Donald Blackstone (born 21 June 1938), known professionally as Don Black, is an English lyricist. His works have included numerous musicals, movie, television themes and hit songs. He has provided lyrics for John Barry, Charles Strouse, Matt Monro, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Quincy Jones, Hoyt Curtin, Lulu, Jule Styne, Henry Mancini, Meat Loaf, Michael Jackson, Robbie Williams, Elmer Bernstein, Michel Legrand, Hayley Westenra, Ennio Morricone, A. R. Rahman, Marvin Hamlisch and Debbie Wiseman.
AllMusic stated that "Black is perhaps best-known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, and for the James Bond theme songs he co-wrote with composer John Barry: Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever and The Man with the Golden Gun."
Early life
thumb|Tornay House, Shore Place, London E9, which includes the childhood home of Don Black
He was born Donald Blackstone in London, the youngest of five children of Russian Jewish immigrants from Ukraine, Morris and Betsy (née Kersh) Blackstone. and during his childhood the family lived in a council flat in Tornay House, Shore Place, South Hackney. He attended Cassland Road School
Career
Early career
He began his music industry career as an office boy with a music publishing firm, and later worked as a song-plugger. He also had a brief spell as a comic.
He was personal manager to the singer Matt Monro for many years and also provided songs for him (usually writing English language lyrics to continental songs). These included "Walk Away" and "If I Never Sing Another Song" (music: Udo Jürgens) and "For Mamma" (music: Charles Aznavour).
Musical theatre
Black's stage credits include the musicals Billy (music: John Barry), Bar Mitzvah Boy (music: Jule Styne), Dear Anyone (music: Geoff Stephens), Budgie (music: Mort Shuman) and several Andrew Lloyd Webber shows: the 1979 song-cycle, Tell Me on a Sunday, which was performed by Marti Webb (whom Black also managed for a time); Aspects of Love, which propelled Michael Ball to stardom; and, together with Christopher Hampton, the musical adaptation of the Billy Wilder film Sunset Boulevard.
In 2002, he worked with the Indian composer A. R. Rahman on the musical Bombay Dreams. In 2015, he wrote the lyrics for Mrs Henderson Presents, with George Fenton and Simon Chamberlin composing the music. In 2019, he collaborated with David Arnold on the music for a television version of The Tiger Who Came to Tea.
In 2020, he was reported to be working on a musical version of The Third Man, and reworking the show Feather Boy.
Radio broadcasting
Black presented a Sunday night show on BBC Radio 2 from 2013 to 2020, which featured classic songs and songwriters of the 20th century, paid a weekly tribute to Matt Monro, whom he managed, and included many of his showbiz encounter stories. He took over this slot from David Jacobs.
In November 2020 BBC Sounds released The Sanest Guy in the Room: A Life in Lyrics, a podcast series in which Black reflects on his life, songs and working with some of the biggest names in showbiz.
In 2025, Black started broadcasting his programme Our Kind of Music on Boom Radio at weekends.
Books
In 2003, Sanctuary Publishing released Wrestling with Elephants, an authorised biography of Black, written by James Inverne. In 2020, Black released his own memoir entitled The Sanest Guy in the Room: A Life in Lyrics.
Honours and recognition
In 1990, EMI/Capitol released the compilation Matt Monro Sings Don Black, which was the only album consisting solely of songs co-written by the lyricist until Play It Again released Born Free – The Don Black Songbook in 1993.
In 1996, he was surprised by Michael Aspel as the subject of This is Your Life, which included contributions from collaborators John Barry, Elmer Bernstein and Andrew Lloyd Webber, as well as the performers Tom Jones, Elaine Paige, Marti Webb and Michael Ball.
In 2007, Black was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. That same year, Black was credited on "Sexy Lady", the 2007 debut single and hit for rapper Yung Berg, which sampled the Black-Barry theme for Diamonds Are Forever.
On 17 August 2008, the tribute concert Lyrics by Don Black was held at the London Palladium, featuring performances of Black's songs by a selection of guest artists. The evening, hosted by Michael Parkinson and recorded for broadcast by BBC Radio 2, included an exclusive performance of two songs from Black's new musical, The Count of Monte Cristo. The concert included contributions from Lee Mead, Gary Barlow, Elkie Brooks, Craig David, Maria Friedman, Joe Longthorne, Lulu, Peter Grant, Raza Jaffrey, Matt Rawle, Ryan Molloy, Marti Webb, Jonathan Ansell, Hayley Westenra, Phil Campbell and Mica Paris. The singers were accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Mike Dixon and with guest conductors Michel Legrand and David Arnold.
In October 2013, a special concert to celebrate Black's work was held at London's Royal Festival Hall, featuring a lengthy interview with the composer by Michael Grade, interspersed by performances of his songs by artists such as Michael Ball, Maria Friedman, Katie Melua, and Marti Webb. The concert was recorded for television and first shown on BBC Four in early January 2014.
Black was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1999 Birthday Honours, and promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours, for services to music.
Personal life
Black lives in London, England. In May 2020, he was treated in hospital for COVID-19.
See also
- Songs with lyrics by Don Black
Musical theatre credits
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Title
!Year
!Composer
!Book
!Co-lyricist
|-
|Maybe That's Your Problem
|1974
|John Barry
|Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais
|
|-
|Bar Mitzvah Boy
|1978
|Jule Styne
|Jack Rosenthal
|
|-
|Tell Me on a Sunday
|1979 (Revised 1985 and 2003)
|Andrew Lloyd Webber
|
|Richard Maltby Jr. (1985 version)
|-
|Abbacadabra
|1983
|Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus
|
|
|-
|Dear Anyone
|1983
|Geoff Stephens
|Jack Rosenthal
|
|-
|Merlin
|1983
|Elmer Bernstein
|
|
|-
|The Little Prince and the Aviator
|1982
|John Barry
|Hugh Wheeler
|
|-
|Budgie
|1988
|Mort Shuman
|Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall
|
|-
|Aspects of Love
|1989
|Andrew Lloyd Webber
|
|Charles Hart
|-
|Starlight Express
|1993
|Andrew Lloyd Webber
|
|Richard Stilgoe (principal lyricist; Black wrote one song)
|-
|Radio Times
|1992
|Noel Gay and Abi Grant
|
|Chris Walker
|-
|Sunset Boulevard
|1993
|Andrew Lloyd Webber
|
|Christopher Hampton; with contributions by Amy Powers
|-
|The Goodbye Girl
|1997
|Marvin Hamlisch
|Neil Simon
|David Zippel (Black added lyrics for the original British production)
|-
|Dracula, the Musical
|2001
|Frank Wildhorn
|
|Christopher Hampton
|-
|Bombay Dreams
|2002
|AR Rahman
|Meera Syal and Thomas Meehan
|
|-
|Dance of the Vampires
|2002
|Jim Steinman
|Jim Steinman, Michael Kunze and David Ives
|Jim Steinman and Michael Kunze (Black contributed additional lyrics)
|-
|Whistle Down the Wind
|2002
|Andrew Lloyd Webber
|Patricia Knop
|Jim Steinman (Black contributed additional lyrics)
|-
|Romeo and Juliet - The Musical
|2002
|
|
|
|-
|Feather Boy
|2006
|Debbie Wiseman
|
|
|-
|Bonnie & Clyde
|2011
|Frank Wildhorn
|Ivan Menchell
|
|-
|Stephen Ward
|2013
|Andrew Lloyd Webber
|Don Black and Christopher Hampton
|Christopher Hampton
|-
|Mrs Henderson Presents
|2015
|George Fenton and Simon Chamberlin
|Terry Johnson
|
|}
Bibliography
- Wrestling with Elephants (The Authorized Biography of Don Black) by James Inverne, Sanctuary Publishing, 2003
References
External links
- Official Don Black website
- Don Black on Boom Light
- "The Sanest Guy in the Room: A Life in Lyrics" a podcast about Don Black on BBC Sounds
- Interview with Don Black in International Songwriters Association's "Songwriter Magazine"