William Martin "Billy" Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and one of the most successful recording artists of his generation. Raised in Hicksville, Long Island, New York, Joel received classical piano training as a child but developed an early interest in rock and popular music. That combination of formal musicianship and accessible songwriting became central to his career.
As a teenager, Joel performed with local groups including the Echoes, later known as the Lost Souls. He joined the Hassles in the late 1960s and recorded two albums with the band before forming Attila, a short-lived heavy metal duo with drummer Jon Small. Neither project brought commercial success, but both gave Joel experience as a working musician and helped shape his forceful piano style.
Joel began his solo career with Cold Spring Harbor in 1971. The album attracted limited attention, and a difficult recording contract left him frustrated. During a period in California, he worked as a lounge pianist while performing under the name Bill Martin. His situation changed after a live recording of "Captain Jack" received radio exposure in Philadelphia. The song helped Joel secure a new deal with Columbia Records and led to Piano Man in 1973.
The title song, based on Joel's experiences playing in bars, became his signature recording and supplied the nickname by which he has often been known. His next releases, including Streetlife Serenade and Turnstiles, expanded his range while retaining his focus on character-driven songs and carefully arranged piano pop. Turnstiles also marked a stronger return to New York-centered themes, a quality that would remain important throughout his work.
Joel reached a new level of commercial and artistic success with The Stranger in 1977. Produced by Phil Ramone, the album balanced intimate ballads such as "Just the Way You Are" and "She's Always a Woman" with sharper portraits of ambition, alienation, and urban life. Its success established Joel as a major album artist. He followed it with 52nd Street, which won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and Glass Houses, a harder-edged record that included "You May Be Right" and "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me."
During the 1980s, Joel moved between styles with unusual ease. The Nylon Curtain addressed working-class uncertainty and American identity, while An Innocent Man paid tribute to the vocal groups and early pop singers who had influenced him. The Bridge and Storm Front continued his commercial run, producing songs such as "A Matter of Trust," "We Didn't Start the Fire," and "I Didn't Start the Fire." His 1993 album River of Dreams became his last traditional pop studio album for many years and yielded the title track and "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)."
Joel later explored his classical background on Fantasies & Delusions, released in 2001 and performed by pianist Richard Joo. Although he largely stopped releasing new pop albums, his concert career remained substantial. In 2014, he began a monthly residency at Madison Square Garden, where he became the venue's first music franchise. The residency concluded with his 150th lifetime performance there on July 25, 2024.
Joel returned to new pop songwriting with "Turn the Lights Back On," released on February 1, 2024. The single was his first new song in decades and revisited his familiar themes of regret, reconciliation, and the passage of time. His career has been recognized with six Grammy Awards, induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, the Kennedy Center Honors, and the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Through his combination of melodic craft, piano-centered arrangements, and sharply observed storytelling, Billy Joel has remained a defining figure in American popular music.