Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer.

In 1981, she made her West End musical theatre debut in Cats and met composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, whom she later married.

[2] After retiring from stage acting and divorcing Lloyd Webber, Brightman resumed her music career with former Enigma producer Frank Peterson, this time as a classical crossover artist.

[12] In 2010, she was named by Billboard the fifth most influential and best-selling classical artist of the 2000s decade in the US[13] and according to Nielsen SoundScan, she has sold 6.5 million albums in the country.

[14] Brightman is the first artist to have been invited twice to perform the theme song at the Olympic Games, first at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games where she sang "Amigos Para Siempre" with the Spanish tenor José Carreras with an estimated global audience of one billion people, and 16 years later in 2008 in Beijing, this time with Chinese singer Liu Huan, performing the song "You and Me" to an estimated four billion people worldwide.

The group had a disco hit in 1978 with "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper", which sold half a million and reached number six on the UK charts.

After a year in Cats, Brightman took over from Bonnie Langford as Kate in The Pirates of Penzance at the Drury Lane Theatre, London, and appeared as Tara Treetops in Masquerade, a musical based on Kit Williams's book of the same title.

[26] In 1985, Brightman's recording of "Pie Jesu" was a strong commercial success, selling 25,000 copies[26] on the first day of release and peaking at number 3, despite the lyrics being in Latin.

[30] Despite the success both in London and on Broadway, Brightman received mostly negative reception from critics for her performance and was not nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Musical at the Tony Awards.

Brightman also sang the song "Make Believe" during the credits of the children's film Granpa; Howard Blake composed the music and wrote the lyrics.

[33] After their highly publicized divorce, Brightman played the lead in Lloyd Webber's Aspects in London opposite Michael Praed, before transferring to Broadway.

[26] In 1992, Brightman performed with José Carreras at the Barcelona Olympic Games singing the theme song "Amigos Para Siempre" ("Friends Forever").

Following the appearance, Brightman pursued solo recording, and inspired by the German band Enigma, she requested to work with one of its members, Frank Peterson.

For this album, Brightman chose songs drawing on pop, vintage jazz, and high opera, in homages to Dvořák, Beethoven and Billie Holiday.

[50] In North America, Harem tour promoters Clear Channel Entertainment (now Live Nation) took the unusual step of advertising to theatre subscribers, in an effort to reach fans of Brightman's Broadway performances, and also sold VIP tickets, at $750 each, which included on-stage seating during the concert and a backstage pass.

"[52] Television specials on PBS were produced for nearly every Brightman album in the US; a director of marketing has credited these as her number-one source of exposure in the country.

[59] On 7 July 2007 Brightman performed four songs ("Nessun dorma", "La Luna", "Nella Fantasia" and "Time to Say Goodbye") at the Live Earth Concert Series, and debuted her single "Running" at the 2007 IAAF Championships in Osaka, Japan.

Special guests who sang duets with Brightman include Italian tenor Alessandro Safina, Argentinean countertenor Fernando Lima, and British singer Chris Thompson.

Also featured are a duet in "Ave Maria" with Mexican Tenor Fernando Lima, covers of pop tracks including ABBA's instrumental song "Arrival" plus a rendition of Neil Diamond's, "I've Been this Way Before".

[79] One year later, in 2010, Brightman continued touring Asia with five performances in Tokyo alone, followed by presentations in Kanazawa, Nagoya, Osaka in Japan, Macau in China and Seoul in South Korea.

[109] On 2 June 2016, Brightman received the Italian decoration 'Cavaliere' in the Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana by the Consul General of Italy, Francesco Genuardi.

The private ceremony was held on the occasion of the Festa della Repubblica Italiana (The Italian National Day) at the Consulate General of Italy in New York City.

[113] During the same month, Brightman performed at Starmus 3 Festival in Tenerife, Canary Islands, in honour of Professor Stephen Hawking[114] along with composer Hans Zimmer and Anathema.

[115] On 7 January 2017, Brightman presided over the naming ceremony as godmother of the Richard Branson's new 600-guest ship MV Seabourn Encore, the first of two new all-suite vessels for the company.

[116] On 27 March 2017, Brightman co-headlined the concert tour Royal Christmas Gala, along with Gregorian, Mario Frangoulis, Narcis Iustin Ianău, and Fernando Varela.

[118][needs update] On 10 September, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Hertfordshire, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to music and theatre.

[119] On 17 September 2018, Brightman announced her fifteenth full-length album Hymn, which was released on 9 November 2018 under Decca Gold/ Universal Music Group.

[124][125] On October 10, 2023, it was announced that Brightman would take the lead role of Norma Desmond in the 2024 Australian season of Sunset Boulevard in Melbourne from May 2024 before moving to the Sydney Opera House for residence from August 2024.

[126][127][128] Brightman underwent vocal training first with Elizabeth Hawes, head of the Trinity Music College in London, and later with Ellen Faull of Juilliard.

[139] In April 2014, Brightman participated as an orchestra director in Parkinson's UK Symfunny at the Royal Albert Hall 4 June, with the aim of funding research to find a cure for the disease.