Lyricist Tim Rice shares advice for aspiring artists: ‘You’ve got to be quite enthusiastic’

Presented with an Honorary Doctorate by Leeds Beckett University on Friday, July 24, lyricist Tim Rice shares some advice for aspiring artists and provides a look back on the beginnings of his collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Weber.

Lyricist Tim Rice has earned his share of accolades, including Academy Awards, Grammy Awards and Golden Globes for his work on music for such productions as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, and The Lion King, to name a few. He’s also earned a knighthood for his services to music.

Just last week, Sir Tim was awarded again — this time with an honorary doctorate from Leeds Beckett University in England. “I am very honored to be given any award at all in any circumstance,” Rice says, “and one from such a distinguished university is terrific.”

Rice was presented the honorary doctorate at Leeds Beckett University’s graduation ceremony on July 24. In the context of a graduation, Rice offered advice to those embarking on careers — particularly those aspiring to work in the arts. “You’ve got to be quite enthusiastic about your job, there’s no point in doing something you don’t like,” Rice says. “I started out in law which I thought was a thing I should do, but I didn’t like it so was therefore no good at it. If you are genuinely interested in the arts, even if you don’t think you have an incredibly basic talent, there’s so many things you can do in the arts world that aren’t actually being an artist; you can be behind the scenes which doesn’t involve you getting up on the stage or painting etc. It’s the people behind the scenes that make the most money.”

Rice also shares an amusing story about how he and Andrew Lloyd Weber began their musical collaboration. “I never really thought about going into the theater world when I was young,” Rice says. “I didn’t know much about the theater, but I knew a little bit about musicals from my parents’ record collection. It was through meeting Andrew Lloyd Webber really. I was writing pop songs, he was trying to write theater stuff, our paths crossed and we decided to go for his idea, which was very sensible because we would never have been better than the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, but there was nobody doing what we were trying to do, so we were number one in a field of one for a while.”

Gifted with the perspective of a long life and career, Rice says he’s more interested now in what his children are doing in their careers rather than in his own. “I think when you get to a certain stage you want your offspring to have a happy life and success more than you do for yourself,” he says.

“Sir Tim Rice is an inspirational and prolific figure in the history of British music and theater,” Leeds Beckett University Vice Chancellor, Professor Susan Rice says of honoring the acclaimed lyricist. "It was delight to welcome him to our Headingley Campus and to recognize his enormous contribution to music and the arts.”

You can listen to Sir Tim Rice’s thoughts from last Friday by clicking the audio player here. Audio is courtesy Leeds Beckett University.