Julie Covington

Julie Covington
Birth name	Julie Covington
Born	September 11, 1947 (1947-09-11) London, England
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer, actress
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, percussion, drums
Years active	1967–present

Julie Covington (born 11 September 1947, London) is an English singer and actress, best known for recording the original version of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina".

Career

Covington's break came in 1967 when, while still a student at Homerton College, Cambridge, she was invited to sing on David Frost's television show – after which she secured a recording contract.

She followed this early success with her 1971 Godspell casting at The Roundhouse, then with her 1972 original cast recording of Godspell (Day by Day) and her role as the original Janet Weiss in The Rocky Horror Show in 1973, a show she had to leave early because of an accident.

Between 1974 and 1984 Covington appeared regularly in the companies of the National Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre, creating such roles as Alice in Plenty, Vivienne Eliot in Tom and Viv (for which she received an Olivier Award nomination) and Edward in the original production of Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine.

In 1976 she appeared with the English National Opera as Anna in The Seven Deadly Sins. The same year saw her appearing in the television programme, Rock Follies.

Rock Follies led to her landing the title role in the original studio recording of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical Evita. This had been offered to singer Elkie Brooks, who turned it down. Covington scored an international number one with the song "Don't Cry for Me Argentina"; the single reached #1 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1977. She was later given the opportunity to originate the role in the stage production of "Evita", but she declined, explaining that she thought the impact of her recording would be diminished, and Elaine Paige took the role.

In 1978, Covington performed the role of Beth, wife of Parson Nathaniel (Phil Lynott), on Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds.

Covington achieved chart success with a cover version of Alice Cooper's "Only Women Bleed" from her eponymous 1978 album. It reached #12 on the UK chart.

Following a second solo album and guesting on other artists' albums she returned to the theatre.

Albums

Julie Covington albums

• While The Music Lasts (1967) (Private Pressing)
• The Party's Moving On (1969) (Private Pressing)
• The Beautiful Changes (1971)
• Julie Covington (1978)
• Julie Covington Plus (1978)
• The Beautiful Changes Plus (1999)

Cast recordings/soundtracks/compilations

• Godspell - Original Cast Recording (1972)
• The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972)
• Evita (1976)
• Rock Follies Series 1 (1976)
• The Mermaid Frolics (1977) - benefit for Amnesty International
• Rock Follies Series 2 (1977)
• The War of the Worlds (1978)
• Guys and Dolls National cast recording (1982)
• The Wildcliffe Bird (audio book) (1991)
• Guys and Dolls (1992)
• The War of the Worlds - Original - CD (2000)
• The War of the Worlds - 5.1 Remastered Edition (2005)
• The War of the Worlds - 7 disc Collectors Edition (2005)

Singles

• "The Magic Wasn't There, Tonight Your Love Is Over" (1970)
• "The Way Things Ought To Be" (1970)
• "Day by Day" (1972)
• "Two Worlds Apart" (demo single) (1973)
• "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" (1976) - UK #1
• "OK?" (1977) - Julie Covington, Rula Lenska, Charlotte Cornwell, and Sue Jones-Davies - UK #10
• "Only Women Bleed" (1977) - UK #12
• "(I Want To See The) Bright Lights" (1978)
• "Housewives' Choice" (1982)

Brit Awards

• 1977 - British breakthrough act

External links

• Julie Covington Website (unofficial)