Andrew Lloyd Webber is widely regarded as the most successful composer of his time. Born on March 22, 1948, in South Kensington, London, England, he is the first of two sons of William Lloyd Webber, an organist and composer, and Jean Johnstone, a pianist and violinist.
Andrew Lloyd Webber began learning to play various musical instruments at home and started composing at an early age. He continued his music studies at Westminster School, where his father was an organist, and at the age of 9, he was able to play the organ and assisted his father during performances.
In 1964, he attended Oxford University as a Queens Scholar of history, but dropped out in 1965 to compose musicals and pop songs with lyricist Tim Rice. Their collaboration resulted in the West End production of 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' in 1968.
Andrew Lloyd Webber's style is an eclectic blend of musical genres, ranging from classical to rock, pop, and jazz, and including electro-acoustic music and choral-like numbers in his musicals. He shot to fame in 1971 with the opening of his rock opera 'Jesus Christ Superstar'.
His next successful collaboration with Tim Rice was the musical biopic 'Evita', based on the true story of Eva Peron of Argentina. Andrew Lloyd Webber has been constantly updating the genre of musical theatre, and in 1981, he delivered 'Cats', based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and other poems by T.S. Eliot.
The record-breaking production of 'Cats' was on stage for 21 seasons, from 1981 to 2002, and became one of the most popular musicals of all time. It played a total of 8,949 performances in London and 7,485 in New York.
In 1986, Andrew Lloyd Webber released his most successful musical, 'The Phantom of the Opera', based on the eponymous book by Gaston Leroux with English lyrics by Charles Hart. 'The Phantom of the Opera' became the highest-grossing entertainment event of all time, with a total worldwide gross of $3.3 billion and attendance of 80 million.
He was knighted Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1992 and created an honorary life peer in 1997 as Baron Lloyd-Webber, of Syndmonton in the County of Hampshire. He won the 1996 Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song for Evita and received two more Oscar nominations.
Andrew Lloyd Webber has won seven Tonys and three Grammys, including his 1986 Grammy Award for Requiem in the category of best classical composition. In 2006, he was Awarded Kennedy Center Honors. He owns seven London theatres, which he also restored.
Outside of his entertainment career, Andrew Lloyd Webber developed a passion for collecting Pre-Raphaelite paintings and Victorian art. He was married three times and has five children. He is residing in England.
Andrew Lloyd Webber is currently working on his new opera titled 'Master and Margarita' based on the eponymous novel by Mikhail A. Bulgakov.
