Billy Joel Billy Joel is one of the most successful musicians of all time. Four of his albums have received septuple platinum status, and Joel is the sixth best selling recording artist in America. He also has six Grammy awards to his name. A singer, songwriter, and pianist, Joel has also found fame with voice acting work, and is well known as a philanthropist. William Martin 'Bill' Joel was born on May 9, 1949, in the Bronx, New York. His family subsequently moved to Hicksville, Long Island, where he spent his formative years. Joel’s father, Howard, was a Holocaust survivor who returned to Eastern Europe after divorcing his mother Rosalind Nyman. Nyman struggled to raise her two sons alone, though she encouraged both to develop their music talents, and Alexander Joel is now a successful classical pianist and conductor. Billy Joel was bullied at school because he preferred classical piano to sports, so he took up boxing to learn how to defend himself, but abandoned it after getting his nose broken. At the age of fourteen he formed his first band, The Echoes (later to become The Lost Souls) in an attempt to impress girls.
Although he was considered a good student, Joel failed to graduate from high school due to too many absences, as he took on a lot of music-related jobs in order to help support his family. His high school eventually waived the objection and allowed him to graduate, in recognition of his career success, twenty-five years later. By this time he had already been awarded several honorary doctorates. In 1968, Joel joined Long Island band The Hassles, who enjoyed local popularity and released two albums. Joel and Hassles drummer Jon Small went on to form heavy metal band Attila and released another album, but Joel still had to supplement his income by working as a music journalist and writing jingles for commercials. When his first solo album, Cold Spring Harbour, was released with an error, and he found himself mired in legal difficulties, Joel became severely depressed and drank a bottle of furniture polish. He was subsequently admitted to a psychiatric hospital. His girlfriend, Elizabeth Weber, then persuaded him to move to Los Angeles, where they were married and he performed under the name Bill Martin. Joel continued to experience mental health problems and struggled with alcoholism. Despite these difficult times, he has been sober for almost a year, following treatment at the Betty Ford clinic. Joel has been involved in several car crashes, but thankfully for the music world, has survived each of them.
In 1973 Joel released the solo album, Piano Man, which shot to gold status. This was the first of a string of massively successful records, which would see him become one of the biggest stars of the 70s and 80s. During this time Joel collaborated with artists such as Ray Charles, Steve Winwood, and Cyndi Lauper. He self-financed a tour of Moscow and Leningrad, becoming the first American rock musician to play there since the dawn of the Cold War. Joel was praised for his voice acting work in Oliver & Company, and wrote highly successful theme tunes for Ruthless People, with Bette Midler and Danny DeVito, and the TV hit Moonlighting, with Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd. After his first marriage ended, Joel married supermodel Christie Brinkley, and the couple had a daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, who has since become a successful singer and pianist in her own right. After that marriage ended, Alexa was maid of honor at Joel's marriage to celebrity chef Katie Lee, thirty-two years his junior. He is now in semi-retirement, still touring from time to time, and running a boat-building business. Joel has been a long-term supporter of charitable causes, including Save the Music and the Make a Wish foundation. He was touring Japan when the Kobe earthquake struck and he donated the proceeds of his concerts to disaster relief. Beyond all the recognition Joel has received from his fans, he has also gained personal commendations from President Bill Clinton. YUDDY |
