American-British impresario, a former Disc Jockey who teamed up with Andrew Lloyd-Webber to help create some of the most famous musicals ever written such as “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” 1968, “Jesus Christ superstar,” 1970 and “Evita,” 1978.
Rice’s original intention was to become a solicitor, but instead he wound up working at EMI Records. When his supervisor, Norrie Paramor, left to form his own company, Rice went along. During the early 1960s, he was involved in a pop group called the “Aardvarks.” His first meeting with Andrew Lloyd-Webber was at a party in 1965. They began to work together on the musical “The Likes of Us,” which never reached the stage. They reunited in 1968 with greater success, and they both became internationally famous.
Known to take life more easily than his former collaborator, extrovert Rice has enjoyed a more varied life and career, which includes his publishing company Pavilion Books, which he opened in 1981, and running a local cricket team. In between working on their musicals, Rice wrote pop songs and wrote about cricket. He is also the writer of an annual guide to British hit singles and albums, all of which he owns in his massive private collection. Always passionate about pop music, he appeared on quiz shows, winning the title “Rock Brain of the Universe” in 1985.
Temperamental and artistic differences later broke up the pair – and their relationship remains edgy. (“Andrew changes lyricists like gardeners,” observes a one long-time collaborator.)
A new Hollywood career blossomed for Rice following three music Oscars for “The Lion King,” “Aladdin” and “Evita.” He teamed up with Elton John for the Dreamworks film, “The Road to El Dorado.”
Queen Elizabeth II knighted Rice in 1994. Over the course of his career, he won numerous awards including 12 Ivor Novello awards, four Tony awards and three Oscars, and he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1999. His autobiography was published in 1999.
Link to Wikipedia biography