Off-stage, Karimloo made his first solo recording, the EP Within the Six Square Inch, 2007. Karimloo returned to the national tour circuit in 2005 for Miss Saigon. In 2003, he joined Phantom of the Opera as Raoul, and a year later, he appeared in Joel Schumacher's film version of the musical as Christine's father. tours of The Pirates of Penzance and Sunset Boulevard, making his West End debut soon after, playing Feuilly in Les Misérables in 2002. Over the next two years, he joined the U.K. After a stint with cruise-based theater companies, Karimloo relocated to the U.K., where in 2000 he played the title role of Aladdin in a pantomime production staged by the Chatham Theatre. Born in Tehran, Iran, and raised in Peterborough and Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, Karimloo began his music career in Toronto, where he sang in rock groups, including a Tragically Hip cover band.
