Until the age of 14, James had no formal academic musical education or dedicated mentoring. Aged 18 he stopped playing the piano entirely for a decade. Since returning to the piano, he has released seven albums, all of which have topped the iTunes classical charts.
He has performed in some of the most prestigious venues around the globe, including London’s Roundhouse, The Royal Albert Hall, Teatro Real Madrid, Palau de la Música Barcelona, El Liceu, Musikverein Vienna, Koerner Hall Toronto and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. He has also taken part in major music and book festivals in Melbourne, Hong Kong, Edinburgh, Chicago, Medellìn, Cartagena, Buenos Aires. He is one of the few classical artists to ever perform at outdoor festivals such as Latitude and Sonar.
In addition to contributing editorial content for UK and Spanish newspapers and presenting radio documentaries and programs for BBC Radio 3 and Cadena SER in Spain, James has also appeared in and presented various television programs for the BBC, Channel 4, Sky Arts and La Sexta.
His Sunday Times and international bestselling memoir, Instrumental, published by Canongate, is a brutally honest, moving and compelling story that was almost banned until the UK Supreme Court unanimously overthrew an injunction in May 2015.
His second book, How to Play the Piano, promising to give anyone the tools they need in order to play a Bach prelude was published by Quercus Books in 2016 to great acclaim. Both of these books were published in Spain by Blackie Books and became No. 1 bestsellers.
In 2018 James launched his new album and his third book, Fire On All Sides. The book is an international bestseller and the new album went straight to the top of the classical charts.
In October 2019, Hachette Wren & Hook published Jame’s 4th book entitled James’s Rhodes PLAYLIST. James is now published in over 14 languages across the globe
His 5th book, Made in Spain was published in Spanish, in 2021, by Plan B -Penguin Random House.
In the same year he worked closely with Save the Children Spain to bring about a new child protection law in Spain, which came into effect in early 2021. The law is referred to La Rhodes Ley in recognition to James’s persistent campaigning and personal dedication in implementing the new law.
Today, James lives in Madrid, devoting much of his time to his newfound love to photography. He contributes regularly to the Spanish media and hosts his own radio show and Podcast, En Clave de Rhodes on Cadena Ser. In the last few years he has been the recipient of several awards, including the Fair Saturday Award, part of the BKK Bilbao Kultura Social Forum. He received the award at the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum on September 25th of 2023, for social impact in promoting harmony, empowerment and inspiration.
