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Billy Joel
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Born William Martin Joel, May
9, 1949 in the Bronx, NY
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American pianist, singersongwriter, and composer
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Music falls into many genres;
rock, pop, piano rock, soft
rock, and classical
Accomplishments
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Sixth best-selling recording artist in US
Third best-selling solo artist in the US and 9th most successful solo
artist of all time
More than 100 million albums sold worldwide
2 diamond albums, 2 platinum albums, 9 multi-platinum albums,
one gold album, and 4 albums that topped the Billboard 200
chart
33 Top-40 hits
5 Grammy Awards and 24 Grammy Nominations
Performed at the 12-12-12 concert, a benefit for hurricane Sandy
victims
Accomplishment (cont.)
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Performed ‘Face to Face’
concert tours with Sir Elton
John for sixteen years
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Inducted into Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall
of Fame, and the Long Island
Music Hall of Fame
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Second most successful male
solo artist through late 70’s
and 80’s- second to Elvis
Early Life
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Billy’s father was a pianist, mother sang; both parents performed
together in college and continued to perform until his father was
drafted into the army in 1943
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Fascinated by piano, and began picking out Mozart by ear by
age 4
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Began writing music at age 7, making up parts of songs to trick his
mother into thinking he was practicing for piano lessons
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Was in the Parkway Green Gang in junior high and became an
amateur boxer in high school
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Joined a garage band with his neighbor in his early teens as a
keyboardist
Early Life (cont.)
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Billy’s band played covers of songs at school dances and changed their
name several times.
When they changed their name to The Lost Souls, they also began
performing original material; Billy was asked to write songs because he
read so much
The band signed with Mercury Records but the contract failed and music
was never released
Billy left the Lost Souls in 1967 to join the Hassles, with whom he released
four singles and two albums, all of which failed. In 1969 he left the band to
form a duo with John Small (Hassles drummer) which disbanded the
following October after Billy had an affair with John’s wife, Elizabeth (songs
‘She’s Got A Way and ‘She’s Always A Woman’ were written about her)
He had decided to quit, his music career was not going anywhere, but his
manager convinced him to wait one more month to find a record dealwhich he did. He signed with Artie Ripp’s Family Productions and his first
solo album, Cold Spring Harbor, was released in 1971.
Clips
• Vienna- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZdiXvDU4P0
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For The Longest Time- barbershop style!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-4lSWom9bY
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Invention in C Minor; classical piano solohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMnwyAiy3W8
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Still Rock and Roll To Me- mixes funk (saxophone solo) as
well as punk (very simple guitar and drum backing)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58xOeLcDK8U
Fun Facts
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He is notorious for being extremely sensitive to criticism and
defensive of his songs
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He hates not having privacy and strongly prefers that his
personal life remain private
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He had a book deal with HarperCollins in 2011 but dropped
it because they were pushing him to talk only about the
‘sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll’ of his past
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Is also a co-founder of Long Island Boat Company and
owns a retro-style motorcycle shop.
Influence and Inspiration
• Ray Charles
• John Lennon, the
Beatles
• James Brown
• Beethoven
Where is he now?
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Has not released an album
since 1993
Had a double hip
replacement in 2011 from
doing stunts during concerts
Lives in Sag Harbor village
with his girlfriend and two
pugs
Stopped touring with Elton
John in 2010, and most
recent concert was the
Sandy relief show in 2012
References
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"Billy Joel on Not Working and Not Giving Up Drinking." Interview by Andrew
Goldman. NYTimes.com. N.p., 24 May 2013. Web. 9 July 2013.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/magazine/billy-joel-on-not-workingand-not-giving-up-drinking.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&>.
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Bordowitz, Hank. Billy Joel: The Life and Times of an Angry Young Man.
Broadway, NY: Billboard, 2005. Print.
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"Billy Joel." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 08 Feb. 2013. Web. 20 July
2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Joel>.