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Very few independent artists have achieved 2.3 million streams in under three years, and even fewer managed to produce and release 11 original albums and 7 singles in that same period. Even the famously prolific Prince would find it hard to match that pace. So, who is this tireless musician? Meet 77-year-old Ian Rae.
Ian Rae
Ian Rae is a 77-year-old musician born in Glasgow, he’s been residing in London for almost 50 years and has been playing piano for 67 years. He wrote his first song at just 14 years old while playing rhythm guitar in a band called the Bluestars. He has written musicals which have been performed at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon and the Minack Theatre in Cornwall. His library music for Sony/EMI and appeared on radio and television.
Influences
Ian Rae cites a diverse set of influences including Gershwin, Cole Porter, Beatles, Hollies, Carpenters, Bill Evans, Yiruma, James Newton Howard and more.
Social Media Success
It was his daughter Fiona who first suggested he create videos on TikTok. After watching a friend play live on the platform, he decided he could do the same, or better. He started playing covers before introducing some of his compositions. After viewers demanded to listen to them online, he added them to Spotify. He now plays his music live on TikTok, Instagram and Twitch concurrently three times a day and has amassed over 500K followers on TikTok, 180K followers on Instagram and 16,000 followers on Spotify. His first album “Beyond the Clouds” now has over 600,000 Streams.
What’s behind the success? It’s hard not to love Ian Rae, his eyes twinkle as he plays his piano, there are no rock star pretensions here, Ian is just Ian and you find yourself utterly compelled by his unassuming realness.
Charity Support
What makes his story even more heartwarming is Ian’s decision to give all his earnings to charity. His income from music has benefitted Charities by over £22,000 in just 3 years. Ian doesn’t take himself too seriously, which is part of his charm and while admitting he is not a singer, content of him singing his self-described ‘silly songs’ on TikTok and Instagram have now been viewed over 60,000,000 times.
Ian Rae – Goodbye Little Friend
His latest album [out now] is titled “Goodbye Little Friend” and was written in memory of his little dog “Tallulah” who was very popular on TikTok and Instagram and crossed the Rainbow Bridge in April. It contains instrumental tracks like “Goodbye Little Friend”, “Dog Tired” and “Side by Side” a couple of vocal tracks “Rainbow Bridge” “Let Us Drink and We’ll All Be Merry” There are also neoclassical piano tracks, a couple of jazz piano tracks. The album was recorded at home. Simple sheet music versions of a number of his compositions are free to download from the Music page of his website.
Discover more from Ian Rae and tune in for his next live show
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Words Mark Knight
