Cilla Black

She is worth an estimated £15 million (2003) and she owns luxury homes in Buckinghamshire, West London, Marbella and Barbados. With Peterson's help Brightman became an international star. One of them, Robert, succeeded his father as her manager. Later, Brightman met her future producer and boyfriend, Frank Peterson. They had 3 sons. This led the two to divorce in 1990, but relations have remained cordial. She was married to her manager Bobby Willis for over 30 years until his death in the late 1990s. The theatre-goers refused to give Brightman the credit she felt she deserved, saying that the only reason for her success was that she was the wife of Lloyd Webber.

In 2003 she released a music career retrospective New Beginnings. Fame as an actress came at a price, however. In 1993 she was awarded an OBE. She went on to star in a number of his musicals, including Evita, Aspects of Love, and The Phantom of the Opera which was written specifically for her. She remains an extremely popular personality in the UK. Lloyd Webber divorced his first wife to marry Brightman in 1984. She hosted the popular television programme Blind Date (1985 - 2003), Surprise, Surprise (1984 - 1999) and Moment of Truth (1998 - 2001). She got the part.

Black continued recording and became a popular TV personality in the 1970s, hosting her own long-running variety series, and her TV work began to eclipse her musical fame. It was there that she met her future husband, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Her last Top Ten hit was "Something Tells Me" in 1971. In 1981, Brightman tried out for a role in the then-new musical Cats. After Epstein's death and a disastrous appearance in the flop film Work Is a Four-Letter Word, Black's pop career began to decline. The group, who were somewhat more 'raunchy' than Pan's People, had a chart-topping disco hit in this year with "I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper", wherin she first discovered her vocal talents. She branched into acting with 1964's Ferry Cross the Mersey, which also featured another member of Epstein's management stable, Gerry & The Pacemakers. Epstein remained her manager after dropping most of his other acts, but she decided to leave him in 1966 for Robert Stigwood; before she could, however, Epstein died of a drug overdose. She later went on to lead Hot Gossip, a mixed dance act who appeared regularly on The Kenny Everett Video Show.

Frequently using songs composed by close friend Paul McCartney -- including her 1968 hit Step Inside Love -- Cilla's chart success continued until the end of the Sixties. In 1978 she joined the dance group Pan's People. The other song most often associated with her is the Bacharach-David song Alfie, the theme from the Michael Caine film of the same name. Produced by the notoriously perfectionistic Burt Bacharach and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, Cilla cited the Alfie recording session as one of the most demanding of her pop career. She often took ballet lessons and was an excellent student. It is one of the best-remembered songs of her career and also gave Cilla her first major chart success in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Her ambition to be an artist was clear from a very early age. Her next single and her second #1 hit, You're My World, was an English version of the Italian popular song Il Mio Mondo. Brightman is the oldest of six children.

It launched her on an extraordinarily successful pop career and she went on to score twenty consecutive Top 40 hits on the British single and EP charts, including eleven British Top Ten singles and two consecutive #1 singles in 1964. Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960 in Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire) is an English soprano and actress. It had already been a hit for Dionne Warwick but Cilla's 1964 version shot to #1 in Britain and became the biggest selling single by a female artist in the history of British popular music. Live From Las Vegas (2004)....as Herself. Her second single was the Burt Bacharach-Hal David composition "Anyone Who Had a Heart". Harem: A Desert Fantasy (2003)....as Herself. The single peaked at a modest #35, making it a failure, relatively speaking, compared to most of Epstein's other artists. Sarah Brightman: La Luna: Live In Concert (2001)....as Herself.

Epstein signed Cilla to Parlophone records and introduced her to George Martin, who produced her debut single, "Love of the Loved" (written for her by Lennon and McCartney), which was released only three weeks after she signed with Epstein. Rosamunde Pilcher - Zeit der Erkenntnis (2000)....as Herself. But after seeing her again at the Blue Angel jazz club, Epstein signed Cilla up as his only female client on September 6, 1963. Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Royal Albert Hall Celebration (1998)....as Herself. The first audition was not successful, partly because of nerves, and partly because the Beatles (who backed her) played the songs in their vocal key rather than re-pitching them for Cilla's voice. One Night In Eden (1998)....as Herself. Cilla was introduced to Epstein by John Lennon who persuaded him to audition her. Sarah Brightman In Concert (1998)....as Herself.

Although her first name was often shortened to "Cilla", her stage name came about by accident when local music paper Mersey Beat misprinted her name as Cilla Black, but she liked the sound and decided to use it professionally. A Gala Christmas in Vienna (1997)....as Herself. She became close friends with the Beatles and after their breakthrough to international success in 1963, their manager Brian Epstein took over the management of a number of other musicians from Liverpool. The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber (1995)....as Herself. During this period she also worked as waitress at the Zodiac coffee lounge, where she met her future husband and manager Bobby Willis. Requiem (1985)....as Soprano. Ideally placed to promote herself to local musicians, she impressed The Beatles and others with her talent and began her stage career with impromptu performances at the Cavern. Song and Dance (1983)....as Emma.

In the early 1960s, determined to break into show business, she got a job as a part-time as a cloakroom attendant at the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool, where the Beatles regularly played. "Live From Las Vegas" (2004). A naturally gifted singer, as a child Cilla was encouraged to sing by her family. "Harem" (2003). Cilla Black (born Priscilla Maria Veronica White on May 27, 1943) is a British singer and entertainer, and was the second-biggest star to emerge from the Liverpool scene after the Beatles. "Encore" (2002). "The Very Best of 1990-2000" (2001).

"Classics (2001)". "La Luna" (2000). "Eden" (1998). "Fly II" (1997).

"The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection" (1997). "Timeless" (also known as "Time To Say Goodbye", 1996). "Fly" (1995). "Surrender" (1995).

"Dive" (1993). "Sings the Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber" (1992). "As I Came of Age" (1990). "The Songs That Got Away" (1989).

"The Trees They Grow So High" (also known as "Early One Morning", 1988). "A Room With A View" (1987). "Rhythm of the Rain" (1983). "Him" (1983).

"Not Having That!" (1981). "My Boyfriend's Back" (1981). "Love In A UFO" (1979). "The Adventures of a Love Crusader" (1979).

"I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper" (1978). Aspects of Love (as Rose Vibert). Carousel (as Carrie Pipperidge). Camelot.

The Phantom of the Opera (as Christine Daaé). Evita (as Eva Duarte de Peron). Song and Dance (as Emma). Nightingale (as Nightingale).

Cats (as Jemima).