Richard Clayderman (born Philippe Pagès on 28 December 1953, Paris) is a French pianist who has released numerous albums including the compositions of Paul de Senneville and Olivier Toussaint, instrumental renditions of popular music, rearrangements of movie soundtracks, ethnic music, and easy-listening arrangements of most popular works of classical music.
Clayderman was taught the piano from a very young age by his father, who himself was a piano teacher.
At the age of twelve, he was accepted into the Paris Conservatoire of Music where he won great acclaim in his later adolescent years. Financial difficulties, not the least precipitated by his father's illness, forestalled a promising career as a classical pianist. So in order to earn a living, he found work as a bank clerk and as an accompanist to contemporary bands. He accompanied French well-known singers such as Johnny Hallyday, Thierry Le Luron, and Michel Sardou
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 daughter "Adeline". The 23 year old Philippe 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".
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 22 million copies in 38 countries. It was called Ballade pour Adeline.
He has recorded over 1,200 melodies and has created a new romantic style through a repertoire which combines his trademark originals with classics and pop standards. He has devoted much of his time to performing concerts, going as far as playing 200 shows in 250 days. He has clocked up worldwide record sales of approximately 70 million, as of 2006, and 267 Gold and 70 Platinum discs 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" He lives in Normandy with his wife Christine, son Peter, and daughter Maud.
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Clayderman
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