Richard Clayderman

Clayderman learned piano from his father, an accordion teacher.

At the age of twelve, he was accepted into the Conservatoire de Paris,{{Cite book |last=Larkin |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Larkin |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofp002lark/mode/2up |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |publisher=MUZE UK |isbn=0-333-74134-X |edition=3rd |volume=2 |publication-place=London |page=1115 |via=Internet Archive}} where he won great acclaim in his later adolescent years. Financial difficulties, precipitated by his father's illness, forestalled a promising career as a classical pianist. In order to earn a living, he found work as a bank clerk and as an accompanist to contemporary bands. He accompanied French singers such as Johnny Hallyday, Thierry Le Luron, and Michel Sardou.{{cite book |title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=1992 |publisher=Guinness Publishing |isbn=0-85112-939-0 |editor=Colin Larkin |edition=First |page=500}}

{{main|Ballade pour Adeline}}

In 1976, he was invited by Olivier Toussaint, a French record producer, and his partner Paul de Senneville, to record a gentle piano ballad. De Senneville had composed this ballad as a tribute to his baby daughter, Adeline. The 23-year-old Pagès was auditioned along with 20 other pianists and got the job. "He was an interesting musician with a soft touch and good technique", said Toussaint. "And he looked good, too."{{Cite web|url=http://www.clayderman.co.uk/olivier_toussaint_interview.htm|title=Olivier Toussaint Interview|date=16 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100316111434/http://www.clayderman.co.uk/olivier_toussaint_interview.htm|access-date=20 August 2021|archive-date=16 March 2010}}

His producers felt that his name would be difficult to pronounce in Spanish, German, etc. so they picked Clayderman on finding it was a great-grandmother's last name and invented the name Richard as they didn't like Philippe Clayderman.{{Cite web |date=7 May 2013 |title=Interview with Richard Clayderman |url=https://www.completefrance.com/living-in-france/interview-with-richard-clayderman-6241752/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002222418/https://www.completefrance.com/living-in-france/interview-with-richard-clayderman-6241752/ |archive-date=2 October 2022 |access-date=1 March 2025 |website=Complete France}} The single took off, selling 22 million copies in 38 countries.{{Cite web|url=http://www.clayderman.co.uk/biography.htm|title=Biography|date=25 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725050122/http://www.clayderman.co.uk/biography.htm|access-date=20 August 2021|archive-date=25 July 2010}} It was called "Ballade pour Adeline". This work was one of the most popular pieces in China, especially during the initial years of China's opening to the West, when it was ubiquitous and played in almost every hotel lobby in China, and it continues to be popular in China today. {{Cite web|url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202001/09/WS5e167169a310cf3e35583551.html|title=Clayderman still in tune with his audience|date=1 January 2020|website=chinadaily.com.cn|access-date=14 October 2024}}

Clayderman has recorded over 1,300 melodies and has created a new romantic style through a repertoire which combines his trademark originals with classics and pop standards. As of 2006, his record sales number at approximately 70 million, and has 267 gold and 70 platinum albums to his credit. He is popular in Asia and is noted by the Guinness Book of World Records as being "the most successful pianist in the world".

• Richard Clayderman (aka Ballade pour Adeline, 1977)
• A Comme Amour/Les Fleurs Sauvages (1978)
• Rêveries (1979)
• Lettre à Ma Mère (1979)
• Medley Concerto (1979)
• Les Musiques de l’Amour (1980)
• Rondo Pour un Tout Petit Enfant (1981)
• Christmas (1982)
• Rêveries No. 2 (1982)
• Couleur Tendresse (1982)
• Les Rêves d'Amour (aka A Dream of Love, 1983)
• Le Premier Chagrin d’Elsa (1983)
• Italie Mon Amour (1984)
• The Music of Love (1984)
• Cœur fragile (1984)
• Concerto (with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, 1985)
• Divorce à Hollywood/Irreconcilable Differences (soundtrack, 1985)
• From Paris with Love (1985)
• Les Sonates (with Nicolas de Angelis, 1985)
• Hollywood and Broadway (1986)
• Romantic (1986)
• Eléana (1987)
• Songs of Love (1987)
• A Little Night Music (1988)
• Deutsche Volkslieder (with the Schöneberger Sängerknaben, 1988)
• Quel Gran Genio Del Mio Amico – Richard Clayderman Interpreta Lucio Battisti (1988)
• Romantic America (1988)
• Zodiacal Symphony (1988)
• The Love Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber (1989)
• Amour Pour Amour (with Berdien Stenberg, 1989)
• Il Y A Toujours du Soleil Au-Dessus des Nuages (with James Last, 1990)
• My Classic Collection (1990)
• The Fantastic Movie Story of Ennio Morricone (1990)
• Anemos (1990)
• The Confluence (2003)
• Romantique (2013)
• Forever Love (2022)

• En Concert (1981)
• A Pleyel (with Nicolas de Angelis, 1983)
• Brasil Tour ’86 (Brazil, 1986)
• Concert under the stars (Japan 1983)

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Official website|http://www.clayderman.co.uk}}
• {{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p1891}}
• {{Discogs artist|168684|Richard Clayderman}}
• [http://www.woim.net/artist/41/richard-clayderman.html Play Album of Richard Clayderman]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100819190302/http://www.rfimusique.com/sitefr/biographie/biographie_9072.asp Richard Clayderman on rfimusique.com]
• {{imdb name|0165613}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clayderman, Richard}}

Category:1953 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century French male pianists

Category:21st-century French male pianists

Category:Conservatoire de Paris alumni

Category:Easy listening musicians

Category:Musicians from Paris