Yvonne Elliman

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Yvonne Elliman
Elliman on tour with Eric Clapton, San Bernardino, CA August 15, 1975 Photo: Matt Gibbons
Background information
Birth name	Yvonne Marianne Elliman
Born	December 29, 1951 (1951-12-29) (age 57)
Origin	Honolulu, Hawaii
Genres	Pop, Broadway musicals, Disco music
Occupations	Vocalist, songwriter, record producer
Years active	1970–present (singer)
Labels	Polydor Records, Umgd Records, Umvd Import, Polygram Records, Taragon Records
Associated acts	Eric Clapton, Bee Gees
Website	Yvonne Elliman.com

Yvonne Elliman (born Yvonne Marianne Elliman, December 29, 1951, Honolulu, Hawaii)^[1] is an American singer and actress. Her father was of Irish descent, and her mother shared Japanese and Chinese ancestries. She was born and raised in Honolulu, and graduated from President Theodore Roosevelt High School in 1970.

Career

Elliman's singing career began in 1969 in London where she performed as a vocalist at various bars and clubs. This led to a recording contract and later, in Miami, a close association as a backing vocalist for Eric Clapton. She performed on many of his 1970s hits including "I Shot the Sheriff" and "Lay Down Sally". She sang the role of Mary Magdalene in the original album of Jesus Christ Superstar and in the subsequent Broadway and film version, and achieved her first hit single with the ballad "I Don't Know How to Love Him".^[1] The song was her first entry on the U.S. charts, peaking at #28 pop in 1971, although a cover version by Helen Reddy was a bigger hit. This performance led to a 1974 Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.^[1]

Her recording career began to take off from this point and she scored several hit singles throughout the world, including cover versions of the Barbara Lewis hit "Hello Stranger" (which topped the U.S. Adult Contemporary charts for four weeks, and also a #15 Pop hit) and the Bee Gees' "Love Me" (Pop #14). Her biggest success came in 1977 with her #1 hit from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, "If I Can't Have You" which was also written by the Bee Gees.^[1] The song was a big hit, rising to #1 in the Billboard Hot 100.^[1] Its success has resulted in Elliman being remembered as a disco artist, though this style of music was an exception to the medium-tempo ballads that she specialized in.^{[citation needed]}

A few minor Top 40 hits followed in 1979, including the title theme song from the film Moment by Moment and another disco track, "Love Pains", which was a major club success. She appeared in a two-part episode of the television action series Hawaii Five-O during this period as an aspiring singer, performing the song "I Can't Get You Out of my Mind" with co-star James Darren. The single "Savannah" was also a minor hit and demonstrated Elliman's attempts to move away from disco music and create music that focused more on her vocal abilities.^{[citation needed]} Around the same time Elliman married Bill Oakes, president of RSO Records,^[1] and shortly thereafter decided to dedicate herself to her growing family. A daughter, Sage, was born in 1982 and her brother Ben followed in 1985.

After a considerable hiatus, Elliman reappeared on the music scene. An album titled Simple Needs, with all songs written by Elliman, was released in 2004 and re-released globally on June 12, 2007. Elliman has continued performing in music festivals, benefits and concerts throughout the country and around the world.

Discography

Albums

Noteworthy songs

• "I Don't Know How to Love Him" (1971) - U.S.: Pop #28, AC #15; UK #47
• "Everything's Alright" (1971) - U.S.: Pop #92
• "I Shot the Sheriff" (on backing vocals) (1974) - U.S.: Pop #1
• "Love Me" (1976) - U.S.: Pop #14, AC #5; UK #6
• "Hello Stranger" (1977) - U.S.: Pop #15, AC #1 (4 weeks); UK #26
• "I Can't Get You Outa My Mind" (1977) - U.S.: AC #19; UK #17
• "If I Can't Have You" (1977) - U.S.: Pop #1, AC #9, Dance #11; UK #4 - Saturday Night Fever soundtrack
• "Lay Down Sally" (on backing vocals) (1978) - U.S.: Pop #3
• "Savannah" (1979)
• "Moment By Moment" (1979) - (title song from the movie) U.S.: Pop #59, AC #32
• "Love Pains" (1979) - U.S.: Pop #34, AC #33, Dance #2
• "Your Precious Love (1980) (duet with Stephen Bishop) - Roadie soundtrack - U.S.: Bubbling Under #105
• "Edge of the World" (1983) - WarGames soundtrack
• "Slippery Slide" (2003)
• "Simple Needs" (2003)
• "Steady as You Go" (2003)
• "Queen of Clean" (2003)

^{[3] [4]}

Samples

Listen to music samples.

• "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar (1971)
• "If I Can't Have You" from Saturday Night Fever (1977)

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See also

• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)

References

External links

• Official Yvonne Elliman site
• Yvonne Elliman at the Internet Movie Database
• Pygoya and Yvonne Elliman celebrate Pygoya's 60th birthday