The Worlds Most Popular Pianist

Born Philippe Pagès on December 28th, 1953, he encountered the piano early in his life. His father, a piano teacher, laid the foundation for his son's later success and began teaching him how to play at a very young age. It is said that, at the age of six, Richard Clayderman could read music more adeptly than his native French.

At the age of twelve, he was accepted at the Conservatoire of Music where, at sixteen, he won first prize of the piano. He was predicted a promising career as a classical pianist. Shortly after this, he cast aside his classical training and turned to contemporary music, because at that time his father was ill and unable to financially support his son. So, in order to earn a living, he found work as an accompanist and session musician.

In 1976 he was invited by Olivier Toussaint a French record producer and his partner Paul de Senneville to record a gentle piano ballad. Paul de Senneville had composed this ballad as a tribute to his new born daughter “Adeline”. The 23 year old Philippe Pagès was auditioned along with 20 other pianists. They liked his special and soft touch on the keyboards combined with his good looks and fine personality, and finally he got the job.
Philippe Pagès' name was changed to Richard Clayderman (he adopted his great-grandmother's last name to avoid mispronunciation of his real name outside France), and the single took off, selling an astonishing 22 million copies in 38 countries. It was called Ballade pour Adeline.

With his lush, sophisticated, instrumental, approach to pop music, Richard Clayderman is, according to -The Guinness Book of World Records, "the most successful pianist in the world." Clayderman's albums routinely sell millions of copies and his concerts are quickly sold out. In a review of his 1985 Carnegie Hall concert, ~Variety wrote, "(Clayderman's) main appeal lies in his youth and boyish good looks...coupled with his gentlemanly charm and his thick French accent, they promise to rope in the romantically inclined middle-aged Yank ladies who cotton to this ilk of soothing entertainment

Clayderman's shift from classical to popular music not only allowed for his remarkably successful career but moved him into an area of music which he feels more closely reflectshis personality. Although he still plays classical music on stage, for his United States concerts he focuses on romantic interpretations of popular American melodies. "I think there is a need for this kind of romantic music, " he told the Christian Science Monitor, "because we live in a world [where] terrible things are happening, and people need music to feel a bit cool and relaxed. I think a proportion of my audience also listens to other styles. For example, I'm sure the young people like rock 'n roll music. But through my playing they discover a new kind of music--classical, because sometimes I play that on stage."