Guest was born in
Birmingham, England. He moved to New Zealand with his family when he was 13, and later moved to Canada where he was in a band called The Apparition. The family returned to New Zealand and in 1968 Guest joined the band The Shore Thing who relaunched in 1969 as the Apparition. In 1970 Guest joined The In-Betweens as their vocalist. He signed with
Polydor records in 1972 and released his debut single "
House of Cards" written by
Lynsey de Paul and
Barry Blue. Guest appeared on the New Zealand radio charts and starred for many years on television shows including
Happen Inn. Guest won his first lead at age 22 in
The Jesus Christ Revolution (which was presented as
Man of Sorrows in New Zealand and which predated
Jesus Christ Superstar). After performing his hit songs all around the world, Guest won the 1978 Korean Song Festival Best Male Vocalist trophy, recorded a special for the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and was voted the 1979 New Zealand 'Professional Performer of the Year'. In 1981 Guest moved to the
United States with his first wife, Lynette Perry, where he spent most of the 1980s performing and hosting shows in
Las Vegas,
Atlantic City,
Reno, Nevada and
Lake Tahoe. Guest then followed
Anthony Warlow in the title role in
The Phantom of the Opera from December 1991 to September 1998. Guest was the world's longest-serving
Phantom, having played the role a record 2,289 performances over seven years in front of Australian and New Zealand audiences. In the
1994 New Zealand New Year Honours, Guest was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to entertainment. His first marriage had ended in divorce, and in 1994 he married the singer Judy Barnes. They had two children, but separated in 2001. Following his work in
The Phantom of the Opera and
Les Misérables, Guest performed in a number of other high-profile theatre roles, including
Al Jolson in
Jolson,
Captain von Trapp in
The Sound of Music, Rev Shaw Moore (
baritone) in
Footloose, and Professor Harold Hill in
The Music Man. Guest performed numerous gala performances both in Australia and internationally, twice hosting
Carols in the Domain, and also releasing four gold-selling albums. ==Death==