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Yvonne Marianne Elliman (born December 29, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress who performed for four years in the first cast of the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar. She scored a number of hits in the 1970s and achieved a US No. 1 hit with "If I Can't Have You". The song also reached No. 9 on the Adult Contemporary chart and number 4 on the UK Singles Chart. Her cover of Barbara Lewis's "Hello Stranger" went to No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and "Love Me" was No. 5; at the time she had three top 10 singles. After a long hiatus in the 1980s and 1990s, during which time she left music to be with her family, she made a comeback album as a singer-songwriter in 2004.
According to Elliman, she was truant during her senior year at high school but graduated owing to the intervention of Peter Wilcox, the school's British-born band teacher, who persuaded her teachers to allow her to pass. He encouraged 17-year-old Elliman to relocate to London and pursue a musical career, which she did shortly after graduating.
She had her first Billboard Hot 100 hit single in 1971 with the ballad "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar. Her original version was not issued as a single until a cover version by Helen Reddy started moving up the U.S. charts; appearing concurrently on the charts (a rare event, not common since the 1950s, when different releases played in different parts of the United States), Elliman's original peaked at #28, while Reddy's cover peaked at #13. In the end Elliman performed on the 1970 concept album, in the original Broadway cast (1971), and in the 1973 film. She and Barry Dennen were the only cast members that performed on the original record, original Broadway production, and the film. Her performance in the film as Mary Magdalene led to her being nominated for a 1974 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.
Also in 1977, the Bee Gees were working on Saturday Night Fever and wrote "How Deep Is Your Love" for her but Stigwood wanted the Bee Gees to perform it. Instead, she sang "If I Can't Have You". The song became a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100; it is generally considered the high point of her recording career.
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 Hawaii Five-O in a two-part episode ("Number One with a Bullet", 1978) as an aspiring singer, performing the song "I Can't Get You Outa My Mind" with fellow guest performer James Darren. The single "Savannah" was also a minor hit.
In 2004, Elliman released the album Simple Needs, for which she wrote all the songs.
Elliman has continued performing at , benefits, and concerts. She performed on a PBS special on 1970s soul music in 2004, singing "If I Can't Have You." In 2014 she reunited with Neeley and Dennen in Verona for a special Jesus Christ Superstar event. She is featured on the 2014 Neeley extended play Rock Opera performing a duet with him on "Up Where We Belong". In summer 2018, she joined in 45th anniversary Superstar film screenings events in Los Angeles.
On August 16, 2017, Elliman was slated to sing for a Catholic school charity in Guam when she was stopped by customs for possession of marijuana and methamphetamine. After spending a night in jail, she and her husband pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance, continued with the planned concert, and were allowed to return to Hawaii on probation until their March 2018 sentencing. They were ordered to perform community service and serve the remainder of a two-week sentence, Billboard magazine said, "by observing courtroom proceedings of a drug offender probation program in Honolulu."
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