Elaine Paige

Originally inspired by West Side Story, Elaine Paige was a product of the Aida Foster Stage School, making her first professional stage appearance in 1964 and her London West End debut in the musical Hair four years later. It was another decade, though, before her big breakthrough came when she won the part of Eva Perón in the original stage production of Evita. Paige then starred in various other hit stage musicals written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, including Cats, and had a Top 10 hits with the song Memory from the show. She went on to duet with Barbara Dickson on I Know Him So Well from the musical Chess (co-written by the male members of ABBA), which, to date, is the biggest selling record by a female duo. Other leading stage roles included Anything Goes, Sunset Boulevard and The King & I as Paige confirmed her positions as one of Britain's most successful stage actresses and singers, releasing over 20 albums.