New Age/pop artist Jim Brickman, who studied piano while taking business classes in college, got his start in music by writing commercial jingles.
∙ His 1994 track “Rocket to the Moon” was the first solo instrumental recording to make Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.
∙ Featuring vocals by Martina McBride, his 1997 single “Valentine” was an Adult Contemporary and Country hit, while the album on which it appeared, Picture This, went Platinum.
∙ Beginning in 1997, he hosted The Jim Brickman Show, a syndicated radio program blending music, lifestyle reporting, and celebrity interviews.
∙ Brickman’s 2002 album Love Songs & Lullabies featured future 30 Rock star Jane Krakowski singing the soaring hit “You.”
∙ In 2012, he cocreated a scholarship for piano students at his musical alma mater, the Cleveland Institute of Music.
∙ The pianist’s 2020 collection 25th Anniversary: Greatest Hits featured him singing his own hits on a recording for the first time.