Billy Joel

A Long Island pianist and songwriter whose 1977 album The Stranger turned a label's last chance into a multi-million seller, and who went on to fill Madison Square Garden once a month for a decade.

Origin: The Bronx, New York City, United States
Genres: pop rock, soft rock
Labels: Family Productions, Columbia
Also known as: William Martin Joel, The Piano Man

Long Island to Columbia

William Martin Joel was born in the Bronx on 9 May 1949 and grew up in Hicksville, on Long Island. He played in the Echoes and the Hassles, then in a duo called Attila, before making his first solo album, Cold Spring Harbor, in 1971. In April 1972 a live broadcast from the Philadelphia station WMMR made "Captain Jack" the most requested track in the station's history, and Columbia signed him that year. He then spent six months playing a Los Angeles lounge under the name Bill Martin. That stint became Piano Man, the title song of his 1973 Columbia debut, Piano Man. The single reached number 25 on the Hot 100 in 1974 and ended up as his signature song.

His next records did less. Turnstiles (1976) was the first to feature his regular touring band, but it peaked at only number 122 on the Billboard 200, and Columbia was ready to consider dropping him if the following album sold poorly.

The Stranger

Joel wanted to record with the band he toured with: drummer Liberty DeVitto, bassist Doug Stegmeyer and Richie Cannata on saxophone and organ. George Martin was approached to produce but wanted session players, so Joel turned him down and chose Phil Ramone, whom he met at an Italian restaurant near Carnegie Hall. Sessions for The Stranger took three weeks in the summer of 1977, and Columbia released it on 29 September.

The album spent six weeks at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and produced four Top 40 singles. Just the Way You Are won Grammys for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Only the Good Die Young and She's Always a Woman were hits, while Scenes from an Italian Restaurant and Vienna became staples of his concerts. It sold more than ten million copies and passed Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge over Troubled Water as Columbia's best-selling album.

The Ramone years

Ramone produced all seven of Joel's studio albums from 1977 to 1986. 52nd Street (1978) was his first number one album and won the Grammy for Album of the Year. Glass Houses (1980) was a harder-edged record with a cover that shows Joel about to throw a rock through a window. It spent six weeks at number one and gave him his first number one single, "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me". An Innocent Man (1983) was a tribute to the doo-wop and soul he grew up on. Joel said he wrote most of it in about six weeks, and it yielded seven singles, among them "Tell Her About It", "Uptown Girl" and "The Longest Time".

In July 1987 he took his band to Moscow and Leningrad, one of the first Western artists to hold a rock tour in the Soviet Union. "We Didn't Start the Fire" gave him a third Hot 100 number one in 1989. From 1994 he toured with Elton John in the Face to Face shows.

The Garden and after

After River of Dreams in 1993 he largely stopped writing pop songs. He later explained that he knew he could not be as good as he wanted to be, so he stopped. In 2001 he released Fantasies & Delusions, a set of classical piano pieces performed by Hyung-ki Joo. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 by Ray Charles, and the Hall's profile says he gives irrefutable proof that piano is a rock and roll instrument.

In January 2014 he began a monthly residency at Madison Square Garden, for as long as the demand continued. It ended in July 2024 with his 150th lifetime show at the venue, and every show had sold out. The Guardian reviewed his first Wembley Stadium concert in 2016, which he opened by telling the crowd he had nothing new for them. In February 2024 he released "Turn the Lights Back On", co-written with the producer Freddy Wexler, and in July 2025 HBO showed a five-hour, two-part documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes.

Members

Billy Joel vocals, piano, keyboards
Doug Stegmeyer bass (1974-1989)

Records

Piano Man 1973 · Columbia
The first Columbia album, and the one that gave Joel his signature song.
The Stranger 1977 · Columbia
The breakthrough: a three-week session with Joel's own touring band that became Columbia's best-selling album to that date.
52nd Street 1978 · Columbia
The follow-up to The Stranger: a jazzier record, Joel's first number one album, and one of the first CDs.
Glass Houses 1980 · Columbia
Joel's reply to the balladeer label: a harder-edged rock record that opens with breaking glass.
An Innocent Man 1983 · Columbia
A tribute to the doo-wop, soul and Motown Joel heard as a teenager, written in about six weeks.

Songs

Just the Way You Are The Stranger · 1977
The ballad that became Joel's first US Top 10 single and won him two Grammys.
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant The Stranger · 1977
A multi-part story song that Joel has called his favorite of his own, never released as a single.
Only the Good Die Young The Stranger · 1977
A boy tries to talk a Catholic girl into bed, and the radio bans make it a hit.
She's Always a Woman The Stranger · 1977
A fingerpicked folk ballad with the only mellotron Joel ever used.
Piano Man Piano Man · 1973
A barroom waltz about the regulars at a Los Angeles lounge, and the song that ends nearly every Joel show.
Vienna The Stranger · 1977
A B-side that became a favorite: Joel's song about slowing down, drawn from a visit to his father.

Elton John, Paul McCartney, Frankie Valli, Gordon Lightfoot, Stevie Nicks

Where to go next

Official

Billy Joel Official Site Tour dates, music, lyrics, news and photos from the artist.

Reference

Billy Joel, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Hall's profile of its 1999 inductee.
Billy Joel Long biography article covering every era of the career.
The Stranger Background, recording notes, charts and reception for the 1977 album.
52nd Street Article on the 1978 album and its place in the history of the compact disc.
Glass Houses Article on the 1980 album, with the critics' split.
An Innocent Man Article on the 1983 doo-wop tribute and its seven singles.
Phil Ramone Biography of the producer behind seven Joel studio albums.

Writing and criticism

Billy Joel: 10 of the best A Guardian walk through ten songs, with notes on The Stranger and An Innocent Man.
Billy Joel review, Wembley Stadium The Guardian reviews his first Wembley stadium show.
Billy Joel to end Madison Square Garden residency in 2024 The announcement of the end of the residency, with his comments.
Hometown hero Billy Joel to play Madison Square Garden every month The 2013 announcement of the monthly residency.
Billy Joel to return with a new solo song The Guardian on the 2024 single, with Joel's comments on stopping songwriting.
Billy Joel topic page The Guardian's collected news and reviews.

Interviews

Behind a revealing Billy Joel documentary The directors of the HBO documentary on making the film.

Sources

Billy Joel, Wikipedia
Billy Joel: 10 of the best, The Guardian (2015-01-07)
Billy Joel review, Wembley Stadium, The Guardian (2016-09-11)
Billy Joel to end Madison Square Garden residency in 2024, The Guardian (2023-06-02)
Billy Joel, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Behind a revealing Billy Joel documentary, The Guardian (2025-07-17)