Jean-Philippe Rio-Py, known to the world as RIOPY, is a pianist and multi-instrumentalist composer with over a billion streams, sold-out concerts across continents, collaborations with the likes of Lana Del Rey, and a catalogue of albums that have topped the classical charts. But beneath the numbers lies something far more human: a story of resilience, survival, and a man who has discovered sound as a vessel for healing. 2026 marks the release of RIOPY’s fifth album Be Love - an appeal born out of the artist’s awe-inspiring journey of rediscovery and defiance, and a refusal to let fear or illness silence him. “It’s called Be Love because that’s the only thing that matters. Be love. And if we all love, then everything is fine,” he says simply. Be Love will see RIOPY sing for the very first time on a release. The composer-instrumentalist has utilised numerous ways to produce sound, just never his own voice. “I had this compulsion, this need to use my voice, because I think it’s one of the biggest fears I’ve had through my life. But it’s something I really enjoy doing.” He shares, “I started just whispering… it’s not a new me, it’s just an expansion of what I do. It felt right, because I needed to do this.”