Though Leybourne is best known for his composition "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze", the comedic lyrical content and catchy melody of "If Ever I Cease to Love" became tremendously appealing in New Orleans.
Dressed in formal wear, his performing style helped advance the popularity of entertainers known as Lion comiques who parodied upper-class swells.
His 1867 compositions "Champagne Charlie" and "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" furthered the concept of music hall in England and are considered Leybourne's greatest artistic successes.
Theatrical entertainer Lydia Thompson, while performing on the English music hall circuit, was amused by "If Ever I Cease to Love", and adapted it into her operetta, Bluebeard.
[4] Thompson's act was spectated by Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia, fourth son of Tsar Alexander II, as she and her troupe, "The British Blondes", embarked on a US tour in 1872.