Jim Brickman

Brickman was born and raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio and attended Shaker Heights High School. He began playing piano at the age of five. Later he studied composition and performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music while taking business classes at Case Western Reserve University.[4] In 1980, Brickman founded his own advertising music company called The Brickman Arrangement,[5] writing commercial jingles for many companies across the country such as McDonald's, Pontiac, City of Cleveland, Ohio Lottery, and Isuzu.[6]

Brickman signed to Windham Hill Records in 1994 and released his first album, No Words featuring the song "Rocket to the Moon" which became his first solo instrumental to be ranked on the Billboard charts.[7] The songs "Angel Eyes" and "If You Believe" gained radio airplay from Brickman's second release, By Heart on the Windham Hill label in 1995. The following year, the CD's title track, "By Heart", became his first top 20 adult contemporary (AC) hit. In 1997, Brickman released the album Picture This,[8] adding a vocal performance, "Valentine", sung by Martina McBride.[9] This song charted on both country and AC stations, with the album selling platinum.[10] By the end of the year, Brickman issued the first of many Christmas CDs, The Gift, with the title song featuring Collin Raye and Susan Ashton, topping three different charts; for this album, Brickman received a Dove Award from the Gospel Music Association.[11] He later produced several other Christmas-themed albums, Peace (2003), Christmas Romance (2006), Homecoming (2007), and The Hymns and Carols of Christmas (2008);[12] and his two albums Grace (2005) and Faith (2008) concentrated on arrangements of well-known Christian music.[13]

During his career, Valentine went platinum, selling over one million records and four others have sold over 500,000 copies; By Heart (1995), Picture This (1997), The Gift (1997), and Destiny (1999), qualifying them as gold records in the United States.[14] In November 2005, three of Brickman's albums, The Disney Songbook (2005), Grace (2005) and Greatest Hits (2004), held the top three spots on Billboard's New Age chart.[15] He also received a Grammy nomination in 2003, an SESAC "Songwriter of the Year" award, and a Canadian Country Music Award for "Best Vocal/Instrumental Collaboration".[16] The 2008 album Faith was nominated for the 2009 Grammy Award for Best New Age Album.

Brickman composes a variety of music. Besides his piano compositions and love songs, he has also drafted arrangements of existing songs, and several of his albums feature arrangements of children's music. He has collaborated with artists from all genres with songs like "Love of My Life" with Michael W. Smith, "You" with Jane Krakowski, "Never Alone" with country group Lady Antebellum, "After All These Years" with Anne Cochran, and "Never Far Away" with Christian contemporary group Rush of Fools, among others.

Brickman's music is sometimes classified in the new-age genre, although the diversity of his music makes Brickman himself skeptical of this classification.[17]

In 2007, Brickman teamed up with Somerset Group Ltd., producing and distributing concept-based music to some of the country's biggest retailers including Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart, and Costco.

After 2007, Brickman recorded several albums with Somerset, Killer Tracks and Green Hill.

In 2015 he released the first album in the Soothe series. The soothing original music of Jim Brickman, laced with gentle sounds of nature offers the perfect, pure soundtrack for relaxation, meditation, yoga and massage. "Soothe, Vol. 1" came with an Audiobook of the original book written by Brickman, "Soothe - How to Find Calm Amid Everyday Chaos." "Soothe Volume 2: Sleep," "Volume 3: Meditation", "Volume 4: Subzero" and "Volume 5: Lullaby Dreams" followed through 2019.

In 2020, Brickman is releasing his Brand New "25th Anniversary: Greatest Hits" album commemorating a quarter century of romantic hits. In this album, Brickman is singing all of his own hits for the first time. There are multiple packages available in this release, including a 48 page, full color booklet of photos, lyrics and memories. The album will also be available on vinyl and a USB cassette.

Making its debut in January 1997, Your Weekend with Jim Brickman is a four-hour radio show that has been heard across the US featuring music blended with celebrity interviews, lifestyle features and entertainment reports.[18]

In 2018, The Jim Brickman Show Podcast debuted on Podcasts by Pandora. It's a place for listeners to hear extended conversations, behind the scenes takes, plus “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” that they won’t hear on the radio show. As of March 2020, there are over 50 episodes of this podcast and along with Pandora, these episodes can be heard on Jim Brickman's website as well.

In 2020, The Jim Brickman Show is now producing a new platform with a robust following: " The Brickman Bedtime Story". It focuses on inspirational stories, happy thoughts, and lifestyle tips for the end of a long stressful day. The robust Muti-platform digital TV Podcast airs at 10PM eastern every week. Brickman, who has over 7 million weekly streams on Pandora, and 300K on Spotify has built a huge audience of fans who are looking to feel good messages in a time of need.

A strong supporter of PBS, Brickman has filmed and released the PBS specials My Romance: An Evening with Jim Brickman (2000),[19] Love Songs & Lullabies (2002), The Disney Songbook (2005),[20] and Beautiful World (2009).

In 2013, Brickman hosted 'Celebration of the '70s', a concert event featuring David Cassidy, Thelma Houston, Stephen Bishop, Rita Coolidge, David Pack (of Ambrosia), Yvonne Elliman, and Firefall, filmed live for XFinity on Demand for Comcast.

In 2006, Brickman hosted a cruise for fans, being joined with his fans for up to a week of activities and concerts.

In 2013, the first annual "Brickman Bash" kicked off in Nashville on July 18–21. Fans would spend a weekend with Brickman touring Franklin and Nashville, TN.

Since 2006, Brickman Cruise or Bash has been held almost each year. Cruises includes the Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Hawaii, New England and Bash includes Nashville, Cleveland, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Arizona and Las Vegas.

Since 2008, Brickman has partnered with American Greetings, John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, Whole Foods, Roland, Celestial Seasonings, Audio-Technica, Velveeta Cheese, Crystal Light, QVC, Expedia and Horatio Alger.

Brickman appeared on the September/October 2013 cover of Making Music Magazine to discuss his life and career.[21]

• ^A "Valentine" was originally only released to Adult Contemporary and charted on Hot Country Songs as an album cut. It was remixed and released to country radio the following year. It also peaked at No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• ^B "Sending You a Little Christmas" also peaked at No. 15 on Hot Christian Songs.
• ^C "Escape" peaked at No. 17 on Hot Contemporary Jazz Songs.
• ^D Peak position from Christmas version titled "Merry Christmas Beautiful".