Elaine Paige's Honest Playlist: From Hair to Argentina
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- Elaine Paige credits her career to "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," stating "without it, I probably wouldn't be talking to you today" and naming it the song that changed her life.
- Paige attributes her breakout moment to a 1968 emergency during the musical Hair, when she went on for an absent cast member and knew every word to "Air" — she was "terrified" but covered.
- Paige reveals the first single she bought was Perry Como's "Magic Moments," purchased from a Barnet High Street record shop as a birthday gift for her mother.
- Paige names "Hymne à l'amour" by Édith Piaf as her sole karaoke performance, performed while on holiday in Nice and slightly overserved on rosé, ahead of her West End Piaf role.
- Paige flags "Shall We Dance?" from The King and I as a song she can no longer listen to after her co-star Jason Scott Lee departed mid-run, leaving her to dance opposite a rotating cast of replacements in full period costume.
- Paige confirms she has been a Police fan "from the get-go," selecting "Roxanne" as the best party song, and identifies Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" as her pick for intimate settings.
- Miscellaneous Paige, Paige's new album, is out now, released alongside this playlist feature.
Why it matters: The piece doubles as a promotional vehicle for Miscellaneous Paige while offering fresh autobiographical context on landmarks of Paige's six-decade career — from a 1968 emergency debut in Hair to the Evita song she credits with her fame, plus previously unsourced details like her sole karaoke outing and her co-star's mid-run exit from The King and I.
