Sarah Brightman was born on August 14, 1960 in London, England, to the parents of Paula Hall and Grenville Brightman.  She is the oldest of six children.  She has three sisters, Nicola born in 1963, Claudia born in 1965, and Amelia born in 1979.  Brightman also has two brothers, Jay Grenville born in 1969 and Joel Grenville born in 1974.  She and her family were raised in Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire in England (Some reports say she was born there but I have also heard she was born in London).  Brightman began dancing at the age of 3 and would go on to attend Elmhurst Ballet School and the Arts Educational School in London.  At the age of thirteen, Brightman performed in her first theatrical production in I and Albert, in which she played Vicki, one of Queen Victorias daughters.  The production premiered in November 1973 at the Piccadilly Theatre in London.  In 1976, Brightman became a dance member of Pans People.  Soon after, she joined Arlene Phillips dance/singing group, "Hot Gossip."  It was with this group that Brightman got her first Top Five single (One report said the song made it to #1 but I'm not too sure about that) with "(I Lost My Heart To A) Starship Trooper," which was released in December of 1978.  Other hits by Hot Gossip include: "Do, Do, Do", "The Adventures of the Love Crusader", and "Lost in Space."  In 1979, Brightman met and married producer Andrew Graham-Stewart.

From Cats to Marriage #2

In 1980, Brightman went to an audition for a new musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber.  The musical was Cats, which would go on to become one of the longest running Broadway shows ever!  At the audition she met Lloyd Webber, who told her to pursue a career in theatre.  After six auditions, Brightman landed the role of "Jemima" and on May 11, 1981, Brightman made her Lloyd Webber debut at the New London Theatre in London.  In 1982, she succeeded Bonnie Langford as "Kate" in the musical comedy Pirates of Penzance, but it was her performance in Charles Strouse's Nightingale that got her some of the best reviews of her theatrical career. In 1983, Brightman divorced her husband of four years and soon after married Lloyd Webber.

From Song & Dance to Phantom of the Opera

In 1984, Brightman succeeded Marti Webb as "Emma" in Song & Dance and starred in the made-for-television performance broadcasted by the BBC.  Brightman was asked but declined to portray the role of "Christine Daae" in Ken Hill's version of The Phantom of the Opera, instead she recorded Requiem with Lorin Maazel, Placido Domingo and male soprano Paul Miles-Kingston.  Brightman premiered the soprano role in early 1985 in both London and New York.  Brightman was nominated for a Grammy in the Best New Classical Artist category but did not win.  Not to say that 1985 was a bad year.  She had a Number 1 album on the classical charts, her duet with Miles-Kingston reached #3, she performed at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, played the role of "Valencienne" in the New Saddler's Wells Opera The Merry Widow, portrayed "Tara Treetops" in Masquerade and made her first appearance in a Royal Varity Show.  Although 1985 was a decent year for Brightman, 1986 was the year she originated the role of "Christina Daae" in Andrew Lloyd Webbers powerful production of The Phantom of the Opera.  Brightman starred alongside such talents as Michael Crawford (Phantom) and Steve Barton (Raoul).  Her husband especially wrote this particular role of "Christine Daae" for Sarah.  The show opened in October 1986 at Her Majesty's Theatre in London.  Once the cast album was recorded, the title song went straight to #1 and Brightman's duet with Cliff Richard, All I Ask Of You went to #3.  She went on to premiere the role on Broadway in 1988 where she received a Drama Desk Award nomination. 

From "Doretta's Dream" to Frank Peterson

In 1987 Brightman recorded the theme song from "A Room With A View" entitled Doretta's Dream but 1988 brought the world Brightmans first solo album.  The Trees They Grow So High (also released as Early One Morning) is an album of folksongs by Benjamin Britten.  Brightman was featured on the soundtrack to Carousal, portraying the character of "Carrie" and also on the Save the Children: Christmas Carols and Festive Songs disc singing "In The Bleak Mid-Winter" and also on The Premiere Collection.  She was also able to tour in England with Michael Ball performing the "Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber."  That year The Phantom of the Opera was nominated for numerous Tony Awards, in which it won many including Best Musical and Best Actor for Crawford.  Brightman attended the show and performed with Crawford on two showpieces.  In 1989 Brightman released her second solo album, The Songs That Got Away, which is filled with wonderful songs from "lost" Broadway or West End productions.  She was also featured in the childrens film Grandpa performing the song "Make Believe."  In 1990, Brightman released her third album, As I Come of Age and returned to Broadway as "Rose" in Aspects of Love.  It was this role that got her the best reviews of her career with one critic saying, "Her performance could only be rivaled if Venus (Goddess of Love) came down amongst us and danced."  Also, in 1990, she divorced Lloyd Webber and started anew.  1992 brought Brightmans album, The Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber and a new career and personal relationship with Frank Peterson.

From Dive to "Time To Say Goodbye"

As Brightman and Peterson began working on her new album, they began working on a new sound.  In 1992, Brightman performed with José Carreras at the Barcelona Olympic Games singing "Amigos Para Siempre (Friends For Life)."  She performed with the Moscow Philharmonic at the Tchaikovsky Hall in the Kremlin in Moscow.  In 1993, Dive was released and introduced the Brightman-Peterson sound that began to dominate her career.  In 1994, she did the backing vocals on Marky Marks "Life on the Streets."  1995 brought Surrender: The Unexpected Songs, a collection of Lloyd Webber songs from various musicals of his.  In October and November of 1995 Brightman released Fly, her follow up to Dive.  Fly contained a more aggressive rock sound that shocked some fans but it proved that she could be versatile and the single "A Question of Honour" made her a true European star.  In 1996, Brightman recorded her album Timeless which contained the duet "Time To Say Goodbye" with Andrea Bocelli.  The single debuted at the retiring fight of German boxer Henry Maske.  The debut was a risk since opera is not the kind of music one hears at a boxing match but the risk was worth it.  With the song's haunting melody and lyrics, the single became the biggest-selling single in German recording history.  The success was not limited to Germany, "Time To Say Goodbye" became a hit all over the world and reached #1 in Germany and stayed there for three months.  The song reached #2 in Britain and sold more that 4 million copies worldwide and counting!  By the time the album Timeless was released, the songs was so popular that it propelled the album to #3 in Britain, #17 in Germany, #31 in Austria, and #2 in Ireland.  The album was released as Time To say Goodbye in the USA.  That year she performed all over the world and for thousands of people including a special performance for the Pope.

From Eden to Harem

With Timeless/Time To Say Goodbye Brightmans success was strongly rooted.  It was time to cement it in place.  In early 1998, Brightman released The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection, a disc filled with more songs from various musicals by Lloyd Webber.  This disc was later released in 1999 in the U.S.  That same year (1998) Lloyd Webber celebrated his 50^th birthday.  A concert was held in his honor and Brightman performed a few songs from The Phantom of the Opera.  In late 1998, Brightman and Peterson finished up her follow up album, Eden.  With the release of this album, Brightman kicked off her first world tour as a solo artist.  Beginning in South Africa, the tour brought a visual component to the music.  There were dancers, a huge orchestra, and breathtaking costumes.  The tour visited numerous countries and received a great welcome wherever she went.  Later in 1999, a VHS and DVD was released of her tour entitled One Night in Eden.  During the course of 1999, she attended numerous awards shows, and variety shows.  Brightman was everywhere.  In April 2000, she released La Luna an album dedicated to songs of the moon.  With this album brought another tour and another VHS/DVD of the La Luna Tour.  In 2001, Brightman released Classics an album of compliation songs that Brightman picked as some of her favorites from her solo albums.  The album featured eight of her classical-oriented songs along with seven never-before-released songs.  In 2002, another compilation album, Encore, was released.  At this time many were fans were beginning to wonder if Brightman had lost her edge or was simply making easy money off her fans.  Doubts were somewhat pushed aside in the spring of 2003 when she finally released an album of all new material.  The desert sands had called and Brightman introduced fans to the music of Harem.  Since the album was released only a short while ago, there is no collection of how the album is doing or the reaction of fans to the new sound.