs full-time in a custom-built theatre in Bochum, Germany, where it has been running since 1988. The German production holds the ''Guinness World Record'' for most visitors to a musical in a single theatre.

Lloyd Webber wrote a Requiem Mass dedicated to his father, William, who had died in 1982. It premiered at St. Thomas Church in New York on 24 February 1985. Church music had been a part of the composer's upbringing and the composition was inspired by an article he had read about the plight of Cambodian orphans. Lloyd Webber had on a number of occasions written sacred music for the annual Sydmonton Festival. Lloyd Webber received a Grammy Award in 1986 for ''Requiem'' in the category of best classical composition. ''Pie Jesu'' from Requiem achieved a high placing on the UK Singles Chart and was certified silver. Perhaps because of its large orchestration, live performances of the Requiem are rare.

In 1986, Prince Edward, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II, commissioned a short musical from Lloyd Webber and Rice for his mother's 60th birthday celebration. ''Cricket'' (1986), also called ''Cricket (Hearts and Wickets)'', reunited Lloyd Webber with Rice to create this short musical for the Queen's birthday, first performed at Windsor Castle.Citron, Stephen
''Sondheim and Lloyd-Webber: The New Musical.''
Oxford University Press, 2001. p. 355. Several of the tunes were later used for ''Aspects of Love'' and ''Sunset Boulevard''.

Lloyd Webber premiered ''The Phantom of the Opera'' at Her Majesty's Theatre in the West End in 1986, inspired by the 1911 Gaston Leroux novel. He wrote the part of Christine for his then wife, Sarah Brightman, who played the role in the original London and Broadway productions alongside Michael Crawford as the Phantom. The production was directed by Harold Prince, who had also earlier directed ''Evita''. Charles Hart wrote the lyrics for ''Phantom'' with some additional material provided by Richard Stilgoe, with whom Lloyd Webber co-wrote the book of the musical. It became a hit and is still running in the West End; in January 2006 it overtook Lloyd Webber's ''Cats'' as the longest-running show on Broadway. On 11 February 2012, ''Phantom of the Opera'' played its 10,000th show on Broadway. With over 14,200 London productions it is the second longest-running West End musical. The Broadway production closed on 16 April 2023, having played 13,981 performances, the most in Broadway history.

''Aspects of Love'' followed in 1989, a musical based on the story by David Garnett. The lyrics were by Don Black and Charles Hart and the original production was directed by Trevor Nunn. ''Aspects'' had a run of four years in London, but closed after less than a year on Broadway. It has since gone on a tour of the UK. It is famous for the song " Love Changes Everything", which was performed by Michael Ball in both the West End and Broadway casts. It stayed in the UK Singles Chart for 14 weeks, peaking at number 2 and becoming Ball's signature tune.

1990s

Lloyd Webber was asked to write a song for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and he composed "Amigos Para Siempre — Friends for Life" with Don Black providing the lyrics. This song was performed by Sarah Brightman and José Carreras.

Lloyd Webber had toyed with the idea of writing a musical based on Billy Wilder's critically acclaimed movie, ''Sunset Boulevard'', since seeing the film in the early 1970s, but the project did not come to fruition until after the completion of ''Aspects of Love'' when the composer finally managed to secure the rights from Paramount Pictures, The composer worked with two collaborators, as he had done on ''Aspects of Love''; this time Christopher Hampton and Don Black shared equal credit for the book and lyrics. ''Sunset Boulevard'' opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London on 12 July 1993, and ran for 1,529 performances.

In 1994, ''Sunset Boulevard'' became a successful Broadway show, opening with the largest advance in Broadway history, and winning seven Tony Awards that year. Even so, by its closing in 1997, "it had not recouped its reported $13 million investment." From 1995 to 2000, Lloyd Webber wrote the Matters of Taste column in ''The Daily Telegraph'' where he reviewed restaurants and hotels, and these were illustrated by Lucinda Rogers.

In 1998, Lloyd Webber released a film version of ''Cats'', which was filmed at the Adelphi Theatre in London. David Mallet directed the film, and Gillian Lynne choreographed it. The cast consisted of performers who had been in the show before, including Ken Page (the original Old Deuteronomy on Broadway), Elaine Paige (original Grizabella in London) and John Mills as Gus: the Theatre Cat.

In 1998, '' Whistle Down the Wind'' made its debut, a musical written with lyrics supplied by Jim Steinman. Originally opening in Washington, Lloyd Webber was reportedly not happy with the casting or Harold Prince's production and the show was subsequently revised for a London staging directed by Gale Edwards. The production included the Boyzone number-one hit " No Matter What", which remained at the top of the UK charts for three weeks. His '' The Beautiful Game'' opened in London and has never been seen on Broadway. The show had a respectable run at The Cambridge Theatre in London. The show was re-worked into a new musical, ''The Boys in the Photograph'', which had its world première at The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in April 2008.

2000s

Having achieved great popular success in musical theatre, Lloyd Webber was referred to by ''The New York Times'' in 2001 as "the most commercially successful composer in history". In 2002 he turned producer, bringing the musical ''Bombay Dreams'' to London. With music by Indian Music composer A.R. Rahman and lyrics by Don Black, it ran for two years at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. A revised Broadway production at the Broadway Theatre (53rd Street), Broadway Theatre two years later ran for only 284 performances. On 16 September 2004, his production of ''The Woman in White (musical), The Woman in White'' opened at the Palace Theatre in London. It ran for 19 months and 500 performances. A revised production opened on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre on 17 November 2005. Garnering mixed reviews from critics, due in part to the frequent absences of the show's star Maria Friedman due to breast cancer treatment, it closed only a brief three months later on 19 February 2006.

Lloyd Webber produced a staging of ''The Sound of Music'', which débuted in November 2006. He made the controversial decision to choose an unknown to play leading lady Maria, who was found through the BBC's reality television show ''How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?'', in which he was a judge. The winner of the show was Connie Fisher. A 2006 project, ''The Master and Margarita'', was abandoned in 2007.

In September 2006, Lloyd Webber was named a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors with Zubin Mehta, Dolly Parton, Steven Spielberg, and Smokey Robinson. He was recognised for his outstanding contribution to American performing arts. He attended the ceremony on 3 December 2006; it aired on 26 December 2006. On 11 February 2007, Lloyd Webber was featured as a guest judge on the reality television show ''Grease: You're the One that I Want!''.

Between April and June 2007, he appeared in BBC One's ''Any Dream Will Do (TV series), Any Dream Will Do!'', which followed the same format as ''How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?''. Its aim was to find a new Joseph for his revival of ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat''. Lee Mead won the contest. Viewers' telephone voting during the series raised more than pound sterling, £500,000 for the BBC's annual ''Children in Need'' charity appeal, according to host Graham Norton on air during the final.

In 2007, Lloyd Webber's cat, Otto, leaped onto his Clavinova piano and "destroyed the entire score for the new 'Phantom' in one fell swoop". The Phantom in question was ''The Phantom of Manhattan'', a planned sequel to ''The Phantom of the Opera''. On 1 July 2007, Lloyd Webber presented excerpts from his musicals as part of the Concert for Diana held at Wembley Stadium, London, an event organised to celebrate the life of Princess Diana almost 10 years after her death. BBC Radio 2 broadcast a concert of music from the Lloyd Webber musicals on 24 August 2007. Denise Van Outen introduced songs from '' Whistle Down the Wind'', '' The Beautiful Game'', ''Tell Me on a Sunday'', ''The Woman in White (musical), The Woman in White'', '' Evita'' and ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' – as well as Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''The Sound of Music'', which Lloyd Webber revived in 2006 at the London Palladium, and the 2002 musical ''Bombay Dreams''.

In April 2008, Lloyd Webber reprised his role as judge, this time in the BBC musical talent show ''I'd Do Anything (BBC TV series), I'd Do Anything''. The show followed a similar format to its ''Maria'' and ''Joseph'' predecessors, this time involving a search for an actress to play the role of Nancy in a West End production of Lionel Bart's ''Oliver!'', a musical based on the Charles Dickens' novel ''Oliver Twist''. The show also featured a search for three young actors to play and share the title character's role, but the show's main focus was on the search for Nancy. The role was won by Jodie Prenger despite Lloyd Webber's stated preference for one of the other contestants; the winners of the Oliver role were Harry Stott, Gwion Wyn-Jones and Laurence Jeffcoate. Also in April 2008, Lloyd Webber was featured on the U.S. talent show ''American Idol'', acting as a mentor when the 6 finalists had to select one of his songs to perform for the judges that week.

Lloyd Webber accepted the challenge of managing the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, UK's entry for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Moscow. In early 2009 a series, called ''Eurovision: Your Country Needs You'', was broadcast to find a performer for a song that he would compose for the competition. Jade Ewen won the right to represent Britain, winning with "It's My Time (Eurovision song), It's My Time", by Lloyd Webber and Diane Warren. At the contest, Lloyd Webber accompanied her on the piano during the performance. The United Kingdom finished fifth in the contest.

On 8 October 2009, Lloyd Webber launched the musical ''Love Never Dies (musical), Love Never Dies'' at a press conference held at Her Majesty's Theatre, where the original ''Phantom'' has been running since 1986. Also present were Sierra Boggess, who had been cast as Christine Daaé, and Ramin Karimloo, who portrayed Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Phantom, a role he had recently played in the West End.

2010s

Following the opening of ''Love Never Dies'', Lloyd Webber again began a search for a new musical theatre performer in the BBC One series ''Over the Rainbow (2010 TV series), Over the Rainbow''. He cast the winner, Danielle Hope, in the role of Dorothy Gale, and a dog to play Toto (Oz), Toto in his forthcoming stage production of ''The Wizard of Oz (2011 musical), The Wizard of Oz''. He and lyricist and composer Tim Rice wrote a number of new songs for the production to supplement the songs from the film.

On 1 March 2011, ''The Wizard of Oz (2011 musical), The Wizard of Oz'' opened at The Palladium Theatre, starring Hope as Dorothy Gale and Michael Crawford as the Wizard of Oz (character), Wizard of Oz. In 2012, Lloyd Webber fronted a new ITV primetime show ''Superstar (UK TV series), Superstar'' which gave the UK public the chance to decide who would play the starring role of Jesus in an arena tour of ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. The arena tour started in September 2012 and also starred comedian Tim Minchin as Judas Iscariot, former Spice Girl Melanie C as Mary Magdalene and BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles as Herod Antipas. Tickets for most venues went on sale on 18 May 2012.

In 2013, Lloyd Webber reunited with Christopher Hampton and Don Black on ''Stephen Ward the Musical''. For his next project, a 2015 School of Rock (musical), musical adaptation of the 2003 film ''School of Rock'', auditions were held for children aged nine to fifteen in cooperation with the School of Rock (company), School of Rock music education program, which predated the film by several years.

In April 2016, the English National Opera staged a revival of ''Sunset Boulevard'' at the London Coliseum. The limited run, semi-staged production directed by Lonny Price brought Glenn Close to reprise her star turn as Norma Desmond, which was her first time performing the role in London; she had originated the role in Los Angeles in December 1993 and then on Broadway in November 1994 (which won her the 1995 Tony Awards, 1995 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical). The 2016 London revival was so well-received that the production transferred to the Palace Theatre on Broadway in February 2017, making Lloyd Webber the first musical-theatre composer since 1953 to have four musicals running simultaneously on Broadway – a feat that his heroes Rodgers and Hammerstein had previously achieved.

Lloyd Webber's memoir, ''Unmasked'', was published in 2018. On 9 September 2018, Lloyd Webber, along with Tim Rice and John Legend each won an Emmy for ''Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert''. With this win, Lloyd Webber, Rice and Legend joined the list of people who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards. Lloyd Webber wrote the song "Beautiful Ghosts" with Taylor Swift for the Cats (2019 film), film adaptation of ''Cats'', produced by Greg Wells and released in December 2019. In an interview in August 2020, Lloyd Webber called the film "ridiculous" in the ways that it changed the musical: "The problem with the film was that Tom Hooper decided that he didn't want anybody involved in it who was involved in the original show." He said that seeing the film caused him to get a dog.Lang, Brent
"Andrew Lloyd Webber on Broadway's Reopening, ''Cinderella'' and Why the ''Cats'' Movie Caused Him to Buy a Dog"
''Variety'', 10 October 2021

2020s

Lloyd Webber's new version of ''Cinderella (Lloyd Webber musical), Cinderella'' opened at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in the West End in 2021. The opening, which was originally set to take place in August 2020, was Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performing arts, delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on a book by Emerald Fennell, Lloyd Webber wrote: "Emerald Fennell has written something truly exciting and original, and the moment I read her outline I knew I'd found my latest collaborator." He garnered press attention in July 2021 for saying that he was "prepared to be arrested" to open ''Cinderella'' to full houses in spite of rising Covid cases and in defiance of Government advice. A 2021 feature in ''Variety (magazine), Variety'' suggested:

In 2022, Lloyd Webber appeared alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda in the BBC Platinum Jubilee Concert for Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. They initially appeared singing alternative words to "The King's Song" from ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' and " Any Dream Will Do" from ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' and "The Phantom of the Opera (song), The Phantom of the Opera" from ''The Phantom of the Opera'' were parts of the musical theatre section. In 2023, Lloyd Webber was one of twelve composers asked to write a new piece for the coronation of Charles III and Camilla. His anthem, "Make a Joyful Noise", was performed during the enthronement of Queen Camilla.

In 2024, Lloyd Webber announced that his next musical will be an adaptation of the 2006 film The Illusionist (2006 film), ''The Illusionist'', which will feature lyrics by Bruno Major, book by Chris Terrio and will be directed by Jamie Lloyd (director), Jamie Lloyd and produced by Michael Harrison (following the 2023 and 2024 London and Broadway revivals of Sunset Boulevard (musical), ''Sunset Boulevard''). In 2025, Lloyd Webber will reunite with Tim Rice to create the original songs for ''Sherlock Holmes and The 12 Days of Christmas'', a comedy whodunit play written by Humphrey Ker and David Reed (comedian), David Reed (members of the British sketch comedy troupe The Penny Dreadfuls) which will premiere at the Birmingham Rep for the Christmas season.

Accusations of plagiarism

Among the accusations of plagiarism that Lloyd Webber has received, the Dutch composer Louis Andriessen stated that he: "has yet to think up a single note; in fact, the poor guy's never invented one note by himself. That's rather poor". Lloyd Webber's biographer, John Snelson, acknowledged a similarity between the ''andante'' movement of Violin Concerto (Mendelssohn), Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor and the ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' song "I Don't Know How to Love Him", but wrote that Lloyd Webber:

An accusation of plagiarism regarded the 1971 Pink Floyd album ''Meddle''. The sixth track of the album, "Echoes (Pink Floyd song), Echoes", has a riff on which Lloyd Webber allegedly based the opening organ riff in "The Phantom of the Opera (Andrew Lloyd Webber song), The Phantom of the Opera". The two riffs share very similar notes and the order of the notes played. Lloyd Webber's pipe organ riff from "Phantom of the Opera" plays D, C, C, B, A, then ascending A, B, C, C, D. Pink Floyd's "Echoes" plays C, C, B, A, A, then ascending A, A, B, C, C. Pink Floyd bassist and co-lead vocalist Roger Waters pointed this out and said it was "probably actionable", but stated that he did not care to take it to court.

Noting similarities between Lloyd Webber's "The Music of the Night" and a recurring melody in Giacomo Puccini's 1910 opera, ''La fanciulla del West'' (''The Girl of the Golden West''), in 1987 the Puccini estate filed a lawsuit against Lloyd Webber, accusing him of plagiarism. The case was settled out of court, but details were not released to the public. The songwriter Ray Repp claimed in a court case that Lloyd Webber had stolen a melody from his own song "Till You", but the court ruled in Lloyd Webber's favour.

Personal life

Lloyd Webber has been married three times. He married first Sarah Hugill, youngest daughter of Lieutenant-Commander Antony 1944 Birthday Honours#Order of the Bath, Hugill and Fanny ''née'' High Sheriff of Rutland#1900–1973, Gore Browne, on 24 July 1971; they divorced on 14 November 1983. Together they had two children, a daughter and a son:
* Imogen Lloyd Webber (born 31 March 1977)
* Nicholas Lloyd Webber (2 July 1979 – 25 March 2023)

He then married English soprano Sarah Brightman on 22 March 1984, in Hampshire. He cast Brightman in the lead role in his musical ''The Phantom of the Opera'', among other notable roles. They divorced on 3 January 1990, but have remained close friends and have also continued to work together.

Thirdly, he married Madeleine Gurdon in London Borough of Westminster, Westminster on 9 February 1991. They have three children, two sons and one daughter.

Lloyd Webber and his third wife Madeleine founded the Watership Down Stud in 1992. In 1996, they expanded their equestrian holdings by purchasing Kiltinan Castle Stud near Fethard, County Tipperary, Fethard in County Tipperary, Ireland. They were invited to ride in the King's procession at Royal Ascot 2023.

In a 1971 interview with ''The New York Times'', Lloyd Webber said he is an agnostic. He also said he views Jesus as "one of the great figures of history".

He is a lifelong supporter of London-based football club Leyton Orient F.C., as is his younger brother Julian Lloyd Webber, Julian.

In late 2009, Lloyd Webber had surgery for early-stage prostate cancer, but had to be readmitted to hospital with post-operative infection in November. In January 2010, he declared he was cancer-free. He had his prostate completely removed as a preventative measure.

In 2023, Lloyd Webber's son Nicholas died at the age of 43 after an 18-month battle with gastric cancer.

Lloyd Webber has a house in Eaton Square in Belgravia, London; in 2024 he revealed he had had his house Exorcism, blessed by a priest in an attempt to displace a "poltergeist" that was haunting the property.

Wealth

The ''Sunday Times Rich List 2006'' ranked him the 87th-richest person in Britain with an estimated fortune of pound sterling, £700 million. His wealth increased to £750 million in 2007, but the publication ranked him Sunday Times Rich List 2008, 101st in 2008. ''The Sunday Times'' Sunday Times Rich List, Rich List of 2019 saw him ranked List of music artists by net worth, the richest musician in the UK (overtaking Paul McCartney) with a fortune of £820 million ($1.074 billion). He lives at Sydmonton Court, Hampshire, and owns much of nearby Watership Down, Hampshire, Watership Down.

Lloyd Webber is an art collector, with a passion for Victorian painting. An exhibition of works from his collection was presented at the Royal Academy in 2003 under the title ''Pre-Raphaelite and Other Masters – The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection''. In 2006, Lloyd Webber planned to sell ''Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto'' by Pablo Picasso to benefit the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation. In November 2006, he withdrew the painting from auction after a claim that the previous owner had been forced to sell it under duress in Nazi Germany. An out-of-court settlement was reached, where the foundation retained ownership rights. On 23 June 2010, the painting was sold at auction for £34.7 million to an anonymous telephone bidder.

Charity

Lloyd Webber is involved in a number of charitable activities, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Nordoff Robbins, Prostate Cancer UK and War Child. In 1992, he started the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation which supports the arts, culture, and heritage of the UK.

In 2013, the Andrew Lloyd Webber Programme was launched to aid the Music in Secondary Schools Trust (MiSST), which aims to give every child at participating schools across the UK the opportunity to study a musical instrument as part of the curriculum. He told LBC: "What music does in these schools, isn't actually necessarily about trying to make the children musicians. But what it does, is it really helps them as people."

In 2014, Lloyd Webber designed a ''Cats''-themed Paddington Bear statue, which was located in Chinatown, London, Chinatown, London (one of 50 placed around London), with the statues auctioned to raise funds for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).

Politics

Lloyd Webber was made a life peer in 1997 as ''Baron Lloyd-Webber, of Sydmonton, in the county of Hampshire'', sitting for the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party. By the end of 2015, he had voted only 33 times in the House of Lords. Politically, Lloyd Webber has supported the Conservatives, allowing his song "Take That Look Off Your Face" to be used on a party promotional film seen by an estimated one million people before the 2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 general election. In August 2014, Lloyd Webber was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to ''The Guardian'' opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's 2014 Scottish independence referendum, referendum on that issue.

In October 2015, Lloyd Webber was involved in a contentious House of Lords vote over proposed cuts to tax credits, voting with the Government in favour of the plan. Lloyd Webber was denounced by his critics because he flew in from abroad on his personal plane to vote, when his voting record was scant. In October 2017, Lloyd Webber retired from the House of Lords, stating that his busy schedule was incompatible with the demands of Parliament considering the upcoming crucial Brexit legislation.

In July 2021, he told ''Good Morning Britain (2014 TV programme), Good Morning Britain'' that he would never vote for the Conservatives again, due to their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performing arts, poor treatment of the arts sector during that time.

Awards and honours

Lloyd Webber was Knight Bachelor, knighted in the Queen's 1992 Birthday Honours for services to the arts. He was given a life peerage in the 1997 New Year Honours and created Baron Lloyd-Webber, of Sydmonton in the County of Hampshire, on 18 February 1997. He is properly styled "The Lord Lloyd-Webber"; the title is hyphenated, although his surname is not. He sat as a Conservative Party (UK), Conservative member of the House of Lords until his retirement from the House on 17 October 2017.

On St George's Day 2024, he was appointed a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter (KG).

Theatre credits

''Note: Music composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber unless otherwise noted.''

Musicals

* '' The Likes of Us'' (1965)
** Lyrics by Tim Rice
** Book by Leslie Thomas
** Not produced until 2005
* ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (1968)
** Lyrics by Tim Rice
* ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' (1970)
** Lyrics by Tim Rice
* ''By Jeeves, Jeeves'' (1975)
** Book and lyrics by Alan Ayckbourn
** Revised in 1996 as ''By Jeeves''
* '' Evita'' (1976)
** Lyrics by Tim Rice
* ''Tell Me on a Sunday'' (1979)
** Lyrics by Don Black
* ''Cats'' (1981)
** Lyrics based on ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' by T. S. Eliot
** Additional lyrics after Eliot by Richard Stilgoe and Trevor Nunn
* ''Song and Dance'' (1982)
** Lyrics by Don Black (revised by Richard Maltby Jr. for Broadway)
** Combination of ''Variations'' (1978) and ''Tell Me on a Sunday'' (1979)
* ''Starlight Express'' (1984)
** Lyrics by Richard Stilgoe
** Later revisions by Don Black and David Yazbek
** Inspired by ''The Railway Series'' books by The Rev. W. Awdry.
* ''Cricket'' (1986)
** Lyrics by Tim Rice
** First performed for Queen Elizabeth II's 60th birthday
* ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (1986)
** Lyrics by Charles Hart
** Additional Lyrics by Richard Stilgoe
** Book by Richard Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber
** Based on the The Phantom of the Opera (novel), novel by Gaston Leroux
* ''Aspects of Love'' (1989)
** Lyrics by Don Black and Charles Hart
** Book by Andrew Lloyd Webber
** Based on the Aspects of Love (novel), novel by David Garnett
* ''Sunset Boulevard'' (1993)
** Book and lyrics by Christopher Hampton and Don Black
** Based on the Sunset Boulevard (1950 film), 1950 film by Billy Wilder
* '' Whistle Down the Wind ''(1996)
** Lyrics by Jim Steinman
** Book by Patricia Knop, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Gale Edwards
* '' The Beautiful Game'' (2000)
** Book and lyrics by Ben Elton
** Updated as ''The Boys in the Photograph'' (2009)
* ''The Woman in White (musical), The Woman in White'' (2004)
** Lyrics by David Zippel
** Book by Charlotte Jones (writer), Charlotte Jones
** Based on the Wilkie Collins novel
** Based on elements of the short story ''The Signal-Man'' by Charles DickensAustin, Jeremy (2004). "Interview with Andrew Lloyd Webber". ''The Woman in White: Education Pack''. pg 14
* ''Love Never Dies (musical), Love Never Dies'' (2010)
** Book & Lyrics by Glenn Slater
** Book by Ben Elton & Frederick Forsyth
** Additional lyrics by Charles Hart
* ''The Wizard of Oz (2011 musical), The Wizard of Oz'' (2011)
** Book by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Jeremy Sams
** Music by Harold Arlen
** Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg
** Additional music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
** Additional lyrics by Tim Rice
** Based on the 1939 motion picture ''The Wizard of Oz''
** Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum
* ''Stephen Ward (musical), Stephen Ward'' (2013)
** Book and lyrics by Christopher Hampton and Don Black
* ''School of Rock (musical), School of Rock'' (2015)
** Lyrics by Glenn Slater
** Book by Julian Fellowes
** Based on the School of Rock, 2003 film by Richard Linklater
* ''Cinderella (Lloyd Webber musical), Cinderella'' (2021)
** Lyrics by David Zippel
** Book by Emerald Fennell
** Based on the Cinderella, classic story
** Produced on Broadway as ''Bad Cinderella''

Plays

* ''Sherlock Holmes and The 12 Days of Christmas'' (2025)
** Written by Humphrey Ker and David Reed (comedian), David Reed
** Lyrics by Tim Rice

Film adaptations

There have been a number of film adaptations of Lloyd Webber's musicals: ''Jesus Christ Superstar (film), Jesus Christ Superstar'' (1973), directed by Norman Jewison; ''Evita (1996 movie), Evita'' (1996), directed by Alan Parker; ''The Phantom of the Opera (2004 film), The Phantom of the Opera'' (2004), directed by Joel Schumacher and co-produced by Lloyd Webber; and ''Cats (2019 film), Cats'' (2019), directed by Tom Hooper and executive produced by Lloyd Webber. ''Cats (1998 film), Cats'' (1998), ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (1999), ''Jesus Christ Superstar#Films, Jesus Christ Superstar'' (2000) and ''By Jeeves#Filmed production, By Jeeves'' (2001) have been adapted into made-for-television films that have been released on DVD and VHS and often air on BBC.

A special performance of ''The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall'' for the 25th anniversary was broadcast live to cinemas in early October 2011 and later released on DVD and Blu-ray in February 2012. The same was also done with a reworked version of ''Love Never Dies''. Filmed in Melbourne, it received a limited release, limited cinema release in the US and Canada in 2012, to see if it would be viable to bring the show to Broadway.

Other works

* ''Gumshoe (film), Gumshoe'' (1971) - film score
* ''The Odessa File (film), The Odessa File'' (1974) – Film score.
* ''Variations'' (1978) – A set of musical variations on Niccolò Paganini's Caprice in A minor that Lloyd Webber composed for his brother, cellist Julian. This album featured fifteen rock musicians including guitarist Gary Moore and pianist Rod Argent and reached number 2 in the UK album chart upon its release. It was later combined with ''Tell Me on a Sunday'' to form one show, ''Song and Dance''. Lloyd Webber also used variation five as the basis for ''Unexpected Song'' in Song and Dance. The main theme is used as the theme music to ''The South Bank Show''.
* ''Requiem (Webber), Requiem'' (1985) – A classical choral work composed in honour of his father, William.
* ''Watership Down (1999 TV series), Watership Down'' (1999) – Lloyd Webber and Mike Batt, main soundtrack composer of the animated series adaptation of Watership Down, Richard Adams' novel of the same name, composed the song "Fields of Sun". The actual song was never used on the show, nor was it available on the CD soundtrack that was released at the time. He was however still credited for the unused song in the show's opening titles.

Discography

; Musicals and show recordings

* '' The Likes of Us'' (1965)
* ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (1968)
* ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' (1970)
* ''By Jeeves, Jeeves'' (1975)
* '' Evita'' (1976)
* ''Tell Me on a Sunday'' (1979)
* ''Cats'' (1981)
* ''Song and Dance'' (1982)
* ''Starlight Express'' (1984)
* ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (1986)
* ''Aspects of Love'' (1989)
* ''Sunset Boulevard'' (1993)
* '' Whistle Down the Wind'' (1998)
* '' The Beautiful Game'' (2000)
* ''The Woman in White (musical), The Woman in White'' (2004)
* ''Love Never Dies (musical), Love Never Dies'' (2010)
* ''The Wizard of Oz (2011 musical), The Wizard of Oz'' (2011)
* ''Stephen Ward the Musical, Stephen Ward'' (2013)
* ''School of Rock (musical), School of Rock'' (2015)
* '' Cinderella (Lloyd Webber musical), Cinderella'' (2021)
* ''Cinderella (Lloyd Webber musical), Bad Cinderella'' (2023)

; Other albums
* ''Variations'' (1978)
* ''Variations with London Philharmonic Orchestra'' (1986)
* ''Symphonic Suites'' (2021)

See also

* ''View of Geelong'' by Eugene von Guerard, 1856 painting once owned by Lloyd Webber

References

Further reading

* ''Pre-Raphaelite and Other Masters: The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection'' – Royal Academy of Arts, London 2003
* ''Cats on a Chandelier'' – Coveney, M (1999), Hutchinson, London
* ''Oh What a Circus'' – Rice, Tim (1999), Hodder & Stoughton, London
* ''Andrew Lloyd Webber'' – Snelson, John (2004), Yale University Press, New Haven CT.
* ''Andrew Lloyd Webber: His Life and Works'' – Walsh, Michael (1989, revised and expanded, 1997), Abrams: New York

External links

*

Biography
at the Really Useful Group
*
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