Tim Rice English librettist, co-author of rock operas Andrew Lloyd-Webber Date of Birth: 11.10.1944 Country: Great Britain

Biography of Tim Rice

Timothy Miles Bindon Rice was born on November 10, 1944, in Buckinghamshire, England. He grew up in a middle-class English family and was the oldest of three children. Rice attended a private school but did not pursue higher education, opting instead to spend a year studying at the Sorbonne in Paris. While he initially worked at a small law firm, his true passion was always music.

Early Career and Collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber
Rice's mother was acquainted with Desmond Elliott, who represented the then-unknown composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Upon learning that Rice was also a songwriter, Elliott advised him to get in touch with Lloyd Webber. Following this advice, Rice wrote a famous letter to Lloyd Webber on April 21, 1965, proposing a collaboration. This led to a meeting, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The pair immediately began working on a musical based on a story suggested by Lloyd Webber, titled "Like Us." Although this musical was not successful, their next collaboration, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," achieved wide recognition in England and beyond. This was followed by another unsuccessful musical, "Come Back Richard, Your Country Needs You." However, their next project, "Jesus Christ Superstar," became legendary.

Solo Work and Collaboration with Elton John
After "Jesus Christ Superstar," Rice's creative path diverged from Lloyd Webber's. Rice had always been attracted to the idea of writing a musical set during the Cold War, based on the chess match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in Reykjavik. Although Rice initially asked Lloyd Webber to collaborate on this project, Lloyd Webber had his own creative plans. Instead, Rice collaborated with Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA to create the musical "Chess," which achieved success in Europe.

Rice also collaborated with Cliff Richard on the musical "Heathcliff" and with Stephen Oliver on the musical "Blondel." He wrote two songs for Freddie Mercury's album "Barcelona" and worked with composers such as Vangelis, Francis Lai, and Paul McCartney. Rice's collaboration with Alan Menken resulted in the musical "King David," which ran for some time in the United States.

Disney Era and Recent Work
Rice's association with Disney began when he wrote several songs for the film "Aladdin." This collaboration with Elton John earned Rice his first Academy Award for the song "A Whole New World." He then worked with John again on the highly successful Disney film "The Lion King," which won him another Oscar for the song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight."

Rice and John subsequently collaborated on the musical "Aida," which won five Tony Awards and Grammy Awards. They also wrote songs for the DreamWorks animated film "The Road to El Dorado." Rice continues to be involved in musical theater, with recent productions of "Chess" in Stockholm and "Aida" in the Netherlands. He has also written an autobiography, with the first volume published in 1997.

Personal Life
Rice married Jane McIntosh in 1974, and they have three children together. His romantic involvement with Elaine Paige, his frequent collaborator, ended in the early 1990s. Rice has expressed his desire to visit Russia, where he has been twice before, once in Moscow in 1982 during the preparation of "Chess" and later in St. Petersburg. In 1994, Rice was knighted for his contributions to music.