Famous Piano Players

So many musicians, right from Beethoven to Yanni, have left an everlasting impression on the world of music. Some are famous for the lovely compositions they created, some for their eccentric ways of playing, while others for the beautiful melodies they created.

With so much variety and variation in each of these styles of music, to decide which ones should be included in the following list can be quite a task. That is why the list may seem incomplete to many.

Beethoven was born in the year 1770 in Bonn. His first music teacher was his own father and by the time he turned twelve, his music had already been published. Beethoven first went to Vienna in the year 1787 and studied music there with Schenk, Salieri, Albrechtsberger and Joseph Haydn.

The years 1795 to 1801, are believed to be his best years, as far as music is concerned. During this period, he composed three sonatas, three piano concertos, six string quartets, and two symphonies. In the year 1802, Beethoven developed hearing impairment which caused him depression and even blocked his ability to create music for a while.

It took him a few years to overcome his depression and finally he came up with "Eroica" Symphony no. 3, Symphony no. 5, and an opera "Fidelio". In his personal life, Beethoven could never find his "true love" and had a string of unsuccessful affairs. He finally died in the year 1827 due to lead poisoning.

Mozart, born on 27th January, 1756 in Germany, is a pianist and musician of the classical era. He is known to have composed more than six hundred works including numerous symphonies, concertos, operas, and choral music.

Mozart started composing music at the age of five and by the time he was seventeen, he was a court musician and performing before royalty in Salzburg. Mozart's style of music ranged from light and graceful to dark and passionate. His music greatly influenced the western musicians including Beethoven. Mozart died very early in his life, in the year 1791.

Born on 29th September, 1935 in Louisiana, Jerry Lee Lewis became popular among the music lovers for his wild and out of box playing style. Jerry, as he was famously called, started off singing country and gospel music before he evolved into a rock and roll musician.

Jerry was long admired for his foot stomping live performances, till the time controversies regarding his personal life such as his marriage to his thirteen year old cousin overshadowed his talent and ultimately led to his downfall.

Frederic Chopin, born on 22nd February, 1810, was a polish genius, who is known the world over as the creator and player of the most complicated and beautiful music that has ever been played. He is remembered even today for his distinctive and unique style of playing.

Chopin wrote concertos, nocturnes and sonatas and performed live in places like Paris and England. Popularity of his music can be gauged from the fact that his music is today taught in almost all the piano schools.

Known famously as "The Piano Man", Billy Joel was born on 9th May, 1949 in New York. When he was fourteen, he joined a group named "The Lost Souls" and a few years later became part of another group named "The Hassles". In the year 1970, Billy along with a drummer of the group "The Hassles", formed "Attila".

In the year 1971, Billy parted from "Attila" and released an album named "Cold Spring Harbor", which brought him instant stardom. Some other famous albums of Billy Joel are "Streetlife Serenade", "52nd Street", and "An Innocent Man".

Yiannis Hrysomallis, famously known as Yanni, was born in Greece on 14th November, 1954. Yanni had no formal education in music, as he is self taught and began playing music very early. During his college days, he joined a band named "Chameleon" and toured with them to places like Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois.

In the year 1987, he formed his own band in California with Charlie Adams and John Tesh and started promoting three of his albums named, "Keys to Imagination", "Chameleon Days" and "Out of Silence". In the year 1992, Yanni's first Grammy nominated album named "Dare to Dream" was released.

In the year 1994, "Yanni Live at the Acropolis" was released which brought him tremendous commercial success. Yanni has performed live in more than twenty countries and has many gold and platinum albums credited to his name.

Other prominent pianists are Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Haydn, Johannes Brahms, Arthur Rubinstein, and the most recent Elton John. If you want to add a few more names to this list, please feel free to comment below.