billy joel
Superstar pop singer/songwriter Billy Joel has thus far never acted in a feature film. [1]
Billy Joel released a double album compilation, Greatest Hits, Vols. [2]
Owner of more hit singles than there are strip malls in his native Long Island, N.Y., Billy Joel has fashioned the quintessential pop career from unparalleled songcraft, a penchant for genre-bouncing from one album to the next, and over-the-top stage performances. [3]
Joel was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. [1]
Born May 9, 1949, William Joseph Martin Joel was a belligerent hood during his youth. [2]
His 1977 album The Stranger was packed with hit singles, including Movin’ Out, Just the Way You Are and Only the Good Die Young, and was perhaps the height of his fame. [1]
In Attila, Joel played his organ through a variety of effects pedals, creating a heavy psychedelic hard-rock album completely without guitars. [2]
Billy Joel’s first major album, Piano Man, was released in 1974. [1]
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, according to the RIAA. [4]
The album spawned the hit singles “My Life”, “Big Shot,” and “Honesty” and won the Grammy award for Album of the Year in 1980. [2]
Having sold more than 100 million records over the course of a career spanning more than 40 years, Billy Joel ranks as one of most popular recording artists and respected entertainers in the world. [5]
… Ripp mastered and released the album at the wrong speed, resulting in Joel’s voice sounding a semitone too high. [4]
In the wake of that run, his major concert appearances have mostly been co-headlining affairs with fellow singer/pianist Elton John. [6]
When the spirit of the British invasion blew across the country in the early sixties, Joel became convinced that he too, could achieve coolness by performing in a band; suddenly, the pansy piano lessons his father and mother made him take as a youngster seemed pardonable. [2]
Expansive singles like New York State of Mind (1976) and Scenes From an Italian Restaurant (1977) cemented Joel’s position as a blue-collar New York troubadour and helped make him one of the decade’s most popular touring acts. [1]
Sources:
[1] Billy Joel: Biography from Answers.com - Answers.com: Wiki Q&A …
[2] Billy Joel - - _Classic Bands - classicbands.com_
[3] Billy Joel : Rhapsody
[4] Billy Joel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[5] Billy Joel | Free Music, Tour Dates, Photos, Videos
[6] Billy Joel