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Billy Joel Background information Birth name William Martin Joel[1] Born (1949-05-09) May 9, 1949 (age65) The Bronx, New York, U.S. Origin Hicksville, New York, U.S. Genres Rock, rock and roll, soft rock, pop, classical[2] Occupation(s) singer-songwriter Instruments Vocals, piano, organ, keyboards, guitar, harmonica, accordion Years active 1965present Labels Columbia, FamilyProductions, SonyClassical Associated acts The Echoes, TheHassles, Attila, EltonJohn, CyndiLauper, Billy Joel Band, Paul McCartney, Ray Charles Website http://www.billyjoel.com Notable instruments Steinway piano[3]

William Martin "Billy" Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American pianist, singer-songwriter, and composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States.[4] His compilation album Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2 is the third best-selling album in the United States by discs shipped.[5]

Joel had Top 40 hits in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, achieving 33 Top 40 hits in the United States, all of which he wrote himself. He is also a six-time Grammy Award winner who has been nominated for 23 Grammy Awards throughout his career. He has sold more than 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time.[6]

Joel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1992), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1999), and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame (2006). In 2001, Joel received the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2013, Joel received the Kennedy Center Honors, the nation's highest honor for influencing American culture through the arts. Except for the 2007 songs "All My Life" and "Christmas in Fallujah", Joel stopped writing and releasing pop/rock material after 1993's River of Dreams. However, he continues to tour, and he plays songs from all eras of his solo career in his concerts.

Joel was born in the Bronx on May 9, 1949[1][7] and raised in the suburb of Hicksville, New York.[8]

Billy's father, Howard (born Helmuth) Joel, a classical pianist, was born in Germany, the son of a Jewish merchant and manufacturer, Karl Amson Joel. Howard emigrated to Switzerland and later to the United States (via Cuba, as immigration quotas for German Jews prevented direct immigration at the time) to escape the Nazi regime.[8] Joel's mother, Rosalind, was born in England to Jewish parents, Philip and Rebecca Nyman. Rosalind and Howard Joel divorced in 1957. Howard Joel moved to Vienna. Billy Joel has a sister, Judith, and a half-brother, Alexander Joel, a classical conductor in Europe, currently chief musical director of the Staatstheater Braunschweig.[9]

Billy reluctantly began piano lessons at an early age, at his mother's insistence, his teachers including the noted American pianist Morton Estrin[10] and musician Timothy Ford; As a teenager, Joel took up boxing so he could defend himself.[11] He boxed successfully on the amateur Golden Gloves circuit for a short time, winning twenty-two bouts, but abandoned the sport shortly after his nose was broken in his twenty-fourth boxing match.[12]

Joel attended Hicksville High School until 1967, but he did not graduate with his class. He had been playing at a piano bar to help his mother make ends meet, which interfered with his attendance; specifically, he missed a crucial English exam, as he had been playing a late-night gig at a piano bar the evening before.[13] Though Joel was a comparatively strong student, at the end of his senior year, he did not have enough credits to graduate. Rather than attend summer school to earn his diploma, Joel decided to begin a career in music: "I told them, 'To hell with it. If I'm not going to Columbia University, I'm going to Columbia Records, and you don't need a high school diploma over there'."[14] Joel eventually signed with Columbia. In 1992, he submitted essays to the school board and was awarded his diploma at Hicksville High's annual graduation ceremony, 25 years after leaving.[15]

After seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, Joel decided to pursue a career in music. In an interview he said of the group's impact, "That one performance changed my life ... Up to that moment I'd never considered playing rock as a career. And when I saw four guys who didn't look like they'd come out of the Hollywood star mill, who played their own songs and instruments, and especially because you could see this look in John Lennon's face -- and he looked like he was always saying: 'F--- you!' -- I said: 'I know these guys, I can relate to these guys, I am these guys.' This is what I'm going to do -- play in a rock band'."[16]

Joel founded the Echoes, a group that specialized in British Invasion covers. When the Echoes became popular in New York, Joel left high school to become a professional musician.[17] The Echoes began recording in 1965; Joel was originally hired by Snuff Garret as a pianist for Bobby Vee, however he was fired before doing any records or shows because he refused to wear the matching jackets the band was to wear.[citation needed] Joel (then 16) also played piano on several records released through Kama Sutra Productions and on recordings produced by Shadow Morton. Joel played on a demo version of Leader of the Pack, which would become a major hit for the Shangri-Las.[18]

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