Over the past fifty years some of the top songs have been sung and performed by piano men. There has always been something special about a singer who tickled the ivories, and there have been great piano hits across many genres.
Ray Charles, who had his life documented in the Oscar winning movie, Ray, starring Jamie Foxx, recorded his first album way back in 1947, but it was 1954 with a song called I Got A Woman, when he had his first solo success. In 1960 his version of Hoagy Carmichael’s Georgia On My Mind is perhaps his biggest hit and is also the official song of the state of Georgia now.
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.
Today artists like Alicia Keys in the USA, and Jamie Cullum in the UK, continue the trend of the singing pianist, churning out piano hits across the globe. Alicia Keys’ Falling was one of the biggest hits of 2001 and she won five Grammy awards the following year.
If you want to learn more about playing the piano take a look at Piano Hits or read this – Piano Hits
