"Superstar" is the title song from the
1970 album and 1971
rock opera
A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...
''
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 ...
'' written by
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, ...
and
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ' ...
.
Content
The song is sung by the spirit of
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betraye ...
, who had committed suicide earlier in the show. The song consists of a series of questions addressed to Jesus, such as why Jesus chose to come to Israel in 4 BC when it had no "mass communication" as opposed to modern times, whether Jesus had planned his own death, whether Jesus knew beforehand that his death would become famous, and whether religious figures such as
Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
and
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
are his equals. It is dominated by repeated apologies for asking these questions ("Don't you get me wrong", "I only want to know"). Typically, Judas is accompanied by a choir of angels, and the song is performed during the crucifixion scene, if not immediately before it.
Versions
Original Murray Head version
"Superstar" was released as a single in 1969, before the album was completed. Sung by
Murray Head
Murray Seafield St George Head (born 5 March 1946) is an English actor and singer. Head has appeared in a number of films, including a starring role as the character Bob Elkin in the Oscar-nominated 1971 film ''Sunday Bloody Sunday''. As a mus ...
with the Trinidad Singers, it initially debuted on the U.S.
''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart for the week ending 31 January 1970, eventually peaking at No. 74 in late February 1970.
Nearly one year later, the single re-entered the Hot 100 chart for the week ending 2 January 1971, eventually peaking at No. 60 on the chart in early March 1971. The single then fell off the chart three weeks later, but then almost immediately re-entered the Hot 100 chart a third and final time for the week ending 10 April 1971. It then rapidly climbed the Hot 100 chart during its third chart run, eventually spending two consecutive weeks at its peak position of No. 14 in late May and early June 1971.
It performed even better in Canada, where it peaked on the ''
RPM
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
'' Top Singles chart at No. 6, and in New Zealand, where it reached No. 2 on ''
Listener'' magazine. A video of the song was released to promote the album, with Murray Head and the Trinidad Singers appearing.
Recording
In order to get the
concept album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
of ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' off the ground,
Decca Decca may refer to:
Music
* Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label
* Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group
* Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label
* Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...
/
MCA first gave Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice money to make the single and begin the album. They wanted to release the single first, which caused uproar within the MCA board at the time.
The single was recorded on
8-track equipment at the
Olympic Studios
Olympic Studios was a renowned British independent commercial recording studio based in Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st century, including Jimi Hendr ...
in Barnes, London, with Irish 22-year-old Alan O'Duffy as the chief engineer. Lloyd Webber and Rice were backed by MCA and spent a small fortune on the recording, including using a full orchestra and the backing vocals of the Trinidad Singers.
The Grease Band
The Grease Band was a British rock band that originally formed as Joe Cocker's backing group. They appeared with Cocker during the 1960s, including his performance at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969. The band's name derived from an inter ...
, one of the best rhythm sections in the world at that time, were brought in as the foundation of the ensemble.
Charts
Carl Anderson version
When the
1973 film version and its accompanying soundtrack was released,
Carl Anderson played Judas. During the scene in the film when the song "Superstar" is played, Anderson was lowered onto the stage by a crane made to look like a star during the song's intro.
Ted Neeley
Teddie Joe "Ted" Neeley (born September 20, 1943) is an American singer, actor, musician, composer, and record producer. He is known for portraying the title role in '' Jesus Christ Superstar'' (1973), a role for which he was nominated for two G ...
as Jesus is shown during the song being lowered onto a cross.
Other versions
*
Laura Osnes
Laura Ann Osnes (born November 19, 1985) is an American actress and singer known for her work on the Broadway stage. She has played starring roles in '' Grease'' as Sandy, '' South Pacific'' as Nellie Forbush, ''Anything Goes'' as Hope Harcourt, ...
, female winner of ''
Grease: You're the One That I Want!'', performed the song during the showtunes week.
*
Carly Smithson
Carly Sarah Smithson ( Hennessy; born 12 September 1983) is an Irish soul and pop rock singer who was the sixth place finalist on the seventh season of ''American Idol''. In 2001, Smithson released her first studio album for MCA Records called ...
sang the song during the
seventh season of ''American Idol'', the week the theme was the music of
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, ...
. Although judge
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...
called it one of his favorite performances of the night, Smithson was eliminated the following results night.
*
Lee Mead
Lee Stephen Mead (born 14 July 1981) is an English musical theatre, television actor and occasional singer, best known for winning the title role in the 2007 West End revival of '' Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' through the BBC T ...
and
Keith Jack
Keith Jack (born 2 March 1988) is a British actor and singer. He was the runner-up on the BBC reality talent show ''Any Dream Will Do (TV series), Any Dream Will Do'', which offered the chance to be the next West End theatre, West End Joseph fo ...
performed it as their final duet on the BBC talent series ''
Any Dream Will Do''. Mead went on to win the competition, with Jack as runner-up.
*
Jodie Prenger
Jodie Prenger (born 12 June 1979) is an English actress and singer, best known as the winner of BBC television series '' I'd Do Anything'' on 31 May 2008 and the second series of ''The Biggest Loser'' in 2006. In 2022, she began portraying the ...
and
Samantha Barks
Samantha Jane Barks (born 2 October 1990) is a Manx people, Manx actress and singer who rose to fame after placing third in the BBC talent show-themed television series ''I'd Do Anything (BBC TV series), I'd Do Anything'' in 2008. She has rele ...
performed a duet of the song on ''
I'd Do Anything'' which was highly acclaimed. Prenger went on to win the
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. ...
...
''.
TV show ''The Superstars'' used the instrumental version of the song as the show's theme song.
*The song's intro was used several times as an
, Barbara Johnston, and Anika Johnson. Maslany portrays Alison Hendrix playing the role of Judas, while Hazelton acts as Sarah Stubbs singing a slightly altered verse as Jesus. Johnston and Johnson act as backup singers, singing the part of the Trinidad Singers in the album production. Ryan Blakely, as Reverend Mike, is shown playing the piano. Alison faces a similar dilemma to the one faced by Judas, as she is pressured to betray her sisters to save her husband.