Yvonne Elliman

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

Elliman's singing career began in 1969 in London where she performed as a vocalist at various bars^{bar (establishment)} and clubs^nightclub. 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^{hit record} 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^{Broadway theatre} and film version^{Jesus Christ Superstar (film)}, 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^{record chart}, 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 U.S. Adult Contemporary^{Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks} 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 in the Billboard Hot 100. 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 Bill Oakes, president of RSO Records, 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.
Albums

Charted singles

*US chart stats are taken from both Billboard^{Billboard (magazine)} - either from the Hot 100^{Billboard Hot 100} or Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart - and the Cash Box Top 100 Singles chart. The Cash Box stats are given in brackets, ie. [].
*The following singles all appeared on the Billboard Easy Listening/ Adult Contemporary chart^{Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks}: "'I Don't Know How to Love Him'" (#15), "'Everything's Alright'" (#25), "'Love Me'" (#5), "'Hello Stranger'" (#1), "'I Can't Get You Outa My Mind'" (#19), "'If I Can't Have You'" (#9), "'Moment By Moment'" (#32) and "'Love Pains'" (#34).
*The following singles appeared on the Billboard R&B chart^{Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs}: "'Hello Stranger'" (#57), "'If I Can't Have You'" (#60).
*The following singles appeared on the Billboard Club chart^{Hot Dance Club Songs}: "'If I Can't Have You'" (#11), "'Love Pains'" (#75).

Soundtracks

* "I Don't Know How to Love Him" (1971) Jesus Christ Superstar (album)
* "Everything' Alright" (1971) Jesus Christ Superstar (album)
* "If I Can't Have You" (1977) - U.S.: Pop #1, AC #9, Dance^{Hot Dance Club Play} #11; UK #4 - Saturday Night Fever soundtrack
* "Moment By Moment" (1979) - (title song from the movie^film) U.S.: Pop #59, AC #32
* "Your Precious Love (1980) (duet^{duet (music)} with Stephen Bishop^{Stephen Bishop (musician)}) - Roadie^{Roadie (film)} soundtrack - U.S.: Bubbling Under #105
* "Edge of the World" (1983) - WarGames soundtrack