Yvonne Marianne Elliman born December 29, [ 1 ] 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 s and achieved a US No. The song also reached No. After a long hiatus in the s and s, during which time she left music to be with her family, she made a comeback album as a singer-songwriter in Elliman was born and raised in the Manoa neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii.
Her mother was of Japanese and Chinese ancestries [ 2 ] and her father, a salesman for Best Foods , was of Irish descent. While attending President Theodore Roosevelt High School , Elliman performed in the school band on standup bass and violin. However, she became most proficient on the guitar and performed as a singer and guitarist in a folk music band named We Folk, which she formed with schoolmates.
The band fared well competing in local talent shows. 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 year-old Elliman to relocate to London and pursue a musical career, which she did shortly after graduating.
Elliman's singing career began in in London , performing in bars and clubs. At the time she did not like what she was singing. I was into drugs and all that, and thought Grace Slick and the Jefferson Airplane was it".
