Sarah Brightman

Sarah Brightman is a British soprano, actress, and artist born on August 14, 1960, in Berkhamsted, England. She is widely recognized as a pioneer of Classical Crossover, a style that fuses classical vocals with pop-inspired instrumentation and arrangements.

Her career began with disco singles and as a dancer in troupes like Hot Gossip. She later achieved worldwide fame as a musical theatre performer and partner of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, for whom she created roles, most notably Christine Daaé in *The Phantom of the Opera*.

After her divorce, she consolidated her career as a crossover artist by collaborating with Frank Peterson, the former producer of Enigma. She sings in many languages, including English, Spanish, French, Latin, German, Italian, Russian, Hindi, and Mandarin.

Among her notable achievements, she is the only artist to have simultaneously held the number one spot on the Billboard Classical and Dance charts. She holds a Guinness World Record for the success of the single Time to Say Goodbye, the best-selling single in German recording history. The Recording Industry Association of America ranked her as the top-selling female classical artist of the twenty-first century.

She has sold approximately 78 million albums worldwide, including 40 million copies of *The Phantom of the Opera* soundtrack, 26 million solo albums, over two million DVDs, and 10 million copies of the single Time to Say Goodbye. She is often cited as paving the way for other international successes like Il Divo, Andrea Bocelli, and Josh Groban.

She is also known under the alias Hepsibah. Name variations include Brightman, S. Brightman, Sara, Sara Brightman, Sarah B, Sarah Brightman (Soprano), Sarah Brightman 莎拉 · 布莱曼, Сара Брайтман, سارة برايتمان, サラ・ブライトマン, 莎拉 · 布莱曼, and 사라 브라이트만.