All posts tagged: Lloyd

Andrew Lloyd Webber Says He’s a Recovering Alcoholic

Andrew Lloyd Webber Says He’s a Recovering Alcoholic

Published by Daniella Wilson

Andrew Lloyd Webber is opening up about his road to sobriety, telling The Times in a new profile that he is a recovering alcoholic. “I am a recovering alcoholic,” the composer told the outlet in an interview published Saturday. “Sixteen months ago I decided that I needed help and it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.” Lloyd Webber previously announced he stopped drinking while producing the Broadway production of School of Rock in 2015 and 2016, though he told The Times that he “started to drink secretly.” “I was doing what they call ‘white-knuckling’, without any backup, and I started to worry that I wasn’t being creative,” he said. “And I thought, ‘But I’ve said to everybody that I’m not drinking.’ So I started to drink secretly.” The EGOT winner explained that he “started getting into a downhill spiral and about 18 months ago the family were in a desperate state.” Lloyd Webber added, “My wife was feeling she couldn’t go on.” He then checked into a clinic, which The Times noted “didn’t work,” which …

Andrew Lloyd Webber reveals he’s a recovering alcoholic

Andrew Lloyd Webber reveals he’s a recovering alcoholic

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the inside track from Roisin O’Connor with our free weekly music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Andrew Lloyd Webber has revealed that he is a recovering alcoholic, and that he now attends AA meetings every day – regardless of whether he is at home in London, Hampshire or New York. The British musical theatre impresario behind hit shows such as The Phantom of the Opera, Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar first announced that he had stopped drinking back in 2016. At the time, he sold much of his famous wine collection that included cases of Château Pétrus 1982 worth £50,000 each. But Lloyd Webber, 78, now says that he began drinking again in secret after 18 months. “I was doing what they call ‘white-knuckling’, without any backup, and I started to worry that I wasn’t being creative,” he told The Times. Lloyd Webber said he realised he needed help last year and that getting sober was “the best thing …

Cellist Julian Lloyd Webber diagnosed with prostate cancer

Cellist Julian Lloyd Webber diagnosed with prostate cancer

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the inside track from Roisin O’Connor with our free weekly music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This The cellist Julian Lloyd Webber has announced that he is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. The musician, who celebrated his 75th birthday on Tuesday (14 April), returned to live shows on the same day after an absence of 12 years due to injury. He said in a statement: “I did not want to let anyone down, so I kept my diagnosis secret until after my birthday concert, but now I need to begin treatment as soon as possible. “I am encouraged by the expectations of the medical team and look forward to making a full recovery. I am not intending to cancel engagements, and I won’t comment any further on this matter until after the treatment.” Lloyd Webber, the brother of composer and theatre impresario Baron Andrew Lloyd Webber, performed a birthday charity gala concert at the Wigmore Hall on Tuesday. His return …

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber to Take on the True Story of an Art Heist

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber to Take on the True Story of an Art Heist

Published by Jenni Sidey

Andrew Lloyd Webber, the composer behind such durable hits as Cats (1981), Phantom of the Opera, and Evita, has teased a new musical about the early 20th century theft of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting, the Mona Lisa. The news was first reported by the British publication The Stage. Lloyd Webber had already announced he was currently working on a musical based on the 2006 film The Illusionist. Speaking to entertainment journalist Frank DiLella after the April 7 opening of Lloyd Webber’s Cats: The Jellicle Ball on Broadway, the composer told him: “The other one I’m working on is the true story of the theft of the Mona Lisa. It’s a true story about how the Mona Lisa disappeared for three years and ended up in Italy.” Related Articles Leonardo started the portrait around 1503 while living in Florence but did not finish it for more than a decade. Early sources, such as 16th-century art historian Giorgio Vasari, claim that is a likeness of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo. But the painting never ended …

Lloyd Blankfein “Survived” Harvard as a Working-Class Kid From Brooklyn. Then, He Became CEO of Goldman Sachs.

Lloyd Blankfein “Survived” Harvard as a Working-Class Kid From Brooklyn. Then, He Became CEO of Goldman Sachs.

Published by Sam Flores

I came home from school one day to find an envelope with the Harvard crest on the living room table. “You got another college letter,” my dad said. I dropped my backpack, ran into another room to be alone, and ripped open the envelope, my heart thumping. I’d applied to Harvard almost as a joke, in a moment of either bravado or sheer fantasy. I scanned it quickly, picking out the key words and phrases: pleased to inform you, accepted, and congratulations. I read the letter again more carefully, then a third time, just to be sure I hadn’t misunderstood. No, it was there in black and white. Harvard wanted me. I was not ambivalent. To say this was one of the happiest moments in my life doesn’t begin to do it justice. I thought about my dad’s monotonous nights in the post office, my mom’s fatigue when she kicked her shoes off at the end of the day, my sister’s struggle to start her life over with a toddler, and our whole cramped, confined …

Back to the Future star Christopher Lloyd, 87, looks so loved up with wife Lisa, 55, in touching tribute

Back to the Future star Christopher Lloyd, 87, looks so loved up with wife Lisa, 55, in touching tribute

Published by Daniella Wilson

Christopher Lloyd, 87, looked smitten with his wife of almost 10 years, Lisa Loiacono, in a touching tribute to the 55-year-old on Valentine’s Day. The Back to the Future star took to Instagram to share a photo of himself hugging his wife as they smiled for the camera. Christopher was dressed in blue jeans, a black jacket and black sneakers, while his wife sported ripped skinny jeans, leopard-print heels and a dark T-shirt. “It’s the sweetest love. My Valentine,” he wrote in the caption. The pair first met in 2012, when she served as the real estate agent for Christopher and his former wife, Jane Walker Wood. Lisa helped sell their new Montecito home after the original building had been burned in the 2008 wildfires. © InstagramChristopher shared the sweet snap on Valentine’s Day The actor married Lisa in 2016, and the couple are still close with his ex-wife, Jane, and her new husband. They even shared a quarantine bubble during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Lisa and Jane spent time together each day. “I hike with …

See Frank Lloyd Wright’s Circular Sun House on the Market for .8 M.

See Frank Lloyd Wright’s Circular Sun House on the Market for $8.8 M.

Published by José Betancourt

Frank Lloyd Wright’s so-called Circular Sun House—the last design completed by the famed architect before his death in 1959—is up for sale for $8.8 million. The look is sleek and futuristic, with consummate rhythm and flow. The setting is a hilltop in Phoenix that offers breathtaking views of Palm Canyon and the sun-streaked city below. The listing from Realty ONE Group notes that the house was designed shortly before the opening of Wright’s iconic Guggenheim Museum building in New York in 1959. It was renovated in 1995, and four new air-conditioning units were installed in 2019 (not a bad move in the sweltering conditions of Arizona). Also, per the listing: “Furniture included!” The Circular Sun House has been available for short-term visits, with an Airbnb listing currently offering two-night stays (the minimum time on offer) for $5,695. Reviews have been favorable. “Unforgettable. Spectacular. Ethereal. Enlightening. Inspiring,” reads one. Another: “What a wonderful stay in a truly unique place. Both daytime and evening had equally incredible views, and the house has a feel to it like …

How tanker dark fleet is moving in high seas hunt for sanctioned oil

How tanker dark fleet is moving in high seas hunt for sanctioned oil

Published by Sam Flores

The oil tanker “Grinch” (R), suspected of belonging to the Russian’s shadow fleet, is seen outside the coast of Martigues near the port of Marseille-Fos on January 25, 2026, as it’s surveilled by the French Navy. Thibaud Moritz | Afp | Getty Images President Donald Trump announced a U.S. trade deal with India on Monday which he said includes a promise from India to stop buying Russian oil and potentially buy from the U.S. and Venezuela, but data shows the shadow fleet of tankers moving sanctioned crude continues to unload at Indian ports. Global data and analytics firm Kpler’s vessel tracking shared with CNBC shows four tankers associated with Russia’s shadow fleet unloading or in the process of unloading sanctioned oil at Indian ports: the Giannis, unloading Urals at Chennai Refinery; the Nyxora, unloading Urals at Paradip Refinery; the Tiburon, unloading Urals at Vadinar Refinery; and the Seasons I, which is being tracked outside Vadinar on Tuesday morning but was yet to unload, according to Kpler. In recent months, the global shadow fleet moving sanctioned oil, …

Frank Lloyd Wright House in Chicago for Sale for 0,000. Or Is It?

Frank Lloyd Wright House in Chicago for Sale for $350,000. Or Is It?

Published by Jenni Sidey

A Frank Lloyd Wright house in dire need of restoration has been reported to be up for sale with an asking price of $350,000, after the property was supposedly put on the market by the Federal National Mortgage Associate—best known as Fannie Mae—as part of a court-ordered sale following foreclosure in December. As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, “The development potentially represents the best shot in more than a generation to revive the landmark two-story stucco home at 42 N. Central Ave.—provided the asking price, restoration costs of at least $2 million and a recent appraisal that valued the house at $65,000 doesn’t chase away prospective buyers.” Related Articles But a notice issued by the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy on Facebook says the house is not currently on offer. “Wright on the Market Update: the Walser House is NOT currently for sale!” the notice reads. “The Zillow listing circulating widely is not genuine.” On January 15, Zillow listed the Walser House ‘for sale by owner’ for $350,000. After being alerted to the listing and …

How Jessie Buckley went from an Andrew Lloyd Webber reality show to this award season’s golden girl

How Jessie Buckley went from an Andrew Lloyd Webber reality show to this award season’s golden girl

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter “I’ve never done a Marvel, I’m not on Instagram, I’m probably the least bankable [choice].” Assessing her career in a recent Vogue profile, actor Jessie Buckley highlighted why she is something of a Hollywood anomaly. In an era where social media stardom can determine casting and too many talented young things get caught up in superhero movie purgatory, the 36-year-old star has carved her own path, one that has taken her from reality TV fame to indie movie acclaim. In the process, she has established herself as one of the most fascinating actors working today. And despite her self-deprecation, she is surely on the cusp of becoming very “bankable” indeed. Her latest role in Hamnet has generated critical acclaim and audience adoration alike, as well as earning her trophies at the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice awards. Starring opposite Paul …