Up next in 10
WATCH: Julian Lloyd Webber opens up on brother Andrew's past battle with alcoholism
Apr 19, 2026
Julian Lloyd Webber has opened up on his brother Andrew's previous battle with alcoholism, following the release of his new book.Mr Lloyd Webber told GB News: "I always feel very supportive of him. There's a lot about my family in the book, but that's all I could say, really. "If anyone wants to know about our background, our family background, our father in particular, it's all in there."WATCH ABOVE.
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
I have a feeling that an awful lot of people are going to be quite shocked, as I was, reading the first chapter
0:06
where you describe so vividly that moment you were playing when your arm, your body, basically gave up on you
0:17
And you suddenly, you see in the book where you suddenly realised you were unemployed
0:22
You could not play the cello anymore. The thing is, it was just after 10 minutes of a concert start, a two-hour concert
0:29
and I just suddenly lost the power in my bowing arm. So it was like a humiliating and frightening moment
0:36
I just couldn't, the audience there, and, you know, I felt I couldn't hold the bow
0:41
And it was so embarrassing and just horrible. And I'd never known anything like it
0:46
I didn't know what was wrong. I knew it was bad. You know, you know your body
0:50
Yes. And, okay, I called my wife in the interval of the concert and, you know, I'd been working really hard
0:56
and she said, oh, you've probably been over, doing over practice. But I knew it was more than that
1:01
The next day I had tests on my arm and things weren't working and there were no reactions to things
1:06
I had an MRI scan on my neck and they said there a nerve that trapped and is being pressed on by a honiated disc So I could have had an operation One surgeon out of three agreed to do it
1:21
They said it was very, very risky and it might not work. So it's not an attractive object
1:26
That's how you start the book. I mean, hearing you talk about it now, I do wonder, is that a moment that continues to haunt you as a musician
1:35
I think I've blanked that out of my mind. I mean, now you mention it
1:42
Sorry, but it's there in the book. I mean, yeah, it was just a horrible, horrible year, actually
1:48
And then I was very fortunate to get a job as the principal at the Conservatoire in Birmingham, which I ran for five years
1:56
A wonderful place. And I talk a lot about that in the book. and actually the situation with funding there
2:01
which is the reason I left, is that, you know, something probably a lot of people don't know
2:06
is that 80% of the funding for, like, higher music education goes, guess where, London
2:14
Yes, it does. Actually, that's true of quite a lot of the arts. I'm going to ask you about your career
2:19
because it has been spectacular. I mean you are a stunning musician But can I just ask you very briefly because your brother of course Andrew is very much in the news today because he has similarly been very open and very honest about the problem that he has had with alcohol
2:35
and talking about the way in which it has had a devastating effect on his family and his professional life
2:42
This must be something that you have been aware of and you must feel very supportive of him at the moment
2:48
I always feel very supportive of him. There's a lot about my family in the book
2:55
There is. That's all I could say, really. I mean, if anyone wants to know about our background, our family background, our father in particular, it's all in there
3:05
It's all in there, along with the rather chaotic sort of childhood that you had living in this sort of mini commune
3:14
Your mum, your dad, musicians, your brother, a musician. You've got Granny living there and she's got, as her lodgers
3:22
she's got Tim Rice and John Lill, the famous concert pianist. What a chaotic childhood you must have had
3:29
It was unbelievably noisy. And there was a point that my father went on strike
3:34
because I decided as a second instrument I would play the trumpet So I was very pleased with this That was noisy Yeah and it was the final straw And I used to live under the piano And one day I saw it wasn there I decided I wanted to
3:49
have a good session with my trumpet. And my mum said that he'd sold it to one of his students
3:56
at the music club. That's a nice comment, isn't it? Julian, you also say that quite early on when
4:03
you were playing the cello. And I'm quoting you directly. You say playing the cello was hobby
4:10
So at what point did you realise that actually your skill in it
4:14
your love of the music it produced, meant that you actually wanted to be a professional cellist
4:19
I always enjoyed playing it, but it was just a hobby. And then I had a fantastic teacher at the junior college
4:27
at the Royal College of Music, who I would have been about 10, 11
4:31
and she took me to hear some great cellists in concert. So that just changed my whole impression of the instrument
4:39
and it was really from then that I became wanting to do it myself
4:44
and I think that just shows how important a really good and dedicated teacher is
4:49
because they can either turn you onto an instrument or turn you right off it
4:54
and she certainly turned me onto
#news