His name may not be immediately recognisable but his music certainly is:
H is name may not be immediately recognisable but his music certainly is: best-selling French pianist Richard Clayderman’s tunes are ubiquitous in public spaces, particularly in China where for decades, his blond hair and blue eyes have earned him the title « Prince Charming ».
Although his celebrity status has faded in the West, he remains adored in the Asian nation, where he has played for 25 years.
« No one is a prophet in his own country, » Clayderman said ahead of his Christmas Day performance at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, the ruling Communist Party’s state building on the edge of Tiananmen Square.
The 63-year-old pianist is known worldwide for his 1976 Ballad for Adeline.
In his 40-year career, Clayderman says he has sold 60 million records internationally, making him one of the best-selling French musicians in history, alongside Mireille Mathieu, Jean-Michel Jarre and late Johnny Hallyday.
According to his website, Clayderman has 70 Platinum discs to his name.
At the height of his celebrity, he was a television regular. In 1985, former US First Lady Nancy Reagan crowned him the « Prince of Romance ».
He had more modest success in his motherland.
« At the end of the 1980s, I neglected France a little to meet the many requests I received from Japan, Southeast Asia and Latin America, » Clayderman said.
« Now, French people between 20 and 40 years old don’t know me, even if I haven’t been forgotten by older generations.
