Don Black

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."

The recorded working language is English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are popular. Distinctions recorded are Officer of the Order of the British Empire, Society of London Theatre Special Award, Academy Award for Best Original Song and Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical.

• Name — Don Black • Birth Name — Donald Blackstone • Born — 21 June 1938 • Birthplace — South Hackney, London, England • Genre — Popular music • Occupation — * Songwriter • lyricist • Years Active — 1960s–present • Website — donblack.co.uk

• Illustration — 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. His father worked as a garment presser and his mother in a clothes shop and during his childhood the family lived in a council flat in Tornay House, Shore Place, South Hackney. He attended Cassland Road School and enjoyed visits to the Hackney Empire, which was then a music hall and to the cinema to watch James Cagney films.

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).

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. The latter brought Black and Hampton a Tony Award for Best Book. Tell Me on a Sunday was incorporated into Song and Dance. This was later adapted for a Broadway production starring Bernadette Peters, for which she won a Tony award as Best Actress in a Musical. Sarah Brightman performed for a video recording of the show at the end of its West End run and also released "Unexpected Song", from that musical, as a single. With Geoff Stephens he produced a concept album of a "revuesical" entitled Off The Wall. In 2002, he worked with the Indian composer A. R. Rahman on the musical Bombay Dreams. In 2004, Black's second musical collaboration with Hampton, Frank Wildhorn's Dracula, the Musical, debuted on Broadway. He also collaborated with John Barry once more, on the musical Brighton Rock. Based on the Graham Greene novel, it debuted at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2004. In 2006, Black created the lyrics for the musical adaptation of the book Feather Boy, for the National Theatre in London. In 2011, Black wrote the lyrics alongside composer Frank Wildhorn for the 2011 Broadway production of Bonnie & Clyde, which premiered at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on 22 November 2011 and closed four weeks later due to poor ticket sales, despite the general public giving the show high praise for its score and the lead actors Jeremy Jordan (as Clyde Barrow) and Laura Osnes (as Bonnie Parker). The cast recording, however, became one of Wildhorn and Black's most successful musical scores. In 2013, he again worked with Christopher Hampton and Andrew Lloyd Webber on Stephen Ward the Musical. 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. In 2026, his musical revue From The Heart will play at the Garrick Theatre from 8 October - 18 October 2026, starring Caroline O’Connor, Clive Rowe and Michael Xavier.

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.

Black lives in London, England. His wife of nearly 60 years, Shirley, died in March 2018. In May 2020, he was treated in hospital for COVID-19. Black's elder brother, Michael Black, a showbusiness booking agent, was married to singer Julie Rogers until his death in November 2018.

• Title — Year — Composer — Book — Co-lyricist • Maybe That's Your Problem — 1971 — Walter Scharf — Lionel Chetwynd • Billy — 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