Ramin Karimloo

Ramin Karimloo, nominated for both Olivier and Tony Awards, first gained recognition in the early 2000s through key roles in long-running West End productions such as Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables. He created the Phantom character for the 2010 sequel Love Never Dies and later achieved his Broadway debut in the 2014 revival of Les Mis. Karimloo has also released several solo albums of show tunes, among them the 2019 Sony Masterworks project From Now On, which reached number 11 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.

Born in Tehran, Iran, and raised in Peterborough and Richmond Hill, Ontario, Karimloo launched his professional music path in Toronto by performing with rock bands that included a Tragically Hip cover group. He moved into theater with early parts in Lost in Yonkers and Columbia House at the Annex Theatre, followed by engagements with cruise-line productions. After relocating to the U.K., he portrayed the title character in a 2000 Chatham Theatre pantomime of Aladdin. Over the subsequent two years he appeared in U.K. tours of The Pirates of Penzance and Sunset Boulevard, then made his West End entrance in 2002 as Feuilly in Les Misérables. In 2003 he joined Phantom of the Opera as Raoul, and the next year he played Christine’s father in Joel Schumacher’s film adaptation. Karimloo returned to touring in 2005 with Miss Saigon.

His first solo recording, the 2007 EP Within the Six Square Inch on the Dress Circle label, featured two Billy Joel covers mixed with familiar theatrical numbers. That same year he resumed Phantom of the Opera, this time in the title role, which he held until late 2009. In 2010 he originated the Phantom again for Love Never Dies and remained with the show until its 2011 summer closure; during that period he also performed Enjolras at the October 2010 25th-anniversary concert of Les Misérables. The Love Never Dies cast album, featuring Karimloo, entered the Billboard 200. By the end of 2011 he had rejoined Les Misérables as Jean Valjean. His debut full-length album, Ramin (also titled Human Heart), appeared on Sony Masterworks in early 2012.

Karimloo participated in a Toronto mounting of Les Misérables in 2013 and reached Broadway in March 2014 with the revival, earning a Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Musical for his Jean Valjean portrayal. One month after concluding that run in August 2015, he guest-starred on an episode of the CBS series Blue Bloods. Subsequent engagements included short runs in Evita in Vancouver and Murder Ballad in London, followed by the role of General Vaganov in Broadway’s Anastasia from March through December 2017. Additional stage work encompassed a mid-2018 series of Seoul concerts marking the 70th anniversary of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, in which he again played the Phantom.

In 2019 Karimloo joined the BBC medical drama Holby City and took the title role in two London concert presentations of Doctor Zhivago. Sony Masterworks issued his second solo album, From Now On, that September; the collection, containing selections from The Greatest Showman, Hamilton, and Dear Evan Hansen, among other stage and screen musicals, peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.