How a desperate office boy rigged a beauty contest to launch a musical career
In short: Before he became a legendary lyricist, Tim Rice was an ambitious EMI trainee obsessed with getting his songs recorded. To secure a deal for a singer, he orchestrated a massive, overnight ballot-stuffing scheme in a London newspaper competition. It worked, launching a career that would redefine the modern musical theater landscape.
In 1967, while working as a "glorified office boy" at EMI, Tim Rice was determined to find a platform for the songs he was writing with Andrew Lloyd Webber. He identified a singer, Rosalind Hannaman, and sought to get her signed to the label. To achieve this, Rice and his colleagues filled out 5,000 entry forms overnight for the London Evening Standard's Girl of the Year competition, which Hannaman had entered. By delivering these ballots to the competition supervisor, journalist Angus McGill, Rice successfully influenced the outcome. The newspaper declared two winners, and Hannaman was signed to EMI, marking a pivotal moment in Rice's early professional life.
Rice’s collaboration with Lloyd Webber soon became a cultural phenomenon. Their early works, including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968) and Jesus Christ Superstar (1970), were among the first musicals to integrate the rock and pop sounds that defined the 1960s. This partnership continued with Evita in 1976. Despite their massive success, the duo's relationship has been complex; while they reunited for a 2011 production of The Wizard of Oz and a 2025 play, Rice has previously dismissed their partnership as no longer relevant.
Beyond his work with Lloyd Webber, Rice has achieved immense global recognition. He is one of only twenty-eight artists to win an Emmy, Oscar, Grammy, and Tony award. His collaborations span diverse partners, including Elton John for The Lion King and Alan Menken for Aladdin, which produced his only US number one single, "A Whole New World." Today, Rice is a prominent figure in British culture, recognized as a knight, a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and a significant philanthropist, with an estimated wealth of £155 million as of 2020.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Tim Rice
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