Elaine Paige

Elaine Paige

Elaine Paige , OBE (* 5. March 1948 in Barnet , Hertfordshire as Elaine Bickerstaff Jill ) is a British singer and actress , especially in musicals .

She is best known for starring the female lead roles in Andrew Lloyd Webbers and Tim Rice's Evita and Cats . In Evita she was part of the original London cast and sang the role of Eva Perón . Her interpretation of the role is still considered a role model for many musical performers. In Cats, where she was also on the original cast, she sang the role of the aging cat Grizabella. In this role she shaped the piece Memory , which, like the hits from Evita, has since been associated with her voice. Another role Paige played was Florence in the musical Chess by ABBA musicians Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson .

Her greatest international successes were I Know Him So Well , a duet with Barbara Dickson from the musical Chess , and the Top Ten Hit Memory from the musical Cats .

Elaine Paige also hosts a radio show on film music and musicals on BBC Radio 2 .

In 1988 she released an album with cover versions of the legendary rock band Queen under the name The Queen Album .

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	CH	UK
1982	Elaine Paige	-	-	UK56 silver (6 weeks)UK	First published: 1981 Producers: Andrew Powell , Tim Rice
1983	Stages	-	-	UK2 × 2 Double platinum (48 weeks)UK	First published: October 1983 Producer: Tony Visconti
1984	Cinema	-	-	UK12 platinum (25 weeks)UK	First published: October 1984 Producer: Tony Visconti
1985	Love hurts	-	-	UK8th platinum (20 weeks)UK	First published: October 1985 Producer: Tony Visconti
1986	Christmas	-	-	UK27 gold (6 weeks)UK	First published: November 1986 Producers: Tony Visconti, Mike Batt
1988	The Queen Album	-	-	UK51 gold (8 weeks)UK	First published: November 1988 Producer: Mike Moran
1991	Love Can Do That	-	-	UK36 (4 weeks) UK	First published: April 1991 Producer: Dennis Lambert
1993	Romance and the Stage	-	-	UK71 (1 week) UK	First published: March 1993 Producer: Peter Matz
1994	Piaf	-	-	UK46 silver (6 weeks)UK	First published: November 1994 Producer: Mike Moran
2006	Essential musicals	-	-	UK46 (2 weeks) UK	First published: October 2006 Producer: Mike Moran
2010	Elaine Paige and Friends	-	-	UK18th gold (8 weeks)UK	First published: November 2010 with Jon Secada , Idina Menzel , Barry Manilow , Paul Anka , LeAnn Rimes , John Barrowman , Sinéad O'Connor , Billy Ocean , Johnny Mathis , Olivia Newton-John , Neil Sedaka , Michael Bolton , Dionne Warwick ; Producer: Phil Ramone

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More albums

• 1978: Evita: Original London Cast Recording (with Tim Rice , Andrew Lloyd Webber , David Essex , Joss Ackland and Harold Prince )
• 1978: Sitting Pretty
• 2009: Live - Celebrating a Life on Stage

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	CH	UK
1987	Memories: The Best Of	-	-	UK14th platinum (15 weeks)UK	First published: November 1987
1992	Together - The Best of Elaine Paige & Barbara Dickson	-	-	UK22 (9 weeks) UK	First published: November 16, 1992 with Barbara Dickson
1995	Encore	-	-	UK20th silver (8 weeks)UK	First published: June 1995
1998	On Reflection: The Very Best Of	-	-	UK60 (6 weeks) UK	First published: November 1998
2004	Center Stage: The Very Best Of	-	-	UK35 (4 weeks) UK	First release: May 2004 double album
2014	The Ultimate Collection	-	-	UK74 (1 week) UK	First published: May 12, 2014

More compilations

• 1990: The Collection (UK:silver)
• 1991: An Evening with Elaine Paige
• 1996: performance
• 1997: From a Distance
• 2007: Songbook
• 2008: Sweet Memories: The Essential Elaine Paige (2 CDs)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	CH	UK
1978	Don't Walk Away Till I Touch You Sitting Pretty	-	-	UK46 (5 weeks) UK	First published: September 15, 1978 Authors: Patty Smyth , Anthony Cliff, Brian Wade
1981	Memory stages	-	-	UK6th silver (17 weeks)UK	First published: May 1981 from the musical Cats Author: Andrew Lloyd Webber
1984	Sometimes Cinema	-	-	UK72 (3 weeks) UK	First published: March 1984 Music: Carl Davis, Text: Norman Newell
	I know him so well love hurts	DE22 (8 weeks) DE	CH7 (9 weeks) CH	UK1 gold (17 weeks)UK	First published: December 17th, 1984 with Barbara Dickson , from the musical Chess Authors: Benny Andersson , Björn Ulvaeus , Tim Rice
1987	The Second Time ( Reissue ) Memories: The Best Of	-	-	UK69 (4 weeks) UK	First published: October 1987 Title song of the film Bilitis Authors: Francis Lai , Tim Rice
1995	Hymn L'amour (If You Love Me) Encore	-	-	UK68 (2 weeks) UK	First published: January 9, 1995 Authors: Édith Piaf , Geoffrey Parsons , Marguerite Monnot Original: Édith Piaf, 1950

More singles

1976: You Can't Take Away (My Love for You) (Release: July 30th) 1978: Ireland (released July 21) 1979: Four Songs from the West End Production of “Evita” (EP) (Release: July) 1981: If You Don't Want My Love (released January) 1981: Falling Down to Earth (release: April) 1981: Is Anyone There? (Release: July) 1981: The Far Side of the Bay (release: October) 1982: The Second Time (released January) 1982: If You Don't Want My Love (released April) 1982: A Knight in Black Leather (released June) 1984: Like an Image Passing By (released December 1983) 1984: Nobody's Side (release: November) 1985: Tonight Is the Night (release: March; from the film invitation to the wedding ) 1985: Heaven Help My Heart (release: September)

1986: For You (release: February) 1986: Nobody's Side (Remix Version) (Release: May) 1986: Walking in the Air (release: December) 1987: Father Christmas Eyes (released November 30th) 1988: Take Me Back (Theme from Classmates) (July release) 1989: I Get a Kick Out of You (Original: Ethel Merman & William Gaxton, 1934) 1989: Radio Ga Ga (release: January; original: Queen , 1984) 1991: Heart Don't Change My Mind 1991: Oxygen 1991: Well Almost 1995: As If We Never Said Goodbye 2010: It's Only Life (with Sinéad O'Connor )

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1. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6276605.stm
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: Singles UK
3. ↑ ^{a b c} UK gold / platinum database

Web links

• Official international homepage (English)
• Elaine Paige at Allmusic (English)
• Elaine Paige at Discogs (English)
• Elaine Paige in the Internet Movie Database (English)