Sarah Brightman Biography

Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English soprano and actress. She debuted with disco singles, achieved worldwide fame as a musical theatre performer and partner of theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, and then established a position as a chart-topping classical crossover artist with former Enigma producer Frank Peterson. Brightman has received over 150 Gold and Platinum awards in 34 countries and is the only artist to hold #1 spots on the Billboard Classical and Dance charts simultaneously.

Brightman was born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England to Paula and Granville Brightman. She was the oldest of six children. Her ambition to be an artist was apparent from an early age; she took ballet lessons starting from the age of three. At the age of eleven she attended a boarding school for stage, where she remained despite the fact that she disliked the institution. Brightman auditioned for London's Royal Ballet a few years later but was rejected.

At age sixteen, in 1976, Brightman joined the dance group Pan's People. She later went on to lead Hot Gossip, a mixed dance act who appeared regularly on The Kenny Everett Video Show. The group, which was noticeably raunchier than Pan's People, had a chart-topping disco hit in 1978 with "I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper", a space-themed track that sold half a million copies and became number six on the British Hit Parade. Brightman released several more disco singles in subsequent years under Whisper Records; these included "Not Having That" and a cover of the song "My Boyfriend's Back". However, none became as prominent as "Starship Trooper," as the song is also called.