Andrew Lloyd Webber
Baron Lloyd-Webber · Born 1948 · The most commercially successful composer in musical theatre history
| Andrew Lloyd Webber | |
 Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber OM | |
| Biographical Details | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 March 1948, London, England |
| Occupation | Composer, theatrical producer, impresario |
| Known for | The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat |
| Notable works | Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968) · Jesus Christ Superstar (1971) · Evita (1978) · Cats (1981) · Starlight Express (1984) · The Phantom of the Opera (1986) · Sunset Boulevard (1993) · School of Rock (2015) · Cinderella (2021) |
| FHODS productions | Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (2023) |
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber OM (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and theatrical producer, widely regarded as the most commercially successful composer in the history of musical theatre. Over a career spanning more than half a century, he has composed some of the longest-running and highest-grossing musicals ever staged, with his works performed continuously in the West End and on Broadway and in productions worldwide.
Lloyd Webber was made a life peer in 1997, taking the title Baron Lloyd-Webber of Sydmonton, and is an Officer of the Order of Merit. He has won numerous awards including multiple Olivier Awards, Tony Awards, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Golden Globe — making him one of the select group of artists to have achieved EGOT status (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony).
Career & Works
Lloyd Webber began his prolific partnership with lyricist Tim Rice while both were still students. Their first major collaboration, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, was originally composed in 1968 as a short cantata for a school in Colet Court, London. It grew steadily through the early 1970s into a full-length theatrical work, eventually reaching the West End and Broadway — and becoming one of the most widely performed musicals in the world, staged by amateur and professional companies on every continent.
Their second collaboration, Jesus Christ Superstar (1971), followed by Evita (1978), cemented Lloyd Webber's international reputation. He then struck out with new lyricists: Cats (1981, lyrics by T.S. Eliot, adapted by Trevor Nunn) ran for 21 years in the West End, at the time the longest run in West End history. The Phantom of the Opera (1986, lyrics by Charles Hart) surpassed it to become the longest-running show in Broadway history, and is the highest-grossing entertainment production of all time.
His works are characterised by sweeping melodic lines, operatic ambition, and an ability to synthesise popular musical idioms — rock, pop, gospel, tango, classical — into theatrical spectacle. He is the founder and owner of the Really Useful Group, the production company that licenses and produces his work worldwide.