- Joel was once a successful Long Island boxer, winning 22 out of 24 fights. He had taken boxing lessons because he was frequently beaten up by neighborhood bullies. He left his boxing career and went into music when his nose was broken in his 24th fight.
- Alexa Ray Joel, Billy Joel's daughter with Christie Brinkley, was named after piano legend Ray Charles.
- One of the very few artists to have top ten hits in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
- Classically-trained pianist.
- He appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "We Are the World".
- He played piano on The Shangri-Las' hit single, "Leader of the Pack" (1965). He was 16 years old at the time.
- His album "52nd Street" (1978) was the first album to be released on compact disc in 1982.
- His song "Just the Way You Are" (1977) is one of the most covered and radio-played songs of all-time.
- Called "Joe" by Christie Brinkley because, when she first met him, she was not sure whether Billy Joel was just his first name and she decided that he looked like he could be a Joe.
- His album "The Stranger" (1977) was the most successful album in Columbia Records history at the time. Because of bad management, he only made $3,000 from the album.
- Attempted to commit suicide in 1970 by drinking furniture polish.
- Son of Rosalynd Nyman, born in England to an agnostic Jewish family, and Howard Joel, a Jewish Holocaust survivor from Germany, whose family owned the fourth largest mail order company in Germany before dispossessed by the Nazis. After his divorce, Howard returned to Europe and married again. Billy's half-brother is the famous concert pianist Alexander Joel.
- Seven consecutive albums have made the Top 40.
- Inducted into the American Songwriters Hall of Fame (1992) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1999).
- First gig he received with playing his piano was when he was age 15 to play at a piano bar close to his neighborhood. He loved this so much that he quit high school at age 17 to pursue a full fledged music career. Ironically, he worked at a piano bar later in his music career, out in Los Angeles with the name Bill Martin, trying to make ends meet before he released "Piano Man".
- He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on September 20, 2004.
- He did all the lead and backing vocals on "The Longest Time" himself.
- He has been open about his struggles with Depression.
- Writes all of his songs single-handedly.
- Billy went by the name Bill Martin when he played the Executive Room in Los Angeles while running from his contract after the failure of Cold Spring Harbor.
- Some of his countless hits are "Piano Man" (1973), "She's Always a Woman" (1978), "My Life" (1979), "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" (1980, first US #1) "Allentown" (1982), "Uptown Girl" (1983, first UK #1), "Tell Her About It" (1983, US #1), "The Longest Time" (1983), "We Didn't Start the Fire" (1989), "Leningrad" (1989), "The Rivers of Dreams" (1993) and "All About Soul" (1993).
- In 2014 started a residency at Madison Square Garden where he would play one show a month indefinitely. As of March 2018, every single appearance has been sold out. A banner has been hung in his honor.
- Family Records, the first label that Joel signed with back in the early 1970s, had a lifetime clause in their contract with Joel. This clause came back to haunt him when he signed with major label Columbia Records a few years later. Up until the end of the 1980s, every Joel album sold by Columbia, 25 cents would be paid to Family as a royalty for each album sold. Also, Columbia had to put the Family name, logo, and copyright on every Joel album they produced.
- Inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame on October 15, 2006.
- With 77.5 million units sold in the United States to date, he is the third highest selling solo artist of all time after Garth Brooks and Elvis Presley.
- On November 24, 2010, he underwent double hip surgery in a Long Island, New York hospital to treat a congenital hip ailment.
- His and Twyla Tharp's hit musical "Movin' Out" received 10 Tony Award nominations for the 2003 Tony Awards including: Best New Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography, and Best Orchestrations. Out of the 10 nominations "Movin' Out" received two Tony Awards, one went to Tharp for Best Choreography, and the other went to Joel himself for Best Orchestrations.
- Decided to pursue a music career after seeing The Beatles play on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948).
- Married to 34-year-old Alexis Roderick at age 66, he will have been married for the fourth time and a father to a second child.
- Grammy award-winning singer.
- In the late 1970s with the worldwide success of his albums "Turnstiles" and "52nd Street" and many hit singles, he gave televised concerts on "The Old Grey Whistle Test" and "Music Laden".
- Did not graduate high school as he did not have enough credits and decided to pursue his music career rather than attend summer school.
- Ditched writing new pop music to compose classical music instead during the mid 1990s. Still performs pop songs at his concerts.
- Billy and his wife Alexis Roderick welcomed their daughter Della Rosa Joel on August 12, 2015. Della Rose's middle name is derived from Billy's late mother Rosalinda.
- Began in the group the Echoes (later known as the Lost Souls). Also a member of the Hassles (who performed at Westchester, New York's famous Riviera Lounge in 1967) and Attila.
- The Hassles hit #112 on the Billboard Singles Charts in 1967 with "You've Got Me Hummin'" (United Art. 50215).
- He is a supporter of the Democratic Party.
- Has played in two bands with Jon Small: The Hassles and Attila.
- Spanish singer Ana Belén did a very successful version of Joel's song "Piano's Man", translated verbatim as "El Hombre del Piano", for her 1980 album "Con las Manos Llenas" (With the Hands Full).
- American companion to British musician Elton John.
- His all-time favorite classical musician is Ludwig van Beethoven.
- His first wife, Elizabeth Weber, was his business manager and the ex-wife of Jon Small.
- As a teenager he lived at 21 Meeting Lane in Hicksville, New York.
- His 1978 album, "52nd Street," was the first album to be released commercially on compact disc in 1982.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content