Who is Sarah Brightman

Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is a British crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She sings in many languages including English, Spanish, French, Latin, German, Italian, Russian, Hindi, Mandarin and Japanese.

Brightman has 160 Gold and Platinum awards in 34 countries and is the only artist to hold #1 spots on the Billboard Classical and Dance charts simultaneously, her other achievements feature her ranking by the Recording Industry Association of America as the best-selling female classical artist of the twenty-first century, and a Guinness World Record for ?Time to Say Goodbye?, the best-selling single in German recording history.

She has established herself as the world's biggest selling soprano of all time, with worldwide sales of more than 30 million albums and over 3 million DVDs.

She was a dancer in troupes such as Hot Gossip, and later released a number of disco singles. She was a musical theatre performer and partner of theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom she originated roles including Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera.

After her divorce from Lloyd Webber, Brightman became a crossover artist with former Enigma producer Frank Peterson. Her style is a blend of classical vocals and pop-inspired instrumentation and arrangement.

She is cited as one who paved the way for other artists such as Il Divo, Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban.

Her personal assets have been estimated to be around £30m (about US$49m).Take That! Gary Barlow joins Rich List, Times Online, 2 May 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2009