Jim Brickman wouldn’t play by the rules. Literally. He was 8, taking private lessons from a piano teacher down the street from his parents’ Cleveland suburb home, but little Jimmy Brickman wouldn’t conform to the rudimentary regulations of piano playing, even after his piano teacher told his mother he “didn’t have the knack for this.” By the age of 12, Brickman found his mentor in the creative tutelage of a Cleveland Institute of Music graduate. As a child, Brickman had studied music at the prestigious conservatory and was honored in 2011 when the Cleveland Institute of Music established a scholarship in his name.
That’s all this Shaker Heights, Ohio native needed to set his career in motion, and more than two decades later, Jim Brickman would become the most commercially successful instrumental pop pianist of the last three decades. Four of his albums have been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America – 1995’s By Heart, 1997’s Picture This and The Gift, and 1999’s Destiny – for sales of more than 500,000 copies. Overall, he’s sold more than 7 million albums.
He’s amassed 27 Top 40 singles on the adult contemporary charts, including 14 Top 10 smashes. His collaboration with soaring country songstress Martina McBride, the beautiful paean to love titled “Valentine,” scored at mainstream country radio in 1998, peaking at No. 9. Other Brickman staples include “Simple Things” with Rebecca Lynn Howard, “Peace” and “The Gift,” both with Collin Raye and Susan Ashton, “Never Alone” with Lady Antebellum, and “Love of My Life” with Michael W. Smith. Most recently in 2013, Brickman’s The Magic of Christmas featuring the 2003 remake of “Sending You A Little Christmas” with Johnny Mathis landed at #1 on Billboard New Age and took the #58 spot on Billboard Top 200.
Throughout his long career, Brickman has also shared his artistry with luminaries such as Kenny Loggins, Carly Simon, Herb Alpert, Michael Bolton, Donny Osmond, Richie McDonald of country vocal group Lonestar, smooth jazz saxophonist Dave Koz , Olivia Newton-John, and Canadian country singer Michelle Wright. Along the way he’s been rewarded for his melodically sublime style with two Grammy Award nominations, a couple of SESAC “Songwriter of the Year” Awards, a Canadian Country Music Award and a Dove Award presented by the Gospel Music Association. He’s also the author of two best-selling books, 2001’s Simple Things and 2005’s Love Notes, co-written with Cindy Pearlman.
more at jimbrickman.com
