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5 songs you never knew were written by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Legendary composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has just turned 70, and Radio 2 will be celebrating his birthday with some special programming over the Easter Weekend.

The British icon is best known for his hits written for musical theatre, from Don't Cry For Me Argentina (Evita) to Any Dream Will Do (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.) However, he has written a few other songs that you might not know about...

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1. Boyzone: No Matter What

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No Matter What was a No.1 hit for Irish boy band Boyzone, and their only song to go massive in the US. You might not know, however, that it was actually written by Andrew Lloyd Webber for the 1996 musical Whistle Down The Wind.

Boyzone recorded the single to tie in with the first UK production of the show, and it became a huge smash.

2. Elvis: It's Easy For You

Andrew Loyd Webber on Elvis "I wrote his last song"

Andrew Lloyd Webber tells Chris and the gang about a little known Elvis fact.

Elvis recorded It's Easy for You, a song by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, in 1977. It was the final track on his last ever album, Moody Blue, and The King of rock'n'roll would die later that year.

The track was recorded in the famous jungle room at Presley's mansion, Graceland.

3. Gary Barlow: Sing

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Webber teamed up with Take That legend Gary Barlow to write Sing, featuring Military Wives and recorded with various artists from across The Commonwealth to mark The Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

The stirring, uplifting song hit No.1 in the UK.

4. Jade Ewen: It's My Time

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Former SugababeJade Ewen came an extremely respectable fifth in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest with It's My Time, co-written by Webber and Diane Warren.

The song got its first ever official broadcast from Radio 2's very own Ken Bruce, and Webber accompanied Ewen on piano for the performance of the track at the Eurovision ceremony in Moscow.

5. Doctor Spin: Tetris

We 100 per cent never saw this one coming. In 1992, Webber and record producer Nigel Wright teamed up under the pseudonym Doctor Spin to release Tetris, a Eurodance interpretation of the instantly recognisable theme from the Nintendo Gameboy game (which is an electronic version of a traditional Russian folk song).

The tune hit No.6 in the charts at the time. That Andrew Lloyd Webber...he's nothing if not versatile!

Keep your ears peeled for these special Radio 2 programmes about the composer over Easter:

Andrew Lloyd Webber on Radio 2

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