Nigel Wright (born 13 June 1955,

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

) is a record producer from England. His career as music producer,

orchestrator Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

and songwriter has scored five

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

singles, 31 Top 20 singles and a string of

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

albums with

recording artists A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wr ...

as diverse as

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Shakatak Shakatak is an English jazz-funk band founded in 1980 by Nigel Wright and former Wigan Casino DJ Kev Roberts. Following an initial white label release 'Steppin', the band's name was derived from a record store in Soho, London Record Shack. I ...

, Mezzoforte,

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's '' The Late Late Show''. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Steph ...

Sonia Sonia, Sonja or Sonya, a name of Greek origin meaning wisdom, may refer to: People * Sonia (name), a feminine given name (lists people named, Sonia, Sonja and Sonya) :* Sonia (actress), Indian film actress in Malayalam and Tamil films :* Sonia ...

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singe ...

Sinitta Sinitta Malone (born 19 October 1963), known mononymously as Sinitta, is an American-born British singer, actress and television personality. She initially found commercial success in the mid-1980s with the single "So Macho" and had several ot ...

José Carreras Josep Maria Carreras Coll (; born 5 December 1946), better known as José Carreras (, ), is a Spanish operatic tenor who is particularly known for his performances in the operas of Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini. Born in Barcelona, he made his de ...

Robson & Jerome Robson & Jerome are an English pop duo who were active in the mid-1990s, consisting of actors Robson Green and Jerome Flynn. They rose to prominence via the English television series ''Soldier Soldier''. The duo's musical catalogue was compose ...

Michael Ball Michael Ashley Ball (born 27 June 1962) is an English singer, presenter and actor. He made his West End debut in 1985 playing Marius Pontmercy in the original London production of ''Les Misérables'', and went on to star in 1987 as Raoul in ...

Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer, actress and dancer. Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, ...

, The Texas Tenors,

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

Connie Fisher Connie Fisher (born 17 June 1983) is a British actress, singer and TV presenter, who won the BBC One talent contest, '' How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'' On 15 November 2006, she opened to excellent reviews in the part of Maria von Trapp ...

Paul Potts Paul Potts (born 13 October 1970) is an English tenor. In 2007, he won the first series of ITV's ''Britain's Got Talent'' with his performance of " Nessun dorma", an aria from Puccini's opera ''Turandot''. As a singer of operatic pop music ...

Andy Abraham Andrew Abraham (born 17 July 1964) is a British singer. He was the runner-up in the second UK series of TV talent show ''The X Factor'' in 2005 to Shayne Ward, and also represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Before ...

and

Ray Quinn Raymond Arthur Quinn (born 25 August 1988) is an English actor, singer, dancer and carpet layer. He is best known for his role as Anthony Murray in ''Brookside'' from 2000 to 2003. He achieved more public recognition when he auditioned for the ...

. Wright's career in theatre and film include serving as the music producer for

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

, in a successful partnership that had, as of May 2009, lasted more than eighteen years.

Record production

Wright first rose to prominence as producer of the jazz-funk group

. During the 1980s, he also produced

medleys Medley or Medleys may refer to: Sports *Medley swimming, races requiring multiple swimming styles * Medley relay races at track meets Music * Medley (music), multiple pieces strung together People *Medley (surname), list of people with this na ...

under various names. In 1981, Wright created "Ain't No Stopping", a rapid response to the success of

Stars on 45 Stars on 45 was a Dutch novelty pop act that was successful in Europe, the United States, and Australia in the early 1980s. The group later shortened its name to Stars On in the U.S., while in the UK and Ireland it was known as Starsound (aka ...

consisting of parts of recent disco hits and taking its name from McFadden & Whitehead's "

Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" is a 1979 disco song performed by American R&B duo McFadden & Whitehead, from their debut album ''McFadden & Whitehead''. They wrote and produced the song along with keyboard player Jerry Cohen. McFadden & Whitehead wou ...

" which began and ended the medley. Released under the group name

Enigma Enigma may refer to: *Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling Biology *ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain Computing and technology * Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup * Enigma machine, a family ...

, it reached number 11 in the UK Singles Chart and was followed by "I Love Music" which reached number 25. Through the 1980s, Wright continued to produce medleys under other names including Mojo and

Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meanin ...

. Under the latter name, he created the popular "Jack Mix" series of medleys which included the 1987 top ten hit singles "Jack Mix II" (#4) and "Jack Mix IV" (#8) and albums ''Jack Mix '88'' and ''Jack Mix in Full Effect'' (both #7). In 1989, he produced

Luv' Luv' were a Dutch girl group that scored a string of hit records in Continental Europe (Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway and Finland) as well as Israel, South Africa, Rhodesia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada ...

s comeback EP For You including Welcome to My Party that charted in the Netherlands and Belgium. He continued to create medleys into the early 1990s, now under the name UK Mixmasters. Under this title, he produced three UK hit singles, the biggest of these being "

The Bare Necessities "The Bare Necessities" is a jazz song, written by Terry Gilkyson, from the animated 1967 Disney film ''The Jungle Book'', sung by Phil Harris as Baloo and Bruce Reitherman as Mowgli. Background Originally, it was written for an earlier draft of ...

Megamix", which peaked at No. 14 in 1991.

Mirage

was a British pop music group active in the 1980s and specializing in medleys. It achieved particular success in 1987–8 with the "Jack Mix" series of singles and LPs. Mirage had its origins in

, a 1981 project created by Nigel Wright to cash in on the success of Dutch medley group

. Enigma's "Ain't No Stopping", a medley of disco hits played by session musicians, was released while ''Stars on 45'' was still climbing the charts. "Ain't No Stopping" peaked at number 11 in the

UK singles chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and was followed up with "I Love Music", which peaked at number 25. Although the medley craze faded quickly, Wright continued to produce medleys, first under the name Mojo, before settling on Mirage. The first Mirage medley to make an impact was the 1984 release "Give Me The Night", a medley of

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...

songs sung by Leroy Osbourne (of Sade) under the guise of Roy Gayle. Other single-artist medleys followed: "Let's Groove" (

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million re ...

), "Get Down on It" (

Kool & the Gang Kool & the Gang is an American R&B/soul/funk band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964 by brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell, with Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas, Robert "Spike" Mickens, Charles Smith, George Brown, and Ricky West. T ...

) and the

Tracy Ackerman Tracy Ackerman is a British singer and songwriter. She works with several other British songwriters including Andy Watkins and Paul Wilson of Absolute and Mark Taylor. Ackerman has written for artists including Geri Halliwell, Cher, Boyzone, ...

-fronted "Into The Groove Medley" (

). Though popular in UK clubs, only "Give Me The Night" crossed over into the mainstream charts.

Jack Mix

Mirage came to much greater prominence in 1987 when Wright spotted an opportunity in the new

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

style which was beginning to enter the mainstream. In January 1987,

Steve "Silk" Hurley Steve W. "Silk" Hurley (born November 9, 1962), also known as J. M. Silk (for "Jack Master Silk"), is an American club DJ, house music producer, and songwriter. From 1985 to 1988, he had four top-10 singles on the US Dance chart, including the ...

achieved the first house music number one hit in the UK with "

Jack Your Body "Jack Your Body" is a house music song by Steve "Silk" Hurley, originally released as a single in 1986. It was featured on the album ''Hold on to Your Dream'', released in 1987, under the alias J.M. Silk. History One of the landmark records in ...

". Wright quickly responded by releasing the 12" single "Jack Mix" under the Mirage name – a medley/montage of "Jack Your Body", "

Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Weekend) "Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Weekend)" is the debut single released by sister duo Mel and Kim in 1986. The single's B-side, "System", was originally intended to be the duo's debut release, but after getting to know the sisters, Pete Waterman ...

" and "

Axel F "Axel F" is the electronic instrumental theme from the 1984 film ''Beverly Hills Cop'' performed by Harold Faltermeyer. It was an international number one hit in 1985. Background The title comes from the main character's name in the film, Axel ...

". Following positive response from the clubs, an expanded version was released, titled "Jack Mix II". This became the first UK-produced house record to reach the British top ten, peaking at number 4. Unlike most medleys, which typically used sections of individual songs presented sequentially with brief transitions between them, the "Jack Mix" series took a different approach, layering elements of different songs to produce a dense montage effect similar to a mashup. Despite being reliant entirely on medleys of other people's material, Mirage was one of the most successful house acts in 1987–8, placing several more singles on the charts, including the number eight hit "Jack Mix IV". Several TV advertised albums also charted, with the most successful being ''Jack Mix '88'' (actually released in 1987) and ''Jack Mix in Full Effect'', both of which reached number 7. Mirage's popularity faded in 1988, as a large number of British house music acts started to produce original material and sample-based records using the original recordings rather than session remakes.

UK Mixmasters

In 1991, Wright started releasing his mega-mixes under the name Mixmasters, scoring a hit for Simon Cowell's BMG subsidiary IQ Records with a mix of songs from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' soundtrack. "The Night Fever Megamix" was a medley of tracks such as "

Night Fever "Night Fever" is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees. It first appeared on the soundtrack to ''Saturday Night Fever'' on RSO Records. Producer Robert Stigwood wanted to call the film ''Saturday Night'', but singer Robin Gibb expressed ...

", "

Jive Talkin' "Jive Talkin" is a song by the Bee Gees, released as a single in May 1975 by RSO Records. This was the lead single from the album '' Main Course'' (as well as a song on the 1977 '' Saturday Night Fever'' soundtrack) and hit number one on the ' ...

" and "Staying Alive" originally performed by the Bee Gees, with Nigel Wright's medley peaking at number 23 in the UK top 40. As there was already an Italian act trading under the name Mixmaster, Wright decided to amend his megamix act's name to UK Mixmasters for his next medley, a mix of Stock Aiken Waterman productions originally recorded for Kylie Minogue called "The Lucky 7 Megamix". Unlike "The Night Fever Megamix", this record charted outside the top 40 at number 43. The last UK Mixmasters hit came when Wright teamed up with British comedian

Gary Wilmot Harold Owen "Gary" Wilmot, MBE (born 8 May 1954) is a British singer, actor, comedian, presenter, writer and director who rose to fame as a contestant on ''New Faces''. As a television presenter, he is best known as the host of '' You and Me'', ...

for a medley featuring songs from the Walt Disney film ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, ...

''. " The Bare Necessities Megamix" was a medley of " "I Wanna Be Like You" and "

" and reached the top 20 in 1991, peaking at number 14. This chart success gave the record a slot on BBC One's ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'', with Wilmot featuring in a clip used for the video breakers on the programme originally broadcast on 12 December 1991 and Gary Martin appearing as the vocalist instead of Wilmot, in the studio a week later.

Productions

Musical theatre

Wright has produced a number of

cast recording A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...

s. Since 1990, he has co-produced, with the composer, the recordings of all Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals, including the film versions of ''Evita'' and ''The Phantom of the Opera''. * ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. Thi ...

: London Revival Cast Recording'' featuring

Jason Donovan Jason Sean Donovan (born 1 June 1968) is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap ''Neighbours'', playing Scott Robinson, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 mi ...

and

Linzi Hateley Linzi Hateley (born 23 October 1970) is an English stage actress. At the age of 21, in 1992, she became one of the youngest nominees for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as the Narrator in the West End ...

(1991) * ''The New

Starlight Express ''Starlight Express'' is a 1984 British musical, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. It tells the story of a young but obsolete steam engine, Rusty, who races in a championship against modern engines in the hope of ...

'' featuring Greg Ellis and

Reva Rice Reva Rice is an American musical theatre actress and singer, best known for originating the role of Pearl in ''Starlight Express'' on Broadway, and subsequently playing the role in the London production after its 1992 revision as well as on tour ...

(1993) * ''

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in t ...

: World Premiere Recording'' featuring

Patti LuPone Patti Ann LuPone (born April 21, 1949) is an American actress and singer best known for her work in musical theater. She has won three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, two Grammy Awards, and was a 2006 inductee to the American Theater Hall of Fa ...

and Kevin Anderson (1993) * ''Sunset Boulevard: American Premiere Recording'' featuring

Glenn Close Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, Close has garnered numerous accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards ...

and Alan Campbell (1994) * ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

'' (1996) * ''

By Jeeves ''By Jeeves'', originally ''Jeeves'', is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and lyrics and book by Alan Ayckbourn. It is based on the series of novels and short stories by P. G. Wodehouse that centre around the character of Bertie Woo ...

: Original Cast Recording'' (1996) * '' Whistle Down the Wind: Original Cast Recording'' featuring Lottie Mayor and Marcus Lovett (1998) * ''

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from the Brooklyn borough of New York. Manero spends his ...

'' featuring Adam Garcia and Anita Louise Coombe (1998) * ''

The Beautiful Game The Beautiful Game ( pt, o jogo bonito) is a nickname for association football. It was popularised by the Brazilian footballer Pelé, although the exact origin of the phrase is disputed. Stuart Hall, an English football commentator, used it as ...

: Original Cast Recording'' featuring

Josie Walker Josie Walker is a Northern Irish actress. Career Musicals * The Phantom of the Opera (Manchester, 1992), (London, 1996) * ''Cats'' (English tour, 1995) * ''The Beautiful Game'' (London, 2000) - Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Music ...

, David Shannon and

Hannah Waddingham Hannah Waddingham (born 28 July 1974) is a British actress and singer. She is best known for playing Rebecca Welton in the comedy series ''Ted Lasso'' (2020–present), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actres ...

(2000) * ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...

'' featuring

(2006) * '' Grease'' (2007)

Film

Produced the soundtrack recordings for a number of films. *

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts ...

's ''

Evita Evita may refer to: Arts * Evita (1996 film), ''Evita'' (1996 film), a 1996 American musical drama film based on the 1976 concept album of the same name * Evita (2008 film), ''Evita'' (2008 film), a documentary about Eva Péron * Evita (album), ''E ...

'' featuring Madonna and Antonio Banderas (1996) with BAFTA and

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

nominations for Best Sound *''Cats'' ( Really Useful Films) featuring

Elaine Paige Elaine Jill Paige (née Bickerstaff; born 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professiona ...

Ken Page Ken Page (born January 20, 1954) is an American actor and singer. Page created the role of "Ken" in the original Broadway production of '' Ain't Misbehavin, and played the role of "Old Deuteronomy" in both the original Broadway and filmed stag ...

and

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

(1998) *''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (Really Useful Films) featuring

Donny Osmond Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host, and former teen idol. He first gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gol ...

and

Maria Friedman Maria Friedman ( Freedman; born 19 March 1960) is a British actress and director of stage and screen, best known for her work in musical theatre. She is an eight-time Olivier Award nominee, winning three. Her first win was for her 1994 one-wo ...

(1999) *''Jesus Christ Superstar'' (Really Useful Films, DVD) starring

Jérôme Pradon Jérôme Pradon (born 3 June 1964) is a French actor and singer who has performed in the West End, in Paris and in various other places around the world. He was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France. Theatre In 1991, Pradon ...

Glenn Carter Glenn Carter (born 27 March 1964) is an English stage actor and singer-songwriter performing leading roles in musicals staged in London's West End. Early life Carter was born in Staffordshire, England. He trained at the Arts Educational Schoo ...

, Renee Castle,

Peter Gallagher Peter Killian Gallagher (born August 19, 1955) is an American actor. Since 1980, he has played roles in numerous Hollywood films. He is best known for starring as Sandy Cohen in the television drama series ''The O.C.'' from 2003 to 2007, recurr ...

(2000) *''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pierr ...

'' featuring

Gerard Butler Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as ''Mrs Brown'' (1997), the James Bond film ''Tomorrow Never Di ...

and

Emmy Rossum Emmanuelle Grey Rossum (born September 12, 1986) is an American actress, director, and singer. She is known for her portrayal of List of Shameless (American TV series) characters#Fiona Gallagher, Fiona Gallagher in the television series ''Shame ...

(2004)

Television

In 2006, Wright was the musical director and arranger for the hit

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...