Biography

 

TR’s Letter To ALW © 1965

Tim Rice began his professional life with the intention of being a solicitor at the the law firm Pettit & Westlake, but harboured career aspirations in the field of pop music. Tim approached the head of Arlington Books, Desmond Elliot, with the idea of writing a book about pop history. That idea didn’t impress Elliot, but the fact that Tim was also a lyricist did. Desmond Elliot knew Andrew Lloyd Webber, who at the time was about to attend Magdalen College at Oxford to read History, and he knew that Andrew was looking for a lyricst. At Elliot’s suggestion, on 21 April 1965 Tim wrote to Andrew, and a meeting was quickly arranged.

Shortly thereafter, Tim Rice left the world of law and became a management trainee working for the A&R department at EMI records under the supervision of Norrie Paramor. When Paramor left EMI to form his own company, the Norrie Paramor Organisation, Tim went with him to serve as his personal assistant. At Desmond Elliot’s suggestion, Tim and Andrew Lloyd Webber chose Victorian philanthropist Dr. Barnardo as the subject of their first musical, and one of Elliot’s other clients, Leslie Thomas, was to write the show’s book. Torn between two career paths, Andrew first took a sabbatical from Magdalen to work on what was to become The Likes Of Us, and then eventually left University all together to devote himself full-time to his musical career with Tim. Despite their enthusiasm for the project, The Likes Of Us never jelled or found the proper forum for staging (until a special concert performance for its 40th anniversary in 2005).

Famously, it was through Alan Doggett, a friend of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s father, that a Tim Rice – Andrew Lloyd Webber work first saw the light of day. Doggett at the time was the choirmaster for Colet Court School and asked the pair to write a piece for the annual end of term concert to be held 1 March 1968. Although originally envisioned as just a way to amuse school boys and keep obligated parents from being too bored, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat quickly began to take on a life of its own leading to subsequent stagings, additions of new material, and even a record deal with Decca.

Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber followed up their initial success with Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with the show that was to bring them to international fame and guarantee them a place in musical theatre history, Jesus Christ Superstar. Andrew had contacted entrepreneur Sefton Myers regarding the idea of starting a pop museum. Myers and his business partner David Land were not interested in the museum, but they were interested in the copy of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat which had accompanied the proposal. This resulted in Meyers and Land giving Tim and Andrew a three-year songwriting contract. Tim relinquished his job with the Norrie Paramor Organisation so that he and Andrew could concentrate all their attention on their music careers. After rejecting ideas about a piece concerning King Richard during the Crusades and the Old Testament figure King Saul, Tim and Andrew turned to the Bible’s New Testament for inspiration. Tim had always wanted to write something about Judas Iscariot and Pontius Pilate, and out of this desire was born Jesus Christ Superstar. The idea was judged by the industry as too risky to stage, so a concept album of the work was done instead through MCA in 1970. The single “Superstar” became a world-wide hit. The international success of the album virtually guaranteed the international success the stage show was to enjoy. David Land went on to become a Director of the Robert Stigwood Organisation (producers of the stage show), and remained Tim’s agent until his death in 1996.

 

Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Webber circa 1972 Property of Sir Tim Rice

At first, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber considered following up Jesus Christ Superstar with a show about P.G. Wodehouse’s famous butler Jeeves. They began work on the show, but then Tim heard part of a radio programme about Eva Peron in his car and became fascinated with the idea of writing a musical about her. Andrew went on to stage Jeeves with Alan Ackybourn (lyrics & book) in 1975 while Tim continued researching Argentine politics. The pair then began collaborating together on Evita. As with Jesus Christ Superstar, a concept album of Evita was released in 1976. The show’s ironic anthem “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” became a number one hit in the UK. Evita was first staged in the West End 1978, and as with Tim’s previous shows, went on to play in countries around the world. In 1996, Evita was made into a feature film starring Madonna. Tim and Andrew penned a new song for the film, “You Must Love Me”, for which they won an Oscar in 1997.

Tim Rice next collaborated with Stephen Oliver, an opera composer who had written pieces for the RSC, for the 1983 musical Blondel. Returning to the idea of a musical about King Richard at the time of the Crusades, the show centered around the minstrel Blondel’s European quest to find the missing King Richard before the king’s dishonest brother Prince John had himself crowned as monarch.

In 1981 Tim Rice met with Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus from the pop group ABBA to discuss ideas for a musical. Andersson and Ulvaeus wanted to branch out from pop songs and tackel a musical project. The trio decided to collaborate on what would become Chess. As with Tim’s previous musicals with Andrew Lloyd Webber, Chess was first released as a concept album in 1984. Two of its songs became hits around the world. “I Know Him So Well” stayed at number one for four weeks in February and early March of 1985 on the UK charts. “One Night in Bangkok” topped the charts in Australia, West Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, South Africa, Denmark, Holland, Sweden and Israel, in France it became the fastest selling 12-inch single ever, and it went as high as number 3 on the US charts and number 12 on the UK charts. The Chess album itself reached number 10 in the UK, staying on the charts for 16 weeks. After a concert tour in 1985, Chess was staged in the West End in 1986. Other major productions include the Broadway show in 1988, Australia in 1991, and a revised version in Sweden in 2002.

TR outside the Casa Rosa, Buenos Aires © 2006 property of Sir Tim Rice.

With the proven world-wide appeal of Tim Rice’s lyrics, it was not surprising when in 1991 the very international market oriented Disney organisation signed Tim on as lyricist for The Lion King, the first Disney animated movie based on original source material. When lyricist Howard Ashman passed away, Tim was asked to work with Alan Menken on finishing Disney’s 1992 animated film Aladdin. Tim and Alan’s song “A Whole New World” won an Oscar in 1992. The release of The Lion King in 1994 produced two more hit songs (this time with Elton John as composer), “Circle Of Life” and “Can You Feel The Love Tonight”. The latter garnered an Oscar in 1995. Tim was asked to collaborate with Alan Menken again in 1994 to provide additional songs for the theatrical production of Beauty And The Beast. In 1997, Tim and Alan brought a piece based on the life of Biblical King David to Disney. King David was staged as a limited-run concert at Disney’s newly refurbished New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway in May of 1997.

Tim Rice and Elton John teamed up again in 1996 when Disney asked them to do an original stage musical based on Verdi’s opera Aida. The show opened at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia in 1998. An album of songs from the show sung by contemporary artists was released in 1999, and included “Written In The Stars” which stayed at number 2 on the US charts for four weeks. Aida was first staged on Broadway in March of 2000. The year 2000 also saw the release of the Dreamwork’s film The Road To Eldorado which included 5 songs by Tim and Elton. A companion album sung by Elton John was also released featuring the film songs, 3 songs cut from the film, 2 songs written by Tim and Elton for the album, and 3 instrumentals from the film’s score. The El Dorado song “Someday Out Of The Blue” rose as high as number 5 on the US charts.

In 1986 Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber were commissioned by Prince Edward to write a piece for HRH Queen Elizabeth II’s 60th birthday. The show was called Cricket, a comedy about players of Tim’s favourite sport, and was performed at Windsor Castle on 18 June 1986. In 1992 Tim translated the hit French musical Starmania into its English format Tycoon. Tycoon single “The World Is Stone”, sung by Cyndi Lauper, reached number 15 in the UK charts. In 1996 he teamed up with pop composer John Farrar to work on a musical for singing sensation Cliff Richard based upon Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights called Heathcliff. An album of songs from the show featuring Cliff Richard and Oliva Newton John was released and a stadium touring production of Heathcliff starring Cliff Richard played throughout the UK. Over the years Tim has co-prodouced four musical productions with various partners : Blondel (1983 & 2006), Chess (1986) and Anything Goes (1989).

In addition to musicals and feature films, Tim Rice has written countless pop songs, many of which have enjoyed chart success. On numerous occasions Tim has been called upon to contribute a single song to a soundtrack for projects as diverse in theme as a James Bond movie (“Octopussy” – 1983) to children’s film Stuart Little (1999). He has recorded songs under his name and pseudonyms. Tim has also sung on several of his show concept albums, played the part of the Narrator in a studio recording of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1979), and has acted in productions of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Pharaoh) and Cricket (Wittering). Tim has written the lyrics for solo songs for various performers including Sarah Brightman, Michael Crawford, Sacha Distel, Placido Domingo, David Essex, Elton John, Paul Jones, Freddie Mercury, Elaine Paige, Elvis Presley, Bobby Vee and Rick Wakeman, as well as for groups 10cc and INXS.

Tim Rice launched a publishing house with Colin Webb and Michael Parkinson in 1981 called Pavilion Books which he held until 1997. He also started and co-authored for nearly two decades the extensive Guinness series of books on hit singles and albums with his brother Jonathan Rice, Paul Gambaccini and Mike Read. His legendary passion for pop music not only has him appearing on many radio and quiz shows about pop music, but won him the title “Rock Brain of the Universe” in 1985. He has been interviewed for commentary on documentaries about pop artists such as Cliff Richard, Elton John, ABBA and the Bee Gees. On 2 February 2009, he took part in the 50 Winters Later Commemorative Concert in Clear Lake, Iowa, in remembrance of the 50th anniversary of the plane crash there which took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ricthie Valens and J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper). Tim regularly appears on current affairs and quiz shows, including over the years Countdown, Question Time, Just A Minute (44 appearances), Breakfast With Frost and Mastermind.

Tim Rice has served on numerous committees for music and sport, including having been appointed chair to the government’s Foundation For The Sports And The Arts in 1991. Tim is an avid cricket fan and has been a member of the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) since 1969. He founded his own cricket team, Heartaches CC, on 8 July 1973 and is editor of its annual private publication “The Heartache Cricketer’s Almanack”. He has written a book on the contents of the museum at Lord’s cricket ground titled The Treasures Of Lords (1989), and for several years has had a weekly seasonal coloumn on cricket in The Telegraph. Tim is a long standing member of cricket charity The Lord’s Taverners. He had the great honour of serving as president of the MCC from October 2002-2003.

Sir Tim Rice © 2009 property of Sir Tim Rice

Tim Rice’s autobiography covering his life and career until just after the opening of Evita in London was first published in England in 1999. (For assistance purchasing the autobiography, click here.) Tim was profiled on the South Bank Show in November of 1993. His work has won him numerous awards including 12 Ivor Novello awards, 3 Tonys, and 3 Oscars. Tim was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1999. During the Broadway run of the Jesus Christ Superstar revival in 2000, he had a total of four shows playing simultaneously on the Great White Way. This record was equalled in Japan when, in December 2003 with the opening of Aida, he had four shows playing simultaneously : Beauty and the Beast, Aida, and two productions of The Lion King. In recognition of his work in film and theatre, Tim was inducted as a Disney Legend in March 2002 at the Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris during the celebrations for the tenth anniversary of Disneyland Paris. On 20 November 2008, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. Tim was knighted by HRH Queen Elizabeth II in 1994.

 

On This Day . . .

 

For a calendar-guided listing of show openings and other major events, see the On This Day… timeline page.

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