History Music / BillyJoel

William Martin "Billy" Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and classical composer. Originally from the Bronx, New York, he is the third-best-selling solo artist in the United States, with 33 Top 40 hits and six Grammy Awards to his name. As his 1973 breakout hit "Piano Man" implies, he is a skilled piano player, and many of his most famous songs have strong keyboard elements.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Rarely (if ever) goes beyond 4. "We Didn't Start the Fire" would be one of the few songs bordering on a 5, with its fast guitar-, bass- and drums-driven instrumental backdrop, rapid-fire lyric delivery and some harsher vocals just before every chorus. Joel himself described the song as a "novelty song", though.
** "Close to the Borderline" would classify as a definite 5 and contains one of the few guitar solos in a Billy Joel song.

* TemptingFate: In "Modern Woman", the protagonist asks, "And after 1986, what else could be new?" three years before the start of TheGreatPoliticsMessUp. Then Billy penned "We Didn't Start the Fire" which, by his own description, was pretty much a chronicle of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar (and included the line, "What else do I have to say?", albeit not meant literally). The imminent political upheavals in 1989 made Billy want to hurry up and release ''Storm Front'' (the album that contained "We Didn't Start the Fire") ASAP.

* SocietyMarchesOn: "Piano Man", written and recorded in the early 1970s in Los Angeles and released in 1973 has lyrics about smoking in bars and both the original 1973 video and the 1985 version features many scenes of smoking. California banned smoking in public bars in 1995.

* HotBlooded: In his younger days. He had a reputation of responding to negative reviews by tearing up copies of the reviewer's newspaper or magazine. He would get into arguments with musicians, and many of his songs tended to have {{angst}}y or confrontational lyrics. It's surprising to see Joel in modern times as a kind yet snarky CoolOldGuy.

* GenreRoulette: He's gone from pop to Southwestern funk to soul to Music/AaronCopland-like ballads to a ''classical music'' album in a late Romantic style somewhat reminiscent of Claude Debussy or Charles Gounod. He even emulated Music/TheBeatles -- Music/JohnLennon in particular -- in the B side of the ''Nylon Curtain'' album. He also stated that "We Didn't Start the Fire" [[WhatCouldHaveBeen was going to be a]] ''[[WhatCouldHaveBeen rap]]'' [[WhatCouldHaveBeen song]].

* GenreRoulette: He's gone from pop to Southwestern funk to soul to Music/AaronCopland-like ballads to a ''classical music'' album in a late Romantic style somewhat reminiscent of Claude Debussy or Charles Gounod. He even emulated Music/TheBeatles -- Music/JohnLennon in particular -- in the B side of the ''Nylon Curtain'' album. He also stated that "We Didn't Start the Fire" was going to be a ''rap'' song, but thought better of it.

** Billy [[http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/entertainment/more-entertainment-stories/572960 called out]] a critic who had been polite when they met, yet went on to bash the artist's work in his article, believing it would not actually be read by Joel. Billy still invited the critic to attend his show, yet suggested he wear a hockey mask for his own protection.

** The cover of the 1991 "Shameless" single, when it was re-released as a single after being CoveredUp by Music/GarthBrooks, is a letter from Columbia Records congratulating Joel on his first country hit as a songwriter.

** "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me" takes a jab at how music critics try to tell people who's worth listening to: "There's a new band in town, but you can't get the sound from a story in a magazine aimed at your average teen." Soon afterwards, ''Rolling Stone'' readers, [[CreatorWorship believing that the lyric was bashing their favorite critics]], voted it "the worst song about rock 'n roll ever".

* ''[[Music/FiftySecondStreet 52nd Street]]'' (1978)

* ''52nd Street'' (1978)

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: In "The Ballad of Billy the Kid", Billy the Kid is hanged. In real life, he was gunned down by a sheriff.

* FamousLastWords: "Famous Last Words". Bonus points for being the last song on his last album that had lyrics (he did release an instrumental album a few years later)

Joel has mostly retired from pop songwriting and recording, but he still tours occasionally, sometimes [[DreamTeam with close friend]] Music/EltonJohn. He is currently the "artist-in-residence" at Madison Square Garden.

I walked through Bedford Stuy alone,\\
Even rode my motorcycle in the rain.''[[note]]Any cyclist will tell you this is dangerous, however.[[/note]]

** In a sense, his irritation with having been compared with fellow piano-based singer-songwriter (and future touring partner) Music/EltonJohn in TheSeventies may also count, as he felt he had his own sound and style, and record executives tried to push him towards an Elton-like sound early in his career. Early, unsuccessful attempts to record ''Turnstiles'' saw Columbia Records set him up to record with Elton's "classic" band (Davey Johnstone, Dee Murray, and Nigel Olsson). [[{{Irony}} Then he did a concert with Elton in Yankee Stadium in 1989.]]

* BrieferThanTheyThink: Joel has been in the music business for over 40 years, yet has produced only 12 studio albums as a solo artist, although they were in the span of 15 years.
* BrutalHonesty[=/=]TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: "Big Shot", "Pressure" and "Everybody Loves You Now".

** Creator/RichardPryor, Joe Piscopo and Christie Brinkley make appearances in the video for "Keeping the Faith." Christie also cameos in "Uptown Girl."

* CoolShades: He wears a pair in the music video for ''We Didn't Start The Fire'', in addition his character from the movie ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' Dodger wears a pair as well during the song ''Why Should I Worry''.

** ''Last Play at Shea'', which used his July 16th and 18th, 2008 concerts at [[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams the New York Mets' Shea Stadium]], the last ones ever performed there before the building was demolished, as a launchpad for covering his career, the history of American suburbia on Long Island and of the Mets.
** There are also ''The Bridge to Russia'' and ''A Matter of Trust'', both TV documentaries about his historic tour in the USSR, released decades apart.
* DyingTown: "Allentown".

-->'''Billy Joel:''' "Why is there a line about being on a Greyhound in ''New York State of Mind''? Because I was literally riding on a bus moving back to New York City when I was writing it."

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Rarely (if ever) goes beyond 4. ''We Didn't Start the Fire'' would be one of the few songs bordering on a 5, with its fast guitar-, bass- and drums-driven instrumental backdrop, rapid-fire lyric delivery and some harsher vocals just before every chorus. Joel himself described the song as a "novelty song" though.
** "Close to the Borderline" would classify as a definite 5, and contains one of the few guitar solos in a Billy Joel song.

** The entire reason behind "We Didn't Start the Fire". According to Joel, he was tired of younger people talking about how what a mess the present was, and how idyllic it was in the 50's and 60's, and his having to mention, "Well, this happened and that happened..."
** Averted in "The Great Suburban Showdown", in which he points out the mild hypocrisy of family reunions, and how some family members desperately cling to the past.

** During a live performance in 2008 of "She's Always A Woman", a man in the audience proposed to his girlfriend. Billy noticed this and congratulated the couple, before jokingly adding [[SelfDeprecation "Get a prenup!"]]. At the time, Billy's own marriage was starting to fall apart and he realised that, in a stadium full of people, he was the only one not laughing at the joke.
* SeductionLyric: “Only the Good Die Young” is a famous (or notorious) example. (''Come out Virginia, Don't make me wait''.) Its cynicism about conventional morality (''You Catholic Girls start much too late, But sooner or later it comes down to fate'') made it somewhat controversial when it was first released.

* Attila, an early 1970s PsychedelicRock album, whose first and only album is often called [[BileFascination "one of the worst albums ever recorded"]].

** "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me" takes a jab at how music critics try to tell people who's worth listening to: "There's a new band in town, but you can't get the sound from a story in a magazine aimed at your average teen." [[DudeNotFunny Soon afterwards, a Rolling Stone poll voted it "the worst song about rock and roll ever."]]
** ''Glass Houses,'' both in its title and album art depicting Billy literally about to throw a rock at a glass house, were his way of "casting the first stone" (ie, calling out the critics before they even listened to the album to judge it).

** "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me" takes a jab at how music critics try to tell people who's worth listening to: "There's a new band in town, but you can't get the sound from a story in a magazine aimed at your average teen." Soon afterwards, a Rolling Stone poll voted it "the worst song about rock and roll ever."

* DeadAir: Billy Joel invoked a live-performance version of this trope during the 1994 Grammy Award Show. The director of the show cut short Frank Sinatra's acceptance speech for receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, and this pissed Joel off to the point that he [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI1OG4OFAPY?t=155 stopped his performance of "The River of Dreams" in the middle.]] He sat there, grinning at the audience, while pretending to check his watch, and quipped, "Valuable advertising time going by." After wasting around 30 seconds, he resumed playing the song.

--> ''Rock and roller cola wars\\

--> ''I was stranded in the combat zone,''
--> ''I walked through Bedford Stuy alone,''
--> ''Even rode my motorcycle in the rain.''[[note]]Any cyclist will tell you this is dangerous, however.[[/note]]

--> ''In Hell there's a big [[HellHotel hotel]]''
--> ''Where the bar just closed and the windows never open.''
--> ''No phone, so you can't call home,''
--> ''[[FirstWorldProblems And the TV works, but the clicker is broken.]]''
* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: The song "Don't Ask Me Why" inexplicably drops: "Parlez-vous français?" ("Do you speak French?"). The purpose is that the target thinks they're sophisticated because they speak it.
---> Yesterday you were an only child
---> Now your ghosts have gone away
---> Oh, you can kill them in the classic style
---> Now you parlez-vous français.

* BigWordShout: In "All For Leyna":
-->So I wait in the dark,
-->Listening for her
-->Instead of my old man saying,
-->STOP! kidding yourself,
-->Wasting your time.

* CallAndResponseSong: "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me."

* ChildrenAreInnocent: "Leningrad". The general meaning is that ''all'' children are innocent, and all of them feel pain from conflict, no matter which side they're on.

* GratuitousFrench: "C'Etait Toi" has an entire section sung only in French.

* NotSoDifferent: "Leningrad", where he details his friendship between himself and a Russian clown he met while touring the Soviet Union who was born the same year as him (1949). (The song was written during the Cold War.)
* ObsessionSong: "All For Leyna". The narrator has a one night stand with the eponymous woman, and declares:
-->''I don't wanna eat, I don't wanna sleep, I only want Leyna one more time''.

* AStormIsComing: The opening line of the chorus to "Storm Front" is "There's a storm front coming".

* {{Tuckerization}}: "The Downeaster Alexa", featuring a sailboat named after his daughter.

* ''Storm Front'' (1989)

* ''Glass Houses'' (1980)

* NightmareFuel: The video "Pressure" qualifies as this.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: More like past the censors. Somehow rear male nudity got past the MTV censors for "Allentown".

* ''An Innocent Man'' (1983)

* SignatureSong: Definitely "Piano Man". Some may consider it "We Didn't Start the Fire". If not for "Piano Man", there are many other songs that could serve this trope as well, including "Uptown Girl" and "Movin' Out".