When Tim Rice met Andrew Lloyd Webber

Their incredible journey began in 1965 with their first musical and will continue in November with the premier of their latest collaboration, Sherlock Holmes and The 12 Days of Christmas.

Iconic songwriters Rice, aged 80, and Lloyd Webber, 77, have created some of history’s most legendary musicals including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita.

Road to success

Born in Buckinghamshire in November 1944, Rice started work as an articled clerk for London law firm Petit and Westlake in 1963 on leaving private school. However, it wasn’t for him, and he went on to study at historic Sorbonne University of Paris, choosing a career in the arts.

Fuelled by a passion for popular music, he planned on writing a book about pop history, as well as starting to compose his own songs. In 1965, aged 21, Rice approached Desmond Elliot, founder of Arlington Books in London, with his book idea.

At the same time, Lloyd Webber, born in London in 1948, was preparing to go to Magdalen College, Oxford, to read history. He came from a musical family, as his father William was a composer and his mother Jean a pianist and violinist. A child prodigy, he started writing music at nine, building a toy theatre, where he and his younger brother Julian, a cellist, put on shows for relatives.

He enrolled at the Eric Gilder School of Music at age 15. As well as loving musical theatre, he was a fan of pop and rock music, including Dusty Springfield and the Rolling Stones. In 1965, with his academic future mapped out at Magdalen College, deep down, he aspired to become a composer.

When Rice approached Elliot with his book idea, the publisher wasn’t keen. However, he was far more interested in the fact Rice was also writing song lyrics. Elliot knew of a composer, 17-year-old Lloyd Webber, who needed a collaborator, so he suggested they should arrange a meeting to discuss their ideas.

First meeting

Rice wrote to Lloyd Webber to introduce himself. In a letter dated 21st April 1965, Rice mentioned his connection to Desmond Elliot and explained how he wrote pop song lyrics, signing off with, “I wonder if you’d consider it worth your while meeting me?”

Thanks to Elliot’s foresight, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice began their long musical partnership. The two young men hit it off from the outset, with their shared love of musical theatre spurring an ambitious plan to write a musical, rather than pop songs.

The result was the 1965 musical, The Likes of Us, with music composed by Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Rice. Based on the true story of Thomas John Barnardo, it related how the philanthropist founded homes for orphaned and destitute children in 1867, after meeting homeless kids on the streets of London and learning of their struggles.

Initial challenges

Although putting their heart and soul into the musical, Rice and Lloyd Webber found it wasn’t plain sailing getting into show business. In fact, The Likes of Us was eventually shelved for an incredible 40 years before being premiered, as the writers couldn’t find a backer. Despite its early promise, it failed to attract interest from producers.

Rice took a job as a trainee A&R man with EMI Records and also continued to work with Lloyd Webber, who left Oxford after one year to become a full-time composer. They didn’t give up hope and still believed in The Likes of Us.

At the same time, they were invited by headmaster Alan Doggett (a friend of the Lloyd Webber family) to write a short musical for an end-of-term concert at Colet Court School in London. It was to be a 20-minute musical interlude, performed by the eight to eleven-year-old pupils. Although it was very different from their ambition to stage a top West End show, they wrote an early draft of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

Based on the Biblical character of Joseph, its first public performance took place on 1st March 1968, when Derek Jewell, the Sunday Times’ music critic, was among the audience of 200 parents, watching his son take part. He wrote a review in the newspaper, praising the production. Even so, it was five years before the full-length musical of Joseph was first staged in the West End in 1973, starring English actor Gary Bond in the title role.

Joseph has been played by many famous actors over the years, including Jason Donovan in the West End revival at London Palladium in 1991, when the show won a Laurence Olivier Award. Other entertainers in the role included Donny Osmond, Gareth Gates, Joe McElderry and former Steps star Ian ‘H’ Watkins.

Meanwhile, The Likes of Us faded into the background as Rice and Lloyd Webber finally began to enjoy wide scale success, eight years after their first meeting. The musical finally premiered at Sydmonton Festival in July 2005.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musicals

While still trying to push The Likes of Us, the duo discussed staging another major show, turning to the Bible’s New Testament for inspiration. They wanted to write about Judas Iscariot and Pontius Pilate and pitched the idea to theatre producers, but none of them felt it was commercially viable. However, after recording a concept album of songs, released on MCA records in October 1970, the idea for the musical gathered pace.

The rock opera LP, featuring major stars such as Ian Gillan and Yvonne Elliman, was a big hit in both the UK and the US. Theatre producers suddenly took notice, and the musical made its debut on Broadway in October 1971. Productions have been taking place almost continually since, including a record breaking eight years at London’s Palace Theatre, with the most recent being a 2023 UK tour.

In June 1978, their third global success was the musical Evita, based on Argentinian political leader Eva Perón, which premiered at the Prince Edward Theatre in London’s West End, starring Elaine Paige. It won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical and three Tony Awards. The musical is set for a revival at London Palladium in the West End in June 2025, starring Rachel Zegler.

Recent careers

In the 1980s, the duo parted ways to concentrate on individual projects, with Rice moving on to the Lion King and Aladdin, and Webber creating musicals such as Cats and The Phantom of the Opera. The media reported that they had “different visions for their musical future”, with Rice seeking more unconventional projects and Lloyd Webber preferring mainstream musicals. However, they have always dismissed suggestions of a feud, with Rice saying they had remained “great friends” over the years – a fact borne out by the fact they’re working together again.

Sherlock Holmes and The 12 Days of Christmas, a comedy “whodunit” written by Humphrey Ker and David Reed, with new songs by Rice and Lloyd Webber, will premier at Birmingham Rep on 14th November 2025. Its eight-week run will once again showcase the talents of the legendary duo, whose work has shaped modern musical theatre and been an inspiration for many.