Brightman, now solo, released more disco singles under her own label, Whisper Records, such as "Not Having That!" and a cover of the song " My Boyfriend's Back". She was also briefly with Pan's People after they parted with their host show Top of the Pops in 1976. 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. In 1976 she was recruited into Arlene Phillips' troupe Hot Gossip in 1977. In 1973, at the age of 13, Brightman made her theatrical debut in the musical I and Albert at the Piccadilly Theatre, London, playing one of Queen Victoria's daughters (Victoria). She received her education at Elmhurst Ballet School, Birmingham, the Arts Educational School in Chiswick, West London, and the Royal College of Music. At age 11, she successfully auditioned for the Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, a school specialising in performing arts. Then went on to perform in local festivals and competitions. At the age of three she began taking dance and piano classes. She was brought up in Little Gaddesden near Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. Her younger siblings are Nicola, Claudia, Jay, Joel, and Amelia (aka Violet).
Brightman was awarded the decoration 'Cavaliere' in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic on 2 June 2016 and an honorary Doctorate from the University of Hertfordshire in 2018, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to music and theatre. In 2014, she began training for a journey to the International Space Station, later postponed until further notice, citing personal reasons. Since 2010, Brightman has been Panasonic's global brand ambassador. In 2012, Brightman was appointed as the UNESCO Artist for Peace for the period 2012–2014, for her "commitment to humanitarian and charitable causes, her contribution, throughout her artistic career, to the promotion of cultural dialogue and the exchanges among cultures, and her dedication to the ideals and aims of the Organization". īrightman is the first artist to have been invited twice to perform the theme song at the Olympic Games, first at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games where she sang " Amigos Para Siempre" with the Spanish tenor José Carreras with an estimated global audience of a billion people, and 16 years later in 2008 in Beijing, this time with Chinese singer Liu Huan, performing the song " You and Me" to an estimated four billion people worldwide. In 2010, she was named by Billboard the fifth most influential and best-selling classical artist of the 2000s decade in the US and according to Nielsen SoundScan, she has sold 6.5 million albums in the country. She has collected over 200 gold and platinum record awards in 38 different countries. It subsequently became an international success, selling 12 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all-time. īrightman's 1996 duet with the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, " Time to Say Goodbye", topped the charts all over Europe and became the highest and fastest-selling single of all-time in Germany, where it stayed at the top of the charts for 14 consecutive weeks and sold over three million copies.
She has been credited as the creator and remains among the most prominent performers of this genre, with worldwide sales of more than 25 million albums and two million DVDs, establishing herself as the world's best-selling soprano. Īfter retiring from the stage and divorcing Lloyd Webber, Brightman resumed her music career with former Enigma producer Frank Peterson, this time as a classical crossover artist. Her original London cast album of Phantom was released in CD format in 1987 and sold 40 million copies worldwide, making it the biggest-selling cast album ever. She went on to star in several West End and Broadway musicals, including The Phantom of the Opera, where she originated the role of Christine Daaé.
In 1981, she made her West End musical theatre debut in Cats and met composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, whom she later married. Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano, singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and musician.īrightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer.