Sarah Brightman and Chris Hadfield: Musicians in space

Sarah Brightman speaks Wednesday in Moscow to announce her space plans. (Reuters)

British singer Sarah Brightman, who had a hit in 1978 with I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper, is headed into space. Her flight could be in 2015, making her the first space tourist to the International Space Station since Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté.

There have only been seven people so far to ride into space just to satisfy the itch for space travel. Russia said in 2010 that it was halting space tourism for lack of free seats on its Soyuz capsules and for most of us, it's just too expensive.

Brightman is the world's best-selling soprano, beloved for performing as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera. In a news conference Wednesday to announce her space flight, she hinted at a musical performance in space. But she won't be first in that department. It turns out Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is a musician on the side and plans some guitar jamming after he docks at the International Space Station on a trip beginning on Dec. 5.

Chris Hadfield is writing and performing a song with Ed Robertson. (CBC)

Hadfield has a Juno-winning collaborator Barenaked Ladies' Ed Robertson, who is working with him to write and perform a song for Music Monday 2013 next March. The song I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing). celebrates music education in schools across Canada and will be performed by Hadfield still on the space station and Robertson on the ground, accompanied by a high school choir. CBC Music is following the collaboration from songwriting through performance.

By then, Brightman will be touring the world in support of her album Dreamchaser and looking forward to six months of cosmonaut training. No doubt, like Guy Laliberté, she will dedicate her trip to some worthy cause. And there's nothing like a trip into space to confirm her star power.