Tim Rice

Tim Rice was born in 1944. He began song writing in 1965 in which year the first song he wrote “That’s My Story” (tune as well as words) was recorded by a rock group called the Nightshift whose career never recovered.

That same year he met fellow budding songwriter Andrew Lloyd Webber whose musical ambitions were in theatre rather than rock or pop. They teamed up and wrote four musicals together from 1965–1978. The first, THE LIKES OF US (1965-6) was performed for the first time in 2005 and became available on CD just 40 years after its creation. The other three, JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT (1968), JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (1969–71) and EVITA (1976–78) were more immediate successes.

Feeling certain that they could never top this lot, the pair went their separate ways in the early eighties, whereupon ALW immediately topped that lot with CATS. Tim Rice then wrote BLONDEL (1983), a mediaeval romp, with Stephen Oliver, which ran a mere year in London. (It was last revived at the Pleasance, Islington, in late 2006.)

This was followed in 1986 by CHESS, in collaboration with ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. CHESS had a healthy run in the West End but flopped on Broadway in 1988, the New York Times bloke (since replaced) being particularly forceful in his disapproval. In 1989 Tim translated the famous French musical STARMANIA (by Michel Berger and Luc Plamondon) into English, which merely resulted in a hit album—in France.

In the nineties he worked primarily and happily with the Disney empire, contributing lyrics to the movies Aladdin (music Alan Menken) and The Lion King, (music Elton John and Hans Zimmer) and to the stage shows BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Alan Menken), THE LION KING and AIDA (both Sir Elton). Between Disney commitments he wrote the words for Sir Cliff Richard’s theatrical blockbuster HEATHCLIFF (music John Farrar), which toured the UK in 1995–96. For Dreamworks, he and Sir Elton joined forces yet again to write the score for the 2000 animated film The Road to El Dorado.

Tim’s recent work has included lyrics for a forthcoming film of the timeless Nutcracker (music by Tchaikovsky) and for the late Sir Malcolm Arnold’s famous Peterloo oratorio. He is reworking an operatic musical he has written with Alan Menken (KING DAVID) – most recently staged at New York University in November 2008. In 2008 he produced and presented a new concert version of CHESS at London’s Royal Albert Hall starring Josh Groban, Idina Menzel and Adam Pascal. A CD and DVD of this show is being issued worldwide in 2009. Tim has also just finished the first draft of a brand new theatrical idea, which may or may not see the light of day. He is writing and presenting a major new radio series for BBC Radio 2 in 2009/10.

He has won a variety of awards, mainly for the wrong things, or for simply turning up. These include 3 Oscars, 4 Tonys, 5 or 6 Grammys and a dozen Ivor Novellos. He was awarded a star on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame in November 2008.

He is a Trustee (former President) of the Marylebone Cricket Club and chairman of the UK charitable Foundation for Sport and the Arts. Tim lives in London, Cornwall and on the motorway between the two, has three children, his own cricket team and a knighthood. The first volume of his autobiography, OH WHAT A CIRCUS, was published in September 1999. If his publishers ask, he is currently working on Part 2, due out four years ago.