Andrew Lloyd Webber was born on March 22, 1948, the son of William Southcombe Lloyd Webber and Jean Hermione Johnstone. His younger brother, cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, was born in 1951. The family lived in South Kensington, London.

"My family was bohemian. My grandmother on my mother's side was divorced, when such things were quite unfashionable, from someone rather respectable in the Guards. My father's father was a plumber. There was no money on either side of the family, and, even though Granny had a bit of money to send Julian and I to private school, we would not have been able to stay if we hadn't won scholarships.

"My family was very much involved with music. My father was a professor of composition at the Royal College of Music, later becoming the director of the London College of Music. My mother taught privately, uncovering and encouraging children's musical ambitions. And...