Paul Nicholas

Paul Nicholas distinguishes himself among vocalists through the unusually wide range of directions his work in popular music has taken. Although recognized chiefly as a singer, he entered professional music at nineteen by playing piano with Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages in 1964. His association with the group ended quickly once he decided to stop performing full-time and instead study drama while refining his acting technique. He maintained occasional recording activity, yet early songs supplied by Pete Townshend (“Join My Gang”) and David Bowie (“Over the Wall We Go”) never produced a chart entry.

In 1968 Nicholas joined the London cast of Hair, the production Robert Stigwood had brought to the city that year, assuming the leading role of Claude. The two years he spent in the part constituted his first professional contact with the producer and led to further appearances in Stigwood stagings of Jesus Christ Superstar and Grease. He also performed in the rock-oriented films Tommy, Lisztomania, and Stardust.

Extensive work on Stigwood projects and the visibility it created resulted in several singles issued on the producer’s RSO Records, most of them in a disco-pop style, although lasting success came chiefly onstage through leading roles in Barnum, The Pirates of Penzance, the twentieth-anniversary concert tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, and the 1995 production of Singin’ in the Rain. In the 1990s he additionally worked behind the scenes, producing the 1993 West End revival of Grease for the Stigwood organization.