Broadway and Hollywood star Rachel Zegler has just added one more accolade to her already stellar CV, and it was gilded. The 24-year-old New Jersey native, who is presently leading the superlatives as Eva Perón in Jamie Lloyd’s new production of Evita at The London Palladium, has taken the Number 1 spot on this week’s Official Vinyl Chart with her rendition of the Andrew Lloyd Webber–Tim Rice classic Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.
The news was dramatically broken. Official Charts Company representatives knocked on the door of Zegler’s dressing room backstage to break the news. Her reaction was pure shock: “I’m freaking out! This is so wild! This feels incorrect, but I trust you, you guys are the experts!”
From Stage Sensation to Chart-Topping Artist
Zegler, a Golden Globe winner for West Side Story already and soon to appear in Disney’s Snow White, admitted the achievement was not something she ever thought would come about. “This is so cool on the list of things that I never thought would happen in my life, charting in music. It’s really, really crazy, and obviously for this, [Evita], it’s so special.”
Her version of the song, available to stream, download, and on 7-inch vinyl single, sits at Number 1 on both the Official Vinyl Singles Chart and the Physical Singles Chart and is not only the week’s best-selling vinyl single but the UK’s best-selling single across all physical formats.
The vinyl release features an extra track, Don’t Cry For Me Argentina – Live from The Balcony, which captures the viral “theatrical moment of the summer” as Zegler sings the song from the outer balcony of the Palladium to fans massing in Argyll Street. The moment has been viewed millions of times worldwide, further building the show’s global buzz.
FaceTime with a Musical Theatre Legend
Zegler was not afraid to inform composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, FaceTiming with him in the back.
“This is the only time I know something that Andrew Lloyd Webber doesn’t!” she joked.
Learning that their song topped the charts a second time was greeted with an audible gasp upon announcement to Lloyd Webber. “TWO?” he exclaimed before going on with a smile, “Well… we want a third!”
A Song with a Storied Chart History
Originally a number one hit for Julie Covington in 1977, Don’t Cry For Me Argentina has had a number of revivals on the charts. Covington’s original took ten weeks inside the UK Top 10, The Shadows covered it to Number 5 on an instrumental in 1978, Madonna’s 1996 version, the record she made for the film adaptation, reached Number 3, and even the cast of Glee broke into the Top 75 with their version in 2011.
Zegler, clearly aware of the song’s rich legacy, teased Lloyd Webber about a possible remix. “What was it that Madonna did? She did the Miami Mix? We’ll do the Miami Mix!” she suggested. Without missing a beat, Lloyd Webber proposed, “The Oxford Circus Mix!” a playful nod to the Palladium’s West End location.
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