There have been some fantastic performers over the past half century who have tickled the ivories and shot up the music charts. There have been a number of great piano hits in that time, in all genres of music, but some have of them have certainly made a bigger impact than others.
Thanks to the recent movie about his life, the first person who may spring to mind is Ray Charles. Jamie Foxx re-created his life in the movie and won an Oscar for his performance, but some of that certainly had to do with the music that Ray Charles gave us. 1954′s I Got A Woman was the start of a career that lasted until his recent death at the age of 73. Though of all the songs he performed it was a cover version of a Hoagy Carmichael song that many think of when they think of him. Georgia On My Mind, which he released in 1960, and won a Grammy for, was also named the State of Georgia’s official song in the late Seventies.
It was in the Nineteen Fifties, when Rock ‘n Roll was being born that artists like Jerry Lee Lewis came to the fore. His wild antics on the piano made a song like Great Balls Of Fire a smash hit, and of course influenced so much music of today.
Not being able to see never held back the talents of Stevie Wonder. Obviously compared to Ray Charles, for both being African-American and blind, Steve Wonder made a hit debut album when he was just twelve years old. Throughout his childhood he studied and played a number of musical instruments but the piano and harmonica were always at the forefront. Over the past five decades he has had almost fifty hit songs, including classics like My Cherie Amour, For Once In My Life, Part Time Lover, Higher Ground and I Just Called To Say I Love You to name a few.
Today he is a headliner in Vegas, selling out show after show, and I am sure Elton John knows how much of that he owes to his piano. He is also known for his flamboyant dress and thousands of pairs of spectacles, but its his songs like Crocodile Rock, Rocket Man and Don’t Go Breaking My Heart that turned him into a superstar. He performed another of his hits at the funeral of Princess Diana, Candle In The Wind, re-writing this tribute to Marilyn Monroe specifically for the Princess.
Another great piano man is Billy Joel, who actually had his first top forty hit with a song called just that, The Piano Man. This started a career that would give the world great piano songs including It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me, The Entertainer and the song about his ex-wife Christie Brinkley, Uptown Girl.
The piano singers are still very much alive today, with people like jazz musician Jamie Cullum in the UK, while in the USA, R and B singer Alicia Keys is leading the way. In 2001 Alicia Keys released the smash hit single Falling and the following year she won five Grammies.
If you want to learn more about playing the piano take a look at Piano Hits or read this – Piano Hits