Andrew Lloyd Webber: His Music and His Life

Everything you need to know including his musicals, wife and net worth

By ClassicFM London

Andrew Lloyd Webber at the 2016 Broadway revival of CATS. Picture: Getty

Andrew Lloyd Webber is the King of memorable tunes and catchy choruses, and has a whopping 20 musicals and 45 awards to his name. Here are 20 amazing facts about the 70-year-old composer, including his musicals, songs and net worth.

1. When is Andrew Lloyd Webber's birthday?

   Born on 22 March 1948, Andrew first picked up the violin and piano aged three, before taking up the French horn and starting to write his own music at the age of six. He also appeared on Nursery World magazine with a violin aged five. Aww.

   

   Nursery World Magazine, 1953. Picture: Nursery World Magazine

2. Andrew Lloyd Webber's net worth

   The 70-year-old composer's net worth is estimated at a huge £800 million. He came second in The Sunday Times Rich List in 2017 for UK musicians, behind Sir Paul McCartney.

   

   Sir Paul McCartney at MetLife Stadium on August 7, 2016. Picture: Getty

3. Andrew Lloyd Webber's 70th birthday

   Andrew Lloyd Webber: A Musical Celebration will take place on Sunday 17 June 2018, in celebration of the composer's 70th birthday earlier this year.
   The event, as part of Live at Chelsea, will feature a line-up from the cast of Andrew's West End musicals, including Tyrone Huntley from Jesus Christ Superstar, and Joe McElderry with the cast of School of Rock – The Musical and The Phantom of the Opera. Tickets and more information here.

   

   Joe McElderry will perform at Andrew Lloyd Webber's 70th birthday concert.Picture: Getty

4. The Lloyd Webber family

   Andrew's brother, Julian Lloyd Webber, is a former concert cellist and Andrew's late father William was director of the London College of Music. His mother, Jean, was a piano teacher.

   

   Julian Lloyd Webber at Classic FM Live in Wales, 2012. Picture: Classic FM

5. Andrew Lloyd Webber's wife

   In 1991, Andrew married the former equestrian sportswoman Madeleine Gurdon, and the couple have been happily married ever since.
   Andrew was married to his first wife, Sarah Hugill, from 1971 to 1983, before he married second wife Sarah Brightman in 1984. He met Brightman when she joined the cast of Cats in 1981. In 1986, he wrote the role of Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera for her.

   

   Andrew Lloyd Webber and Madeleine Gurdon at The Old Vic Theatre on November 13, 2016. Picture: Getty

6. Andrew Lloyd Webber's children

   Andrew had two children – Imogen and Nicholas Lloyd Webber – with his first wife, Sarah, and three with his wife Madeleine Gurdon – Alastair, William and Isabella Lloyd Webber. Imogen is a four-time Emmy nominee who has worked for MSNBC and Fox News, while Nicholas has followed in his father's footsteps, writing The Little Prince in 2011 and the recent Fat Friends The Musical.

7. Andrew Lloyd Webber's first musical

   The musical was called Cinderella Up The Beanstalk And Most Everywhere Else. Aged 19, Andrew wrote his first staged musical with Tim Rice: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. The following year, the pair wrote Jesus Christ Superstar.

8. Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals

   His stage musical credits include (deep breath)... Jesus Christ Superstar, Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Cats, Starlight Express, School of Rock – The Musical, Sunset Boulevard, and The Women In White.
   He also composed the music for Love Never Dies, The Likes Of Us, Jeeves, Tell Me On A Sunday, Song And Dance, Cricket, Aspects Of Love, Whistle Down The Wind, The Beautiful Game, Stephen Ward The Musical, and a musical version of The Wizard Of Oz.

   

   Judy Garland as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Picture: Rex

9. The Phantom of the Opera

   Widely considered to be one of his best musicals, The Phantom of the Opera brought in an unprecedented $16 million (£12 million) in advance ticket sales. It’s now the second highest grossing musical ever, bringing in £4.2 billion globally – second only to The Lion King, which has made £5.6 billion.

10. Cats the musical

    Since its opening on Broadway in 1982, Cats has been translated into over 20 languages and performed all around the world, and it is now the fourth-longest-running show in Broadway history.

11. Andrew Lloyd Webber's film and TV credits

    Lloyd Webber has earned a huge number of on-screen credits, following film adaptations of The Phantom Of The Opera, Evita (famously starring Madonna), Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Love Never Dies and Cats, plus anniversary performances of The Phantom Of The Opera and Jesus Christ Superstar.
    He has also dabbled in film composing, writing the score for Gumshoe and The Odessa File. His music has appeared in a total of 210 films and TV shows.

12. In the 1960s, he produced a psychedelic band

    The British band was called Tales of Justine, and he produced them with Tim Rice.

13. Andrew Lloyd Webber was a one-hit-wonder

    Andrew once tried his luck as a soloist, under the pseudonym Doctor Spin. In 1992, he released the single ‘Tetris’ – a Eurodance remix of the theme from the well-known video game – which reached No. 6 in the UK charts. It’s... different?!

14. The first music he ever heard was by Tchaikovsky and... Elvis

    Apparently, the first two records Andrew remembers hearing are Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker and Elvis Presley's 'Jailhouse Rock'.

15. Andrew Lloyd Webber's awards

    Over his lifetime, Andrew has won 45 awards, including seven Oliviers, seven Tony Awards, four Grammys, two Emmys, one Oscar, one Golden Globe, one BRIT and 14 Ivor Novellos. Yeesh.

    

    Andrew Lloyd Webber at the GRAMMY Awards on January 28, 2018. Picture: Getty

16. Baron Lloyd Webber

    After being awarded a knighthood in 1992, Lloyd Webber was also made a life peer in the New Year Honours list in 1997, making him a Baron.

    

    Andrew Lloyd Webber meeting the Queen at Buckingham Palace Concert on 4 June, 2012. Picture: Getty

17. He shares a birthday with Stephen Sondheim

    Lloyd Webber celebrated his 70th birthday on 22 March this year. Composer Stephen Sondheim was also born on 22 March in 1930, making him 18 years Andrew's senior.

    

    Stephen Sondheim on 28 August 1962. Picture: Getty

18. Andrew Lloyd Webber's theatre company

    The Really Useful Theatre Group owns a number of successful West End and London theatres, including The Adelphi Theatre, Cambridge Theatre, London Palladium, New London Theatre, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Theatre Royal Drury Lane and The Other Palace in London.

    

    Lee Mead in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, at the Adelphi Theatre. Picture: Getty

19. Andrew Lloyd Webber's charity work

    Since founding The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation in 1992 to promote arts and culture, Lloyd Webber has – according to his website – awarded over £17.5 million to “projects that focus on the enhancement of arts education and participation, improving access and increasing diversity across the arts, culture and heritage sector.”

    

    Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber performs during The British Consulate Honors. Picture: Getty

20. Andrew Lloyd Webber at the Classic BRITs

    At the Royal Albert Hall on 13 June 2018, Lloyd Webber will be honoured with a special award at the Classic BRIT Awards ceremony for his services to musical theatre and arts education.

    

    Andrew Lloyd Webber at the Classic BRIT Awards 2012. Picture: Getty

What is the Curse of the Ninth -

– and does it really exist?

Beethoven, Mahler and Dvořák all died after writing their ninth symphonies.Picture: Getty

By Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM London

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It’s a superstition that plagued some of the great composers of the 19th and 20th centuries – but is there any truth in it?

The ‘Curse of the Ninth’ is a superstition that developed during the late Romantic period – some people believed that composers were fated to die during or after writing their ninth symphony.

On the surface, the theory seems like it might have some basis in fact: Beethoven, Schubert, Dvořák and Vaughan Williamsall died after completing their Ninths, Anton Bruckner died with his Ninth unfinished – and Mahler contracted pneumonia while writing his tenth.

But like all good conspiracy theories, the Curse of the Ninth has been debunked and dismissed. Here’s the real story.

Gustav Mahler hatched a plan to beat the Curse of the Ninth. Picture: Getty

It all started with Mahler… kind of

Gustav Mahler, who wrote some of the most glorious symphonies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was one of the first composers to believe in a superstition surrounding ninth symphonies. 

But Mahler was a little *too* obsessed with the idea. Seeing how fate had struck down Beethoven and Bruckner before him, he came up with a cunning plan to beat the curse.

After completing his eighth symphony, Mahler wrote a piece of music (Das Lied von der Erde) that was, in essence, a symphony – but he refused to call it one.

He then finished his ninth symphony and set to work on his tenth – but then he contracted pneumonia while writing it and died in 1911, aged 51, apparently proving the superstition correct. 

But Mahler didn’t know about Schubert, Dvořák... or any of the others

Arnold Schoenberg, whose music was heavily influenced by Mahler, described the Curse of the Ninth in an essay on the composer: “He who wants to go beyond it must pass away. It seems as if something might be imparted to us in the Tenth which we ought not yet to know, for which we are not ready. Those who have written a Ninth stood too close to the hereafter.”

There are a few issues with this theory. Because of the time he was writing, the only victims of the ‘curse’ that Mahler would have been aware of were Beethoven and Bruckner.

He wouldn’t have known about Schubert’s nine symphonies – because what is now called his Symphony No. 9 (the ‘Great’) was known as his Seventh in Mahler’s time.

Plus, Dvořák’s Ninth ‘New World’ Symphony wasn’t even considered a ‘ninth’ in Mahler’s time. It was published as his Symphony No. 5, before four extra symphonies appeared after Dvořák’s death. And Spohr – who is often included on the ‘curse’ list – wrote and completed a tenth symphony, but withdrew it.

Beethoven died before he could release his tenth symphony. Picture: Getty

Even Bruckner doesn’t fully qualify; he died before completing his (unfinished) Ninth Symphony – which brings his total symphonies to just eight.

But lots of composers have written more than nine symphonies...

Yes. The main snag with the Curse of the Ninth is that it only really makes sense if you concentrate on a relatively small number of 19th and 20th-century composers, omitting composers like Shostakovich, who wrote 15 symphonies, and Heitor Villa-Lobos, who wrote 12.

There’s also the most famous Classical composers: Mozart, for instance, wrote 41 symphonies, while Haydn wrote a whopping 104 – 106 if you count the unnumbered ones (there was no stopping that man).

And then there’s Leif Segerstam’s casual 327 symphonies…

The Curse of the Nine is a great story, and it probably fuelled a lot of the angst behind Mahler’s heart-wrenching symphonies. But perhaps it’s best to treat it as a superstition.

Meet the awesome composer ...

... whose music was published under HER BROTHER’S name

Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn. Picture: Getty

By Elizabeth Davis, ClassicFM London

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Fanny Mendelssohn was a truly great composer, but she faced an almost overwhelming set of obstacles to getting her work published.

Fanny was born in Hamburg on 14 November 1805 and learned to play the piano when she was a child.

She was such an impressive young musician that the composer Carl Friedrich Zelter said of her: “This child really is something special”.

But Fanny wasn’t just a brilliant performer, she was also a composer – like her younger brother Felix.

You may have noticed that the history of classical music is dominated by male composers – and Fanny’s father was a firm believer that composition wasn’t a career for women. He said to his daughter: “Music will perhaps become [Felix’s] profession, while for you it can and must be only an ornament.”

Discover more about some of the great female composers >

But Fanny was brimming with musical ideas and carried on composing regardless. While her brother was supportive, he also didn’t think Fanny should publish her music. He once said: “From my knowledge of Fanny I should say that she has neither inclination nor vocation for authorship. She is too much all that a woman ought to be for this.”

So instead he published some of her works under his name. One of the songs he published was called ‘Italien’.

A short time later, Felix was invited to perform some of his music for Queen Victoria in Buckingham Palace. She made a special request – could the composer play one of her favourite of his songs? Of course he could. Which one, asked Mendelssohn?

‘Italien’, replied the Queen.

Felix (presumably slightly awkwardly) replied that this beautiful song was actually the work of his sister Fanny.

Overall, Fanny wrote 460 pieces of music including many ‘Songs without Words’, a type of piano piece for which her brother later became famous. Musicologists now believe Fanny pioneered this musical form.

But despite that impressive body of work, Fanny only published her first work in her own name in 1846, when she was 41.

Even today works that were thought to have been written by Felix are being re-attributed to their real composer: the great Fanny Mendelssohn.

Who is Rachel Zegler?

 Meet the teenager playing Maria in the ‘West Side Story’ remake

By: Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM London

The high school student has been selected from a pool of 30,000 applicants to play Maria in Steven Spielberg’s remake of ‘West Side Story’. Here's everything you need to know about the rising star, from her resume and Twitter account to her ethnicity.

Rachel Zegler is a 17-year-old Colombian-American actress and singer-songwriter from New Jersey, who will star in the upcoming remake of West Side Story.

She will make her film debut as Maria, opposite Baby Driver actor Ansel Elgort as Tony.

One of 30,000 applicants, Zegler applied for the role after seeing a casting call on Twitter asking for Latino and Latina actors.

Rachel Zegler to star as Maria in West Side Story remake. Picture: Courtesy of subject

What is Rachel Zegler’s resume?

Although she is a newcomer to the film industry, Zegler is no stranger to the role of Maria – having first played the character in a Performing Arts School presentation of West Side Story at the Bergen Performing Arts Centre.

Throughout her teens, Zegler has starred in local, regional and school productions of Thoroughly Modern Millie, 42nd Street and RENT, as well as doing occasional work as a wedding singer.

She has also taken on the role of Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Serena in Legally Blonde, Cosette in Les Misérables and Ariel in The Little Mermaid.

In 2016, the young actress was nominated for a Metropolitan High School Theater Award for her role in Beauty And The Beast, according to NJ.com.

What is Rachel Zegler’s ethnicity?

Zegler was born in New Jersey to a Polish father and a Colombian mother.

When news broke of her role, she posted on Instagram: “When I played Maria on stage a few summers ago, I never could have imagined that I’d be taking on the role again in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.

“As a Colombian-American woman growing up in this day and age, strong roles like Maria are so important. To be able to bring that role to life— a role that means so much to the Hispanic community— is so humbling.”

In West Side Story, Maria is of Puerto Rican descent. In the 1961 film adaptation she was played by American actress Natalie Wood.

Spielberg told Variety: “When we began this process a year ago, we announced that we would cast the roles of Maria, Anita, Bernardo, Chino and the Sharks with Latina and Latino actors.”

His casting, which includes Ariana DeBose as Anita and David Alvarez as Bernardo, has been widely praised on social media.

Follow Rachel Zegler on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube

Zegler already has an impressive social media following, with 85,000 followers on YouTube, 60,000 on Instagram and 50,000 on Twitter.

Last year, Zegler found viral fame when she posted a video of herself singing ‘Shallow’ from A Star is Born. The video garnered over seven million views on Twitter.

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Her YouTube channel is equally popular, with the ‘Shallow’ video boasting a huge eight million views. Her first upload to YouTube was in 2015, when she shared a performance of ‘The Wizard and I’ at a youth event group in Clifton, New Jersey. She was 15.

“Welcome to the life of a theatrical mess named Rachel Zegler,” she writes on her intro to her channel.

“I’m Rachel, and I am incredibly infatuated with theatre, musicals, and the people who help them to happen!! Follow me around as I show you how much I love what I do, and how I manage to do it all while juggling my entire life.”