Elaine Paige, 78, is an English musical theatre singer and actor, best known for playing Eva Perón in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita. Her single “I Know Him So Well” with Barbara Dickson from the musical Chess remains the highest-selling record by a female duo. She has been nominated for five Laurence Olivier Awards, hosts Elaine Paige on Sunday on BBC Radio 2 and has just released her 23rd studio album, Miscellaneous Paige.
Here, she looks back at the moments that made her, from leaving home to live in a commune at 18 to keeping fit in her seventies – and her ambition to fly a plane.
Shorts
When I was young, I just lived life and had a good time – sex, drugs and rock’n’roll. But now it’s all about exercise: keeping moving to stay supple and young. As you get older, you think more about your health than you ever did. I play tennis as much as I can.
The 1960s and 70s were the most magical time to be alive. It was all about freedom, kindness, honesty, independence and equality. We were the first teenagers, the first baby boomers. Everything was a first. Sadly, now we’ve gone completely the other way from all the wonderful things the 1960s and 70s brought us. Everybody seems antagonistic, aggressive, angry and upset.
