LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - October 25, 2016) - Multitalented 16-year-old recording artist and actor, Oliver Richman (www.oliverrichman.com), releases a moving a cappella version of the Tears for Fears 1982 hit, "Mad World," which was also covered by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules for the 2001 "Donnie Darko" soundtrack. Richman's new release is now available on Amazon and iTunes. The new music video can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygb_wNwPZHc.
As a teenager, Richman already has a plethora of powerful recordings under his belt, including the recently released song and video for "Believe" (www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIZ21briWaw) -- a poignant ballad offering a profound expression of hope in response to these increasingly troubled times. The piano-driven track was written by Richman's mother, veteran performer and musical producer Lisa Dawn Miller (www.lisadawnmiller.com), and her songwriting and producing partner, Mark Matson.
Musical talent runs in Richman's DNA; his grandfather was legendary songwriter, Ron Miller, who passed away in 2007. The late Miller wrote numerous Motown hits such as "For Once in My Life," "Touch Me in the Morning," "Place in the Sun," "Yester-me, Yester-you, Yesterday," "Heaven Help Us All," "I've Never Been to Me," "Someday at Christmas" and "If I Could."
Richman released a special EP in 2014 celebrating the 50th Anniversary of "For Once in My Life." Recorded by over 400 major label artists, including music icons Stevie Wonder, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra, "For Once In My Life" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2009.
Also in 2014, Richman continued his success with a beautiful and heartfelt rendition of the Bruno Mars hit "Count on Me," which he arranged and performed as a piano-only ballad. The music video to date has amassed more than 75,000 views on YouTube.
In a story covered by the Huffington Post, Oliver continued in his grandfather's footsteps with his release of Miller's classic, "Heaven Help Us All" in 2015.
Earlier this year, Oliver teamed with his mother Lisa (the daughter of Ron Miller) to pay homage to mothers everywhere with "Today," a ballad that marked the artists' first-ever vocal collaboration. Penned by Lisa Dawn Miller and Mark Matson, the piano and orchestra driven ballad was written as a tribute to Lisa's ailing mother -- composer, Aurora Miller. Lisa was able to sing it for her mother in ICU on Mother's Day before Aurora's unfortunate passing in June.
At just 10 years old, Oliver was personally invited by Stevie Wonder to share the stage and sing "One Little Christmas Tree" at the Nokia Theatre, where the young singer received a standing ovation from more than 7,500 people. The song, written by Ron Miller, was originally recorded by Wonder in 1967 for his one and only Christmas album, "Someday at Christmas" (also written by Miller). The same year, Richman was featured on Byron Allen's "Young Icons," a national TV show about young people changing the world.
Richman's recording and video release (at 9 years old) of "Defying Gravity" from "Wicked," went viral. He also first appeared in "Sandy Hackett's Rat Pack Show" as "Young Frank Sinatra" at age 10.
Richman is an Honors student in Los Angeles and has won multiple awards representing his school in both the DTASC Drama and Shakespeare Festival competitions. He created a clever and unique rap song, "Diagramming Club," (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up0cimFsHT8) written by Miller and Matson, and shot a video about sentence diagramming to invite students to participate in the "Grammar Revolution." Recently, he created a new rap about Alexander Hamilton's BEFAT Economic Plan for his AP History class: https://soundcloud.com/hackettmiller/oliver-richman-hamiltons-befat-economic-plan-for-apush.
In the past year, Richman also released "Hamlet the Musical," a video for his award-winning performance that pays tribute to the late Glenn Frey by setting the Eagles' music to Shakespeare in a five-minute scene from "Hamlet." The work is performed a cappella, with fellow students Carley Heskett, Chris Kim and Kayvan Shaikhbahai.
For the latest on Richman, visit www.oliverrichman.com and follow him on Facebook (www.facebook.com/oliverrichman/?fref=ts), Twitter (@OliverRichman1) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/channel/UCV4MZJ9nyozdmKigSrCz9jQ).
Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/10/24/11G119310/Images/mad_world_cover_art_FINAL-da6b4b37bb1b8c349b4968dd85422463.jpg
Embedded Video Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygb_wNwPZHc
Contact Information:
Chrissy Sutphin
703-505-0207
