Sunday Special: From the Mosh Pit to the Stage - Music Stars Turned Broadway Composers
By: BWW Special Coverage Oct. 26, 2014
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Sting's THE LAST SHIP marks The Police lead singer's Broadway debut tonight, but he's far from the first music industry transplant on the Great White Way.
From Bono and the Edge's drama-filled SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK to Cyndi Lauper's mega-successful KINY BOOTS, or indie stand-outs like David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's HERE LIES LOVE and Glen Hansard's international hit ONCE, mainstream songwriters continue show that talent is talent, whether they're rocking for thousands in an arena or carefully crafting stories for the stage.
Scroll down to learn more about some of the greatest music stars turned Broadway composers, and be sure to tell us your favorite (or any we left out) in the comments below!
Sting
His Mainstream Success: Sting is best known as the principal songwriter, lead singer, and bassist for the pioneering new waverock band The Police, and for his subsequent solo career. He has varied his musical style, incorporating distinct elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age, and worldbeat into his music. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fameas a member of The Police in 2003. In 2000, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for recording.
HIs Notable HIts: "Every Breath You Take," "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic," "Roxanne," "Can't Stand Losing You," "Englishman in New York"
His Theatrical Work: His musical, The Last Ship, will open tonight at the Neil Simon Theatre. THE LAST SHIP tells the story of a group of shipyard workers who are inspired by a local Priest to build their own ship once their own ship yard has been shut down. The workers then decide to set sail on a voyage around the world. The story was inspired by Sting's own childhood memories growing up in the Newcastle area before he rose to fame as the frontman of the band The Police. The script was also inspired by the singer's solo album 'The Soul Cages' which was released in 1990 following the death of his father.
Bono and The Edge
Their Mainstream Success: Both are members of the hugely successful musical group, U2. U2 have released 13 studio albums and are among the all-time best-selling music artists, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide. They have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band, and in 2005, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Rolling Stone ranked U2 at number 22 in its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" and has labelled them the "Biggest Band in the World".
Their Notable Hits: "I Still Havent Found What I'm Looking For," "One," "With or Without You," "Pride," and "Where the Streets Have No Name"
Their Theatrical Work: The duo was also behind Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which ran on Broadway June 2011- January 2014. The musical is based on the Spider-Man comics created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, published by Marvel Comics, as well as the 2002 film about the character, and the Greek myth of Arachne. It tells the story of the origin of the character, his romance with Mary Jane and his battles with the evil Green Goblin. The show includes highly technical stunts, such as actors swinging from "webs" and several aerial combat scenes.
His Mainstream Success: Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist noted for his work with the rock band Phish, and his solo career, including the Trey Anastasio Band and the orchestral "Evenings with Trey Anastasio" In addition to his orchestral compositions, he is credited by name as composer of 152 Phish original songs, 140 of them as a solo credit, in addition to 41 credits attributed to the band as a whole.
His Notable Hits: "Tweezer," "Divided Sky," "You Enjoy Myself," and "Lushington"
His Theatrical Work: Anastasio teamed with Amanda Green for the 2013 msuical, Hands on a Hardbody. Ten contestants vie for a "hardbody" truck in Longview, Texas. The last contestant who has his or her hands on the truck wins it. The truck is a Nissan "hardbody" pickup (on stage). The lives of each contestant, along with the car dealer and a radio announcer are revealed during the "hardbody" contest.
Her Mainstream Success: Since 1989, Lauper has released nine studio albums and has participated in many other projects. Her most recent album, Memphis Blues, became Billboard's most successful blues album of the year, remaining at #1 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart for 13 consecutive weeks. Lauper has established herself as a pop icon winning awards at the Grammy, Emmy, Tony, New York's Outer Critics Circle, MTV VMA, Billboard, and AMA awards. Lauper won the inaugural Best Female Video prize at the 1984 VMAs for Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. This music video is recognized by MTV, VH1 and Rolling Stone as one of the greatest music videos of all time.
HerNotable Hits: "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," "True Colors," "Time After Time," "All Through the Night," and "She Bop"
Her Theatrical Work: Lauper composed music for the Broadway musical Kinky Boots with Harvey Fierstein. The musical, based on the 2006 independent film Kinky Boots, opened in Chicago in October 2012, and opened on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (where it is still running) on April 4, 2013.
Their Mainstream Success: Fatboy Slim, is an English DJ, musician, rapper, and record producer. As a solo electronic act, he has won ten MTV Video Music Awards and two Brit Awards. His records as Fatboy Slim also helped to popularise the big beat genre which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s. Byrne is a founding member and principal songwriter of the American new wave bandTalking Heads, active between 1975 and 1991. Since then, Byrne has released his own solo recordings and worked with various media including film, photography, opera, and non-fiction. He has received Grammy, Oscar, and Golden Globe awards and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Their Notable Hits: "Burning Down the House," "Once in a Lifetime," "Right Here, Right Now," and "Song for Lindy"
Their Theatrical Work: The duo teamed up for Here Lies Love, about the life of the former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos along with the woman who raised her-Estrella Cumpas-and follows Marcos until she and her family were forced to leave the Philippines. The rock musical that premiered in 2013 at The Public Theater, where it is still playing.
His Mainstream Success: Stewart is a songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics. He won Best British Producer at the 1986, 1987 and 1990 Brit Awards. The group formed in 1980 and went on to be one of the most successful pop-rock duos of all time. After a string of hit singles and albums, the duo split in 1990, but reunited in 1999 for the album Peace and another world tour. Annie Lennox and Stewart worked together again in 2005, recording two new tracks for the greatest hits package Ultimate Collection, released to coincide with Eurythmics' 25th anniversary.
HIs Notable Hits: "Sweet Dreams," "Love Is a Stranger," "belinda," and "Never Gonna Cry Again"
His Theatrical Work: Stewart teamed with songwriter Glen Ballard for Ghost the Musical, which opened at the Piccadilly Theatre in London's West End in June 2011. The show, which is baseed on the movie of the same named, opened on Broadway in April 2012.
His Mainstream Success: In his five-decade career Elton John has sold more than 300 million records, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. He has more than fifty Top 40 hits, including seven consecutive No. 1 US albums, fifty-eight Billboard Top 40 singles, twenty-seven Top 10, four No. 2 and nine No. 1. For 31 consecutive years (1970-2000) he had at least one song in the Billboard Hot 100. He has the most No. 1 hits on US Adult Contemporary Chart.
His Notable Hits: "Your Song," "Rocket Man," "Benny and the Jets," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Candle in the Wind," "Tiny Dancer," and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"
His Theatrical Work: Elton has made significant contributions to Broadway in the past twenty years. After writing the music to the hugely successful Disney film, The Lion King, he visited the material for the 1998 musical version, for which he wrote additional songs. His other musical projects have included Aida, Lestat and Billy Elliot.
HIs Mainstream Success: Holmes is widely known for his number one pop hit "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" (1979/1980) and the song "Him", which reached the number 6 position on the Hot 100 U.S. pop chart in 1980.
HIs Notable Hits: "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" and "Him"
His Theatrical Work: Holmes made his professional debut as a playwright with the musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Holmes was encouraged to write a musical by Joseph Papp and his wife after they attended one of Holmes's cabarets in 1983. The result, loosely based on the Charles Dickens unfinished novel. He also wrote the book for Robin and the 7 Hoods, The First Wives' Club - The Musical, Say Goodnight, Gracie, and A Time to Kill.
His Mainstream Success: Hansard is known as the vocalist and guitarist in his band The Frames, which he formed in 1990. Additionally, in 2006, he released his first album without the Frames with Markéta Irglová called "The Swell Season." Irglová and Hansard would go on to star in and write the music for the 2007 Irish musical film "Once," which was met with widespread acclaim.
His Notable Hits: "Falling Slowly" and "Fallen from the Sky"
HIs Theatrical Work: Hansard and Irglová's compositions for Once for widespread success in the theatre community when a stage version of the musical premiered at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, under the direction of John Tiffany. From there, the show transferred to the New York Theatre Workshop, and then went on to Broadway's Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in 2012. The production went on to win eight Tony Award, including Best Musical and Best Actor (Steve Kazee). The show is set to end its Broadway run on January 4th, 2015 after 1,167 regular performances.
Her Mainstream Success: Dolly Parton is the most honored female country singer of all time. In 1967, her cover of Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing on My Mind" brought her to the top-ten country singles chart. Parton began to transition to popular music with her 1977 single "Here You Come Again." During the 1980s, Parton enjoyed success and acclaim for multiple pop-country hits, such as "9 to 5." She released a pair of albums with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. Parton was inducted to the Country Music Fall of Fame in 1999. She has composed over 3,000 songs, and is the winner of eight Grammy Awards.
Her Notable Hits: "Here You Come Again," "Islands in the Stream," "9 to 5," "I Will Always Love You," "Coat of Many Colors," "Jolene," "My Tennessee Mountain Home"
Her Theatrical Work: Parton wrote the score to the 2008 musical 9 to 5, a musical adaptation of her 1980 film "Nine to Five." The musical opened in Los Angelas and transferred to Broadway in April of 2009. It ran for 148 performances at the Marquis Theatre. While Parton's score was praised, the musical struggled in finding an audience and closed in early September of 2009. Despite the early closing of the show, it was nominated for four Tony Awards, including a nomination for Parton for Best Score.
His Mainstream Success: David Bryan is best known as the keyboard player for the American rock band Bon Jovi. He has co-written several songs and performed backing vocals for the group. He was first to receive the call and offer to be in the band from Jon Bon Jovi when he learned that he had been offered a recording contract. Not only has be been featured on all of Bon Jovi's albums, but he has also work on solo albums with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. The group received widespread critical acclaim with their third album "Slippery When Wet," which was released in 1986. In 2000, the band released the single "It's My Life" after a hiatus, which introduced the band the younger audiences. The band was inducted in the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
His Notable Hits: "In These Arms," "Livin' on a Prayer," "It's My Life," "You Give Love a Bad Name," "I'll Be There for You"
His Theatrical Work: Bryan co-wrote the musical Memphis with Joe DiPietro, which had its off-Broadway premiere in 2002. It wasn't after seven more years and several other engagements, including San Diego and Seattle, that Memphis finally made it to Broadway. It opened on Broadway in late 2009, and ran for just under three years, closing on August 15th, 2012. The musical, which won four 2010 Tony Awards including Best Musical, is loosely based on the life of Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips, one of the first white DJs to play black music. Bryan and DiPietro were nominated for and won the Tony Award for Best Score of a Musical. Bryan was also honored with the Tony for Best Orchestrations.
Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus
Their Mainstream Success: Andersson and Ulvaeus are best known for their work in the Swedish band ABBA. The band was active between 1972 and 1982. The group also included Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The band was extremely successful during the 1970s, topping the charts from 1975-1982. The band won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, becoming the first Swedish group in history to take home the award. Ulvaeus was a guitarist and vocalist for the band, whlie Andersson was keyboardist and fellow vocalist. The band eventually broke up in 1982, after the divorces of both couples (Andersson and Lyngstad; Ulvaeus and Fältskog) that made up the band.
Their Notable Hits: "Mamma Mia," "Dancing Queen," "Waterloo," "Super Trouper," "Does Your Mother Know"
Their Theatrical Work: After the band's breaking up, Ulvaeus and Andersson found success in writing musicals. Their first project was "Chess," which was originally produced in 1984 and opened in the West End in 1986 and on Broadway in 1988. The show received three Olivier Award nominations and two Tony Award nominations. In 1995, their Swedish musical Kristina från Duvemåla was first produced. It was based on a series of four novels by Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg. It has been performed in workshops and concerts in both New York and London and has played in Sweden's largest cities. Their latest success was extremely popular jukebox musical based on the songs of ABBA, Mamma Mia. Mamma Mia opened in the West End in 1999 and on Broadway in 2001, where it is still running. The musical has since been made into a film, starring Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, and Colin Firth.
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