Sarah Brightman

Sarah Brightman
A soprano noted for music that is a blend of classical vocals and pop-inspired instrumentation and arrangement, Sarah Brightman is also actress, songwriter and dancer.

Receiving over 150 Gold and Platinum awards in 34 countries, she is the only artist to hold number 1 spots on the Billboard Classical and Dance charts simultaneously.

She debuted as a dancer, later released a string of hit singles and achieved greater fame as a musical theatre performer. She starred as Blind Mag in the rock musical film Repo!

Sarah has sold over 26 million albums worldwide. She has also been a partner of theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and originated several roles including Christine Daae in The Phantom of the Opera.

She released a DVD collection of her music videos on 3 October 2006 under the title of Diva: The Video Collection. It reached #1 on the Billboard Classical Crossover chart.

Sarah Brightman was born in Hertfordshire, England and took ballet lessons at the Elmhurst School. She was only 3 years old then. Despite being rejected in an audition for London's Royal Ballet, she didn't give up the hope.

In 1976, Brightman joined the dance group Pan's People but left a year later to lead Hot Gossip. The group had a chart-topping disco hit in 1978 with 'I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper'. That space-themed track sold half a million copies and reached number six on the UK charts.

Brightman, now solo, released several more disco singles in subsequent years under Whisper Records. 'Not Having That!' and a cover of the song 'My Boyfriend's Back' are amongst the most notable.

Her subsequent appearances include the Concert For Diana in July 2007, where she sung 'All I Ask of You' from The Phantom of the Opera; the 7 July, 2007 Chinese leg of Live Earth in Shanghai, and debuted her single 'Running' at the 2007 IAAF Championships in Osaka, Japan on 25 August.

Brightman's music is generally classified as classical crossover and she is largely responsible for the popularity of the genre. She sometimes deploys both her pop and classical voices in the same song, 'Anytime, Anywhere' being the most notable.

In the song, she starts out in classical voice, switches to pop voice temporarily, and ends with her classical voice. Her work has also been compared to that of Madonna, Cher, and Celine Dion.

The material on her albums ranges from versions of opera arias from composers such as Puccini to pop songs by artists such as Kansas, Dido, and Procol Harum.

On 29 January, 2008, Brightman released her first album in five years: Symphony. The album was hugely influenced by gothic music, featuring artists like Fernando Lima, Andrea Bocelli, and others.

To accompany and promote Symphony, Brightman embarked on a tour in Autumn 2008 as well as made several appearances on television in the United States.

She also performed two songs 'Pie Jesu' and 'There You'll Be' at the United States Memorial Day concert held in Washington D.C.

On 8 August 2008 Brightman and Chinese singer Liu Huan jointly sang together a song titled You and Me in both Mandarin and English at the Beijing 2008 Olympics opening ceremony.