‘It was a godsend’: Sir Tim Rice celebrates 50 years of Jesus Christ Superstar concept album
The revered musical Jesus Christ Superstar turns 50 this year.
The rock opera about Jesus and his face-off with Judas has toured the world, with huge productions on the West End, Broadway and beyond.
But before it became a global hit on stage, it started life as a concept album – something Sir Tim Rice called a “godsend”.
The album has been remastered 50 years on
Speaking to Sky News amid the launch of the album’s repackaged rerelease, Sir Tim, who along with Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber was the brains behind the project, said that the record allowed the pair to do more than they could do in a theatre at the time.
“We were trying to get our idea into a musical on the last few days in the life of Jesus, as seen through the eyes of Judas Iscariot.
“That was our ambition… but no theatrical producer showed any interest at the time, so we were kind of forced to make an album.
“But this turned out to be an absolute godsend, because we were able to use greater forces – we were able to make it more rock, we could have a huge orchestra, we could do wonderful things, even back then in 1970, wonderful things in the recording studio that you couldn’t do in a theatre and that made it a contemporary piece of music.
“Had we gone to the theatre straight away, it might have been okay, but it wouldn’t have been possible to have had a rock band in those days and an orchestra and all that stuff in a theatre, and we probably would have started out of town where the facilities would have been even less for this new sort of show.
“So we put out the record and the record was an almost overnight hit in America.”
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It was this album, with the likes of rock legends Ian Gillan (of Deep Purple fame) as Jesus, Manfred Mann’s Mike D’abo as King Herod and American singer Yvonne Elliman on it, that Sir Tim and Lord Lloyd Webber went on to score one of the first major stage successes of their careers.
“We had this thumping great hit record, a hit record of a show’s score without a show, and of course all the producers who said they [did not] want to do the show, now did want to do the show,” Sir Tim told Sky News.
“Superstar then grew in 1970, 1971, 1972 from an album, which became a hit all over the world, and only rather belatedly in Great Britain, and it became a show on Broadway first and then Australia and around Europe.”
But even before the album, which was recorded in the unassuming Olympic Studios in Barnes, southwest London, it was an idea Sir Tim had when he was growing up at Christian schools.
“I wasn’t sure if I was a believer or not, but I often thought when I was 15 or 16, Judas Iscariot, Pontius Pilate, these guys were around at the time but they didn’t really have their views put forward, particularly Judas in the Gospels.
“Judas is just like a cardboard figure of evil whose role was to betray Christ, and I often wondered if I were in that situation and did not believe Jesus was God, even if I thought he was a terrific guy, what would my reaction be?
“Would you feel that he was a danger to other people… and that really was something that I found very intriguing.”
Sir Tim Rice wrote the show with Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber. Pic: Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP
Sir Tim and Lord Lloyd Webber were also fresh off the back of their first biblical success – Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat – and had carved themselves out as people who could turn the story into something more exciting.
“This was something Andrew and I talked about to the dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, because he’d seen that we could do something from the Bible and make it fun and entertaining and also keep it serious… and he said, go for it – it’s a good idea.”
The album features tracks like Gethsemane (with that piercing high note), I Don’t Know How To Love Him, and of course Superstar, with Sir Tim saying it would be difficult “to take anything out of it without harming the whole piece” – a testament to the soundtrack’s importance on the story.
(L-R) Tim Minchin, Ben Forster, Melanie C and Chris Moyles were in the 2012 arena version of the show
Reflecting on his memories of recording the album, Sir Tim said: “It was quite nice at the end… when we sent copies of the album out to all the people who’d been on it, and most of them hadn’t really heard very much of it.
“They heard their own songs, often unmixed, but they hadn’t heard the whole thing and in some cases weren’t quite sure what the whole thing was going to end up like at all – but when we sent the album out to them… everybody they called up and said, this is actually great.
“It was a very hot summer, I remember in 1970, and we were sometimes a bit annoyed at having to be stuck in a studio for most of that summer – but it was actually really a very good experience and it was because it was our first major recording sessions”.
The special anniversary editions of the Jesus Christ Superstar album are available now, featuring demos, commentaries, interviews and more.
Thousands of members of actors’ trade union Equity are being asked whether they would support industrial action over artificial intelligence protections.
The organisation has launched an indicative ballot among about 7,000 members working in film and TV.
Performers are being asked whether they are prepared to refuse to be digitally scanned on set in order to secure adequate artificial intelligence protections.
It will be the first time the performing arts and entertainment trade union has asked this whole section of its membership to vote in a ballot.
The Hollywood strikes took place in 2023. File pic: AP
The announcement follows the Hollywood strikes in 2023, when members of Equity’s sister union in the US, SAG-AFTRA, and writers, went on strike over issues including AI.
Video game actors in the US also protested over the use of AI, ending almost a year of industrial action earlier in 2025.
Equity’s ballot opens on Thursday and runs for two weeks, and will show the level of support the union has for action short of a strike.
Another statutory ballot would have to be made before any industrial action is taken.
“While tech companies get away with stealing artists’ likeness or work, and the government and decision makers fret over whether to act, unions including Equity are at the forefront of the fight to ensure working people are protected from artificial intelligence misuse,” Equity general secretary Paul W Fleming said in a statement.
“If bosses can’t ensure someone’s likeness and work won’t be used without their consent, why should performers consent to be digitally scanned in the first place?”
Mr Fleming said the ballot would give members the opportunity to “send a clear message to the industry: that it is a basic right of performers to have autonomy over their own personhood and identity”.
The union has no choice but to recommend members support industrial action, he said.
“It’s time for the bosses to step away from the brink and offer us a package, including on AI protections, which respects our members,” added Mr Fleming.
The hotly anticipated Spotify Wrapped is revealing our top tracks, artists and albums for 2025.
But how does the streaming service calculate personalised summaries of users’ listening habits and rank the UK’s hottest artists?
Here’s a look at how your data is used.
The platform describes the annual statistics as “a chance to look back on your year in sound”.
It says data is captured between January and mid-November on every account, although it mostly excludes anything streamed in private mode. (Don’t worry, your passion for the Spice Girls can be kept secret.)
Wrapped presents personalised listening statistics, which Spotify calls the “real story of your year of listening”, alongside global figures for comparison.
The streaming service says Minutes Listened reflects the actual time spent listening to audio on the platform.
Once a user streams at least 30 tracks, Spotify generates a list of Your Top Songs. Similarly, Your Top Artists ranks artists based on total minutes listening to a particular performer.
Other metrics identify the top genres users have played, as well as podcasts and audiobooks ranked by total minutes listened. And if you’ve listened to at least 70% of tracks on a record, you’ll see top albums too.
Spotify also creates Your Listening Age, a guesstimate of your age based on the era of the music “you feel most connected to”.
The streaming service says the statistic is calculated using a five-year span of music which users engaged with more than other listeners of a similar age.
Spotify has been summing up 2025’s most listened to tracks. Pic: Spotify
Swift vs Bunny
Pop superstar Taylor Swift has been named the UK’s most-streamed artist on Spotify for the third year in a row.
But she dropped out of the top spot in the global rankings, coming second to Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, who secured more than 19.8 billion streams. Third were The Weeknd, followed by Drake and Billie Eilish.
Bad Bunny’s LP Debi Tirar Mas Fotos was the most listened-to album worldwide.
Read more from Sky News:
Sabrina Carpenter fury at video
Drake’s lawsuit dismissed
Spotify hikes UK prices
Spotify revealed Drake was the UK’s second most-listened to artist, followed by Sabrina Carpenter in third, The Weeknd in fourth and Billie Eilish in fifth.
Despite being the most listened-to artist, Swift failed to break into the UK’s top five most listened-to songs and albums of the year.
Alex Warren’s Ordinary was the most-streamed song, and Short ‘N’ Sweet, released by Carpenter last year, the top album.
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