Yvonne Marianne Elliman (born December , ) is an American singer,
songwriter, and actress who performed for four years in the first cast
of the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar. She scored a number of
hits in the s and achieved a US # hit with "If I Can't Have You"; the
song was also # on the Adult Contemporary chart. Her cover of Barbara
Lewis's "Hello Stranger" went to # on Adult Contemporary chart, and
"Love Me" was also #, giving her top singles. After a long hiatus in
the s and s, during which time she dedicated herself to her family,
she made a comeback album as a singer-songwriter in .Elliman was born
and raised in the Manoa neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii; her mother
was of Japanese ancestry and the background of her fatherâ€"a
salesman for Best Foodsâ€"was Irish. Elliman was musical from an early
age, playing the ukulele by age four and taking piano lessons at age
seven. While attending President Theodore Roosevelt High School,
Elliman performed in the school band on standup bass and violin.
However, Elliman became most proficient on the guitar, and performed
as a singer and guitarist in a folk music group named We Folk formed
with some schoolmates. The group fared well in local talent shows.
According to Elliman, she was truant during her senior year at
Roosevelt but graduated owing to the intervention of the school's
British-born band teacher, who persuaded Elliman's teachers to pass
her, and encouraged Elliman herself, then , to relocate to London to
pursue a musical career, which she did shortly after
graduating.Elliman's singing career began in in London, where she
performed at various bars and clubs. At the time she did not like what
she was singing. "I hated the music then," she recalled in a
interview, adding "I did it for the bread. I was into drugs and all
that, and thought Grace Slick and the Jefferson Airplane was it."
While still an unknown, she was discovered by Tim Rice and Andrew
Lloyd Webber, who asked her to sing Mary Magdalene's part for the
original audio recording of Jesus Christ Superstar featuring Ian
Gillan singing as Jesus. After its release as an album in , they
invited her to join the stage show's traveling cast, which she did for
four years.She had her first Billboard Hot hit single in with the
ballad "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar. Her
original version was not issued as a single until a cover version by
Helen Reddy started moving up the U.S. charts; appearing concurrently
on the charts (a rare event, not common since the s, when different
releases played in different parts of the country), Elliman's original
peaked at #, while Reddy's cover peaked at #. In the end, Elliman
performed on the concept album, in the original Broadway cast (), and
in the film. She and Barry Dennen were alone among the cast to have
performed on the original record, original Broadway production and the
film, for which her screen performance as Mary Magdalene led to a
Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or
Musical.
songwriter, and actress who performed for four years in the first cast
of the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar. She scored a number of
hits in the s and achieved a US # hit with "If I Can't Have You"; the
song was also # on the Adult Contemporary chart. Her cover of Barbara
Lewis's "Hello Stranger" went to # on Adult Contemporary chart, and
"Love Me" was also #, giving her top singles. After a long hiatus in
the s and s, during which time she dedicated herself to her family,
she made a comeback album as a singer-songwriter in .Elliman was born
and raised in the Manoa neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii; her mother
was of Japanese ancestry and the background of her fatherâ€"a
salesman for Best Foodsâ€"was Irish. Elliman was musical from an early
age, playing the ukulele by age four and taking piano lessons at age
seven. While attending President Theodore Roosevelt High School,
Elliman performed in the school band on standup bass and violin.
However, Elliman became most proficient on the guitar, and performed
as a singer and guitarist in a folk music group named We Folk formed
with some schoolmates. The group fared well in local talent shows.
According to Elliman, she was truant during her senior year at
Roosevelt but graduated owing to the intervention of the school's
British-born band teacher, who persuaded Elliman's teachers to pass
her, and encouraged Elliman herself, then , to relocate to London to
pursue a musical career, which she did shortly after
graduating.Elliman's singing career began in in London, where she
performed at various bars and clubs. At the time she did not like what
she was singing. "I hated the music then," she recalled in a
interview, adding "I did it for the bread. I was into drugs and all
that, and thought Grace Slick and the Jefferson Airplane was it."
While still an unknown, she was discovered by Tim Rice and Andrew
Lloyd Webber, who asked her to sing Mary Magdalene's part for the
original audio recording of Jesus Christ Superstar featuring Ian
Gillan singing as Jesus. After its release as an album in , they
invited her to join the stage show's traveling cast, which she did for
four years.She had her first Billboard Hot hit single in with the
ballad "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar. Her
original version was not issued as a single until a cover version by
Helen Reddy started moving up the U.S. charts; appearing concurrently
on the charts (a rare event, not common since the s, when different
releases played in different parts of the country), Elliman's original
peaked at #, while Reddy's cover peaked at #. In the end, Elliman
performed on the concept album, in the original Broadway cast (), and
in the film. She and Barry Dennen were alone among the cast to have
performed on the original record, original Broadway production and the
film, for which her screen performance as Mary Magdalene led to a
Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or
Musical.
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