Today is the birthday of British composer and all around musical mastermind, Andrew Lloyd Webber. The man behind works such as "Cats," "Evita," and "The Phantom of the Opera" turns 65 years old.
Lloyd Webber began writing music at a very early age, finishing a suite of six pieces at the tender age of nine and writing music for the Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats -- the T.S. Eliot poem collection on which "Cats" is based -- at a mere 15 years old. After studying at the Royal College of Music, the budding composer's first professional production was a collaboration with lyricist Tim Rice titled "The Likes Of Us." The project was the beginning of a long partnership between Rice and Lloyd Webber, one that would spawn works like "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and "Jesus Christ Superstar," among many others.
Over the course of his career, Lloyd Webber has composed 13 musicals and two film scores, earned seven Tony Awards and three Grammy Awards, was honored with an Academy Award and was knighted in 1992. The king of musical theater has certainly earned enough accolades on his own, but we thought we'd honor the star with a slideshow of his best works. Scroll through the chronological collection of images and sound clips below and let us know how are you celebrating Sir Webber's birthday in the comments.
