SARAH BRIGHTMAN

Born: Berkhampstead, England, 14 August 1960

Genre: Vocal

Best-selling album since 1990: Timeless (1997)

Hit songs since 1990: "Time to Say Goodbye," "Deliver Me"

Often linked with her work in musical theater, Sarah Brightman for most of her career has been a determined recording artist in a variety of musical styles whose delicate soprano has touched millions of listeners.

Brightman was born and raised in Berkhampstead, England, where she began voice lessons and ballet training at an early age. She debuted theatrically in 1973 on London's West End at the Piccadilly Theatre in Charles Strouse's regally themed musical, I and Albert, and performed as a dancer in the British television series Pan's People in 1976. Two years later, she danced and sang as a member of the British pop group Hot Gossip and scored a Top 10 single in the United Kingdom with the disco hit, "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper." In 1981 she won the role of Jemina in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats and performed the long-running musical in its initial London resurrection.

Brightman and Lloyd Webber were married on March 22, 1984, the second marriage for both. Brightman's first marriage was in 1978 to rock manager Andrew Graham Stewart, from whom she was divorced 1983. Her nuptial to Lloyd Webber, who was already a superstar composer, received major media scrutiny and was a double-edged sword for the young soprano. Lloyd Webber placed her in several of his projects and Brightman gained international notoriety for her singing. However, doggedly stalking her career was the suggestion that she merely married well. In 1985 Lloyd Webber cast her alongside renowned tenor Plácido Domingo in his politically controversial Requiem and she scored a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Classical Artist. Later, Brightman starred in his London and Broadway productions of Phantom of the Opera, which opened in 1988. She followed that by headlining the world concert tour, The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber: A Concert Spectacular. She also starred on Broadway in another Lloyd Webber show, Aspects of Love, in 1991, although they were no longer a couple. Their marriage had amicably dissolved in 1990 and some of Brightman's harsher critics felt that her career might dissolve along with it. They were mistaken.

Recordings of her theatrical roles, previous solo albums, and concert tours had already made millions of fans of Brightman's silky, mesmerizing voice. In 1992 her duet with opera singer Jose Carreras, "Amigos Para Siempre," the anthem of the 1992 Olympics, landed high on the charts in England. The next year she released Dive (1993), a foray into bouncy pop and the first record produced by a new romantic companion, Frank Peterson, who also wrote many of the album's songs. They followed with Fly (1995), whose re-release in 1996 added her blockbuster duet with Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, "Time to Say Goodbye." Except for the epic duet, the other songs on Fly had more of a 1980s electronic pop fusion sound. Both albums did well; however, the release of "Time to Say Goodbye" as a single eclipsed them. The song sold more then 10 million copies worldwide and is the biggest-selling single ever in Germany. Consequently, Brightman and Peterson decided to include it on their next album, Timeless (1997). This popular recording is titled Time to Say Goodbye (1997) for the United States release. Along with a strong return to operatic work, including Puccini's "O Mio Babbino Caro," the album also contains several pop efforts and firmly established Brightman as a versatile crossover artist.

Brightman's international presence results in varying titles and song listings on her albums depending on the locale of the release. She also sings in several languages, most notably Spanish, Italian, Hebrew, and her native English. Brightman's concerts are known to feature mood-creating theatricality that enthralls her fans, but is sometimes loathed by serious classical lovers. In 2001 Brightman released a compilation album, Classics, containing songs off her previous three releases in addition to seven new songs that mix pop, neo-classical, and new age styles. Her follow-up, Encore (2002), is another compilation of previous recordings, including many of Lloyd Webber's songs from her days in musical theater.

Brightman's fearless crossovers from one style to the next have often put her at the mercy of the critics. Yet, in every invention of herself, she has attracted legions of fans and established herself as one of the most prominent sopranos in the world.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

The Trees They Grow So High (EMI, 1986); The Songs That Got Away (Polygram, 1989); As I Came of Age (Polygram, 1990); The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber (Phantom, 1992); Dive (A&M, 1993); Surrender (Polygram, 1995); Fly (Wea International, 1996); Timeless (Angel Classics, 1997); Eden (EMI International, 1998); La Luna-La Luna (Wea, 2000); Classics (Angel Classics, 2001); Encore (Universal, 2002).

donald lowe