Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She began her career as a member of the dance troupes Pan's People and Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, she made her musical theatre debut in Cats and met composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, whom she married. She went on to star in several Broadway musicals, including The Phantom of the Opera, where she played the role of Christine Daaé.The Original London Cast Album of the musical was released in CD format in 1987 and sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it the biggest-selling cast album of all time.
After retiring from the stage and divorcing Lloyd Webber, Brightman resumed her music career with former Enigma producer Frank Peterson, this time as a classical artist. She is among the most prominent performers in the genre, with worldwide sales of more than 30 million albums, with over 8 million (Platinum x 5, Gold x 6) in album sales in the US. and over 2 million DVDs. The Recording Industry Association of America has named her the best-selling female classical artist of the twenty-first century in the United States. She has now collected over 160 gold and platinum sales awards in 34 different countries.
Apart from music, Brightman has begun a film career, making her major debut in Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008), a rock opera-musical film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman.
Brightman, the eldest of six children, was born to businessman Grenville Geoffrey Brightman (1934--1992) and Paula Brightman (née Hall). She was raised in Little Gaddesden, a village near Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England, and lived in John O'Gaddesden House in the village. At age three, she began taking dance classes at the Elmhurst School for Dance in Camberley, Surrey. and went on to perform in local festivals and competitions. At age 11, she successfully auditioned for The Arts Educational School, Tring Park, a boarding school specialising in performing arts. Although Brightman was teased by other students and attempted to run away, she nevertheless remained at the school. Later, she auditioned for the Royal Ballet in London but was rejected. Brightman continued to study dance, particularly jazz, as a pupil of choreographer Arlene Phillips.
In 1976, she joined the dance group Pan's People and appeared on the BBC series Top of the Pops. She left a year later to lead Phillips' troupe Hot Gossip. More provocative than Pan's People, the group had a disco hit in 1978 with "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper", which sold half a million and reached number six on the UK charts. Hot Gossip released a follow-up single, "The Adventures of the Love Crusader", six months later, but it failed to chart. Brightman, now solo, released more disco singles under Whisper Records, such as "Not Having That!" and a cover of the song "My Boyfriend's Back".
In 1981, Brightman auditioned for the new musical Cats and was cast as Jemima. In rehearsals she met Andrew Lloyd Webber. The two married in 1984, and Brightman appeared in many of Lloyd Webber's subsequent musicals including Song and Dance and the mass Requiem, the latter written for her. With Requiem she earned her first Grammy nomination.
Brightman starred as Christine Daaé in Lloyd Webber's adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera. The role of Christine was written specifically for her. Lloyd Webber refused to open The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway unless Brightman played Christine. Initially, the American Actors' Equity Association balked, due to their policy that any non-American performer must be an international star. Lloyd Webber had to cast an American in a leading rôle in his next West End musical before the Equity would allow Brightman to appear (a promise he kept in casting Aspects of Love).
After leaving Phantom, she performed in a tour of Lloyd Webber's music throughout England, Canada, and the United States, and performed Requiem in the Soviet Union. Studio recordings from this time include the single "Anything But Lonely" from Aspects of Love and two solo albums: the 1988 album The Trees They Grow So High, a compilation of folk songs accompanied by piano, and the 1989 album The Songs That Got Away, a musical theatre compilation of songs cut from shows by composers such as Irving Berlin and Stephen Sondheim.
By 1990, Brightman and Lloyd Webber separated. After their divorce, Brightman played the lead in Lloyd Webber's Aspects in London opposite Michael Praed, before transferring to Broadway.
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