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Yvonne Marianne Elliman (born December 29, 1951 in Honolulu, Hawaii) 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.
CareerElliman's singing career began in the early 1970s 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" and was his girlfriend for several months in 1974. 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". 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.
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 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
. The song was a big hit, rising to #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.
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. Around the same time Elliman married 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, Yvonne 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. Yvonne has continued performing in music festivals, benefits and concerts throughout the country and around the world. A follow-up album to the 2004 release is expected soon.
DiscographyNoteworthy songs- "I Don't Know How To Love Him" (1971) - US: Pop #28, AC #15
- "Everything's Alright" (1971) - US: Pop #92
- "I Shot the Sheriff" (on backing vocals) (1974) - US: Pop #1
- "Love Me" (1976) - US: Pop #14, AC #5, UK #6
- "Hello Stranger" (1977) - US: Pop #15, AC #1 (4 weeks), UK #26
- "I Can't Get You Outa My Mind" (1977) - US: AC #19 (did not chart Pop), UK #17
- "If I Can't Have You" (1977) - US: Pop #1, AC #9, Dance #11, UK #4 Saturday Night Fever soundtrack
- "Lay Down Sally" (Elliman sings backing vocals) (1978) - US: Pop #3
- "Moment By Moment" (1979) - (title song from the movie) US: Pop #59, AC #32
- "Love Pains" (1979) - US: Pop #34, AC #33, Dance #2
- "Your Precious Love (1980) duet with Stephen Bishop - Roadie soundtrack - US: Bubbling Under #105
- "Edge of the World" (1983) - WarGames soundtrack
- "Steady as You Go" (2003)
Samples(audio) 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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Copyright Citations
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