Tim Rice

Sir Tim Rice
Rice in 2020
Background information
Birth name	Timothy Miles Bindon Rice
Born	(1944-11-10)10 November 1944 Shardeloes,Buckinghamshire,England
Origin	Amersham,Buckinghamshire, England
Genres	Musical theatre film television lyricist author
Occupation(s)	Lyricist • author
Years active	1965–present
Website	timrice.co.uk

Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice(born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations withAndrew Lloyd Webber,with whom he wrote, among other shows,Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,Jesus Christ Superstar,andEvita;Chess(withBjörn UlvaeusandBenny AnderssonofABBA);Aida(withElton John); and for DisneyAladdin(withAlan Menken),The Lion King(with John), both the stage adaptation ofBeauty and the Beastand thelive-action film adaption(with Menken). He also wrote lyrics for the Alan Menken musicalKing David,and forDreamWorks Animation'sThe Road to El Dorado(with John).

Rice wasknightedbyElizabeth IIfor services to music in 1994. He has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame,is a 1999 inductee into theSongwriters Hall of Fameand is the 2023 recipient of itsJohnny Mercer Award,is aDisney Legendrecipient, and is a fellow of theBritish Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors.In addition to his awards in the UK, he isone of nineteen artists to have wonanEmmy,Oscar,GrammyandTonyin the US.

Rice twice hosted theBrit Awards(in1983and1984). The 2020Sunday Times Rich Listvalues Rice's wealth at £155m; the 21st-richest music millionaire in the UK.

Early life

Rice was born atShardeloes,a historicEnglish country housenearAmersham,Buckinghamshire,England that was requisitioned as a maternity hospital during theSecond World War.His father, Hugh Gordon Rice (1917–1988),served with theEighth Armyand reached the rank ofmajorduring the Second World War, and afterward worked for thede HavillandAircraft Company, becoming Far East representative, and for theDiplomatic Service,including as adviser to theMinistry of Overseas DevelopmentatAmman,Jordan.Rice's mother, Joan Odette (née Bawden; 1919–2009), daughter of an entrepreneur in the London fashion trade, served in theWomen's Auxiliary Air Force(WAAF) as a photographic interpreter, and in her eighties became known as a writer on the publication of her wartime diaries.

Education

Lancing College

Rice was educated at three independent schools:Aldwickbury Schoolin Hertfordshire,St Albans SchoolandLancing College.He left Lancing withGCE A-Levelsin History and French and then started work as anarticled clerkfor a law firm in London, having decided not to apply for a university place.He later attended theSorbonneinParisfor a year.

Career

Music industry

After studying for a year in Paris at theSorbonne,Rice joinedEMI Recordsas a management trainee in 1966. When EMI producerNorrie Paramorleft to set up his own organization in 1968, Rice joined him as an assistant producer, working with, among others,Cliff RichardandThe Scaffold.

Musical theatre

Rice became famous for his collaborations withAndrew Lloyd Webber,with whom he wroteJoseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,Jesus Christ Superstar,Evita,Cricket,The Likes of Us,and additional songs for the 2011 West End production ofThe Wizard of Oz.JosephandSuperstarwere additionally known as two of the first hit musicals that drew their sound from the rock and pop music that became embedded in culture in the 1960s.

ForThe Walt Disney Company,Rice has collaborated individually withAlan MenkenandElton John,creating productions includingAladdin(winning anAcademy Award for Best Original Song,Golden GlobeandGrammy Award for Song of the Yearfor "A Whole New World"in 1992) andThe Lion King(winning an Academy Award and Golden Globe for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"in 1994).

In 1996, his collaboration with Lloyd Webber for the film versionEvitawonRice his third Academy Award for Best Original Song with the song "You Must Love Me".Rice has also collaborated withBjörn UlvaeusandBenny AnderssonofABBAonChessand withRick Wakemanon the albums1984andCost of Living.In 2009, he wrote the lyrics forAndrei Konchalovsky's critically pannedreimaginingofThe Nutcracker,set to the music ofPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Rice reunited with Andrew Lloyd Webber in 2011 to pen new songs for Lloyd Webber's newest production ofThe Wizard of Ozwhich opened in March 2011 at theLondon Palladium.Rice has since, however, rejected working with Lloyd Webber again, claiming their partnership has run its course, and they are "no longer relevant as a team".

Media

On 9 November 1979, Rice hosted a highly publicised edition ofFriday Night, Saturday Morningon the BBC which had aheated debateon the newly released filmMonty Python's Life of Brian,a film that had been banned by many local councils and caused protests throughout the world with accusations that it wasblasphemous(as the lyricist ofJesus Christ Superstar,Rice himself had been accused of blasphemy a decade before). To argue in favour of this accusation were veteran broadcaster and noted ChristianMalcolm Muggeridge,andMervyn Stockwood(theBishop of Southwark). In defence of the film were two members of theMonty Pythonteam,John CleeseandMichael Palin.

Rice has also been a frequent guest panellist for many years on the radio panel gamesJust a MinuteandTrivia Test Match.Rice also made an appearance in the filmAbout a Boy.The film includes several clips from an edition of the game showCountdownon which he was the guest adjudicator. His other interests include cricket (he was president of theMCCin 2002) and maths. He wrote the foreword to the bookWhy Do Buses Come In ThreesbyRob Eastawayand Jeremy Wyndham, and featured prominently inTony Hawks'sOne Hit Wonderland,where he co-wrote the song which gave Hawks a top twenty hit in Albania. On 2 December 2010 he addressed the eighthBradman OrationinAdelaide.In October 2011, and November 2016 to February 2017, Rice was guest presenter for theBBC Radio 2showSounds of the '60s,standing in for regular presenterBrian Matthewwho was unwell.

Beginning in the lockdown due to theCOVID-19 pandemic,in partnership with Broadway Podcast Network, Rice has presentedGet Onto My Cloud,apodcastretrospective of his career.A number of episodes feature verbatim excerpts of his autobiography, and all include various recordings of his, and other associated musicians', work.

Literature

He released his autobiographyOh What a Circus: The Autobiography of Tim Ricein 1998, which covered his childhood and early adult life until the opening of the original London production ofEvitain 1978. He also took part in theBush Theatre's 2011 projectSixty Six Booksfor which he wrote a piece based upon a book of theKing James Bible.

Rice was the president ofThe London Library,the largest independent lending library in Europe from 2017–2022.

Publishing

Along with his brother, Jo, and the radio presentersMike ReadandPaul Gambaccini,he was a co-founder of theGuinness Book of British Hit Singlesand served as an editor from 1977 to 1996. In September 1981, Rice, along with Colin Webb andMichael Parkinson,launchedPavilion Books,a publishing house with a publishing focus on music and the arts. He held it until 1997.

Patronage

Rice is a patron of the London-based drama school,Associated Studiosand was for several years, a patron of Thame Players Theatre along withBruce Alexander.

Honours

Main article:List of awards and nominations received by Tim Rice

Rice was made aKnight BachelorbyQueen Elizabeth IIin 1994(entitling him to the address "Sir Tim Rice" or "Sir Tim" ), was inducted into theSongwriters Hall of Famein 1999, and was named aDisney Legendin 2002.

In 2008, Rice received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame.

He is a fellow member of theBritish Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.

Personal life

On 19 August 1974, Rice married Jane Artereta, daughter of Colonel Alexander Henry McIntosh,OBE,and former wife of producer and talent agentMichael Whitehall,the couple having met while working atCapital Radio.The marriage unravelled in the late 1980s after the British tabloid newspapers revealed that he had been conducting an affair with the singerElaine Paige.Jane retains the title Lady Rice as, despite obtaining a divorcedecree nisi,the couple never made it absolute and therefore they remain technically married.

Lady Rice manages the family's 33,000-acreDundonnellestate which Sir Tim Rice bought in 1998 for £2 million. She has won awards for her conservation work with red squirrels.They have two children, Eva Jane Florence, a novelist and singer-songwriter, and Donald Alexander Hugh, a film director and theatre producer who also helps to run Dundonnell.Eva, who was named afterEva Perón,is the author of the novelThe Lost Art of Keeping Secrets,which was a finalist for theBritish Book AwardBest Read of the Year.

Rice has a second daughter, Zoe Joan Eleanor, from a relationship with Nell Sully, an artist.He has a third daughter, Charlotte Cordelia Violet Christina, from a relationship withLaura-Jane Foley,a writer. He has seven grandchildren.

Despite having no familial or personal ties to the club, Rice has been a fan ofSunderland AFCsince his early childhood.

Politics

Rice was a supporter of theConservative Party,but in 2007 stated that the Conservatives were no longer interested in him and that his relationship with the party had "irrevocably changed."Rice andAndrew Lloyd Webber,both supporters ofMargaret Thatcher,attended her funeral in 2013.

Rice raised funds for theEuro Nocampaign in 2000.In 2014 he was a donor to theUK Independence Party.In May 2016, he toldThe Spectatorthat he would vote forBrexitin the following month'sreferendum on the issue,saying: "It would be good to spend one's final years as part of a truly independent nation once more." He said he had voted to remain in theEuropean Economic Communityin 1975 "from a standpoint of ignorance".

Religion

Describing his religion, Rice stated in a 1982 interview, "Technically I'mChurch of England,which is really nothing. But I don't follow it. I wouldn't say I was aChristian.I have nothing against it. "Conversely, he also stated that he adapted the Biblical stories of Joseph and Jesus to musicals because" I'd always rather take a true story over an untrue one. "

Wealth

According toThe Sunday TimesRich Listof the UK's richest millionaires, Rice is worth £155 million as of 2020.

In 2015, Rice expressed his indebtedness to the journalistAngus McGillas "the man responsible for Andrew Lloyd Webber and I having our first song recorded". Speaking at McGill's funeral,Rice told a tale from his days at EMI about trying to rig the results of theLondon Evening StandardGirl of the Year competition in 1967. As "glorified office boy", Rice was writing songs with Lloyd Webber and desperate to find anybody to record one of their songs. Rice and colleagues filled in 5,000 entry forms overnight voting for the contestant who was a singer, and delivered them to McGill, who supervised the competition. Rice said it was "a disgraceful act of dishonesty on my part... without actually breaking the rules". As a result, theStandardproclaimed two Girls of the Year and Rice's choice,Rosalind ( "Ross" ) Hannaman,was signed to EMI, where she made her first record. Rice said at the funeral: "I owe [Angus] an awful lot, which is just one of the reasons why I'm here today."

Musical theatre

• 1968 –Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoatwith music byAndrew Lloyd Webber
• 1970 –Jesus Christ Superstarwith music by Lloyd Webber
• 1976 –Evitawith music by Lloyd Webber
• 1983 –Blondelwith music byStephen Oliver
• 1984 –Chesswith music byBenny AnderssonandBjörn Ulvaeus
• 1986 –Cricketwith music by Lloyd Webber
• 1992 –Tycoonwith music byMichel Berger(English-language adaptation of the 1979 French musicalStarmania,with original French lyrics byLuc Plamondon)
• 1994 –Beauty and the Beastwith music byAlan Menkenfor 9 new songs; remaining songs feature the lyrics ofHoward Ashman,as written for the 1991 film.
• 1996 –Heathcliffwith music byJohn Farrar
• 1997 –The Lion Kingwith music byElton John
• 1997 –King Davidwith music by Menken
• 2000 –Aidawith music by Elton John
• 2005 –The Likes of Uswith music by Lloyd Webber (written in 1965, but first staged at theSydmonton Festivalon 9 July 2005)
• 2011 –The Wizard of Ozwith music by Lloyd Webber for 6 new songs; also additional lyrics for 4 songs with music byHarold Arlenand lyrics byE.Y. Harburg.The remaining 13 songs are solely by Arlen and Harburg.
• 2011 –Aladdinwith music by Menken and additional lyrics by Ashman andChad Beguelin.Based on the film.
• 2013 –From Here to Eternitywith music by Stuart Brayson, based on theJames Jonesnovel of the same name

Film and television work

In addition to adaptations of his theatrical productions, Rice has worked on several original film and television projects:

• 1983 –Octopussy;theme song "All Time High"with music byJohn Barryand sung byRita Coolidge
• 1992 –Aladdinwith music and score byAlan Menken;completed work begun byHoward Ashman
• 1994 –The Lion Kingwith music byElton John,score byHans Zimmer
• 2000 –The Road to El Doradowith music by Elton John, score by Hans Zimmer andJohn Powell
• 2009 –The Nutcracker in 3Dwith music byPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovskyand score byEduard Artemyev
• 2017 –Beauty and the Beastwith music and score by Alan Menken; additional three songs
• 2019 –Aladdinwith music and score by Alan Menken; new compositions withPasek and Paul
• 2019 –The Lion Kingwith music by Elton John and score by Hans Zimmer

Lyricist

• ”Christmas Dream”,written byAndrew Lloyd Webberand sung by Perry Como forThe Odessa File(1974).
• "It's Easy for You",recorded byElvis Presleyon his albumMoody Blue.
• "Legal Boys", recorded byElton Johnon his albumJump Up!
• 1981 concept album1984composed byRick Wakemanand inspired by theGeorge Orwellnovel of the same name.
• "The Second Time", "The Last One to Leave", "Hot As Sun" and "Falling Down to Earth" onElaine Paige's 1981 self-titled album
• "All Time High",the theme tune to the James Bond film,Octopussy,written withJohn Barryand sung byRita Coolidge(1983).
• "A Winter's Tale",written withMike Battand recorded byDavid Essex(1982).
• "The Fallen Priest" and "The Golden Boy" forFreddie Mercury's 1988 albumBarcelona.
• "The Monkey And The Onion" with music byGraham Gouldmanperformed as10ccon their final albumMirror Mirror(1995)
• "Warthog Rhapsody" and a reworking of "Hakuna Matata"(both written with Elton John) forRhythm of the Pride Lands(1995).
• "That's All I Need", written with Elton John, forThe Lion King 1½(2004). Snippets of songs originally written by the pair forThe Lion Kingalso feature in the film.
• "Peterloo", was requested by SirMalcolm Arnold's estate to write lyrics to thePeterloo Overture[commemorating the horrificSt Peter's Fields Massacreand maiming of men, women and children at a meeting in Manchester in Aug 1819]. There was in mind to use it in 2012 for the Olympics or for the Queen's Jubilee celebrations [60 years on throne] but instead it had its premiere at the Royal Albert Hall in London at 'The Last Night of the Proms' on Saturday 13 September 2014 which was broadcast on BBC television.
• "A Matter of Love"Lyrics written by Tim Rice for Taiwanese Prince of BalladsJeff Chang(January 2021)

Other work

• From 1979 to 1982, Rice was co-host of theBBC2chat showFriday Night, Saturday Morning.
• Made a rare appearance in an acting role as a newscaster reporting a plane crash in the 1981 Australian horror filmThe Survivor.
• Co-produced the 1986 London and 1988 Broadway productions ofChessas a partner in 3 Knights Ltd withBenny AnderssonandBjörn Ulvaeus.
• Co-produced the 1989 London production ofAnything Goesas a partner in Anchorage Productions withElaine Paige.
• Co-produced, withAndrew Powell,Elaine Paige's 1981 self-titled album
• Occasional panellist on theBBC Radio 4panel gameJust a Minute
• Appears as host of theBBC Radio 2weekly seriesTim Rice's American Piewhich explores the music and musicians of each state in the USA.

External links

• Tim Rice – Official Site
• Tim Riceat theInternet Broadway Database
• Tim RiceatIMDb
• Tim Rice Songwriters Hall of Fame