Billy Joel

Billy Joel

Billy Joel is an American singer-songwriter and pianist from the Bronx, New York City, and is associated with classic rock, piano rock, pop rock, pop and rock. He is known by the nickname “Piano Man”, taken from his 1973 song of that name. He begins learning piano in childhood after growing up on Long Island in the Levittown section of Hicksville, and later leaves high school to pursue music.

Career beginnings and early bands

Before establishing himself as a solo artist, Joel performs in the bands The Lost Souls, the Hassles and Attila. He signs with Family Productions and releases his first solo album, Cold Spring Harbor, in 1971. A live radio performance of “Captain Jack” attracts attention in Philadelphia and leads to a contract with Columbia Records, where he issues Piano Man in 1973.

Solo albums and best-known songs

Joel releases 12 studio albums in pop and rock between 1971 and 1993, followed by the classical album Fantasies & Delusions in 2001. After Streetlife Serenade (1974) and Turnstiles (1976), his commercial and critical breakthrough comes with The Stranger (1977), which sells more than 10 million copies. The album includes “Just the Way You Are”, “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)”, “Only the Good Die Young” and “She’s Always a Woman”, and he also performs it regularly for songs such as “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” and “Vienna”.

52nd Street (1978) reaches number one on the Billboard 200. Glass Houses (1980) takes a more rock-oriented approach and includes “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”, which reaches number one on the Billboard Hot 100, along with “You May Be Right”, “Don’t Ask Me Why” and “Sometimes a Fantasy”. The Nylon Curtain (1982) places more emphasis on detailed lyrical and melodic writing, while An Innocent Man (1983) draws on 1950s styles such as rhythm and blues and doo-wop and features “Tell Her About It”, “Uptown Girl” and “The Longest Time”.

He later releases The Bridge (1986), Storm Front (1989) and River of Dreams (1993). After that, he largely stops issuing pop or rock studio albums, though he returns in 2001 with the classical recording Fantasies & Delusions, composed by Joel and performed by pianist Richard Hyung-ki Joo. He also returns with the single “Turn the Lights Back On”.

Other work and performance career

Joel provides voice acting and the song “Why Should I Worry?” for the animated film Oliver & Company. He also writes music for films including Easy Money, Ruthless People, A League of Their Own and Honeymoon in Vegas. His live career remains extensive, and he performs internationally, including a concert tour in the Soviet Union in 1987.

Recognition and commercial success

Joel’s recordings sell more than 160 million copies worldwide, placing him among the best-selling recording artists and among the highest-selling solo artists in the United States. He records 33 Top 40 singles in the United States, including three number ones: “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”, “Tell Her About It” and “We Didn’t Start the Fire”. He receives 23 Grammy Award nominations and wins six, including Album of the Year for 52nd Street.

He is inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2006. He also receives the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001 and is honoured by the Kennedy Center Honors in 2013.