Time sing the Piano Man a song, and that song is “Happy Birthday.” Billy Joel, the Kennedy Center honoree and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, turned 77 on May 9th, 2026.
Billy Joel was born in the Bronx, New York in 1949 before moving to Long Island with his family at the age of one. Despite his mother and father both being Jewish, Joel was not raised particularly religious. At the age of four when he would “bang around” on the family piano, his mother enlisted in him piano lessons. After his parents divorced in 1957, his father relocated to Europe and Joel began playing at a piano bar to help support himself, his mother, and sister. After missing an exam he would have needed in order to graduate high school, Joel instead opted to not finish and start pursuing his music career saying:
“I told them, ‘To hell with it. If I’m not going to Columbia University, I’m going to Columbia Records, and you don’t need a high school diploma over there.”
In 1970 Joel signed a contract with Family Productions and recorded his first solo album, Cold Spring Harbor. Despite the owner of Family Productions claiming they invested over $450,000 into Joel, the album was not successful. However, the tour for Cold Spring Harbor which kicked off in the fall of 1971 started to grow interest in Joel and his music.
In 1972, WMMR-FM radio in Philadelphia played a live broadcast of Joel performing, and their late-night weekend DJ played the subsequent recording multiple times. Because of this, the song “Captain Jack” became a most requested song for the station and an underground hit on the East Coast. It also garnered the attention of Herb Gordon, a Columbia Records executive, who would end up bringing Joel to Columbia that same year.
While living in LA and working on his record for Columbia, Joel worked in the piano bar at The Executive Room under the pseudonym “Bill Martin.” It was at this bar that Joel would write “Piano Man” about it and its patrons. Joel’s first album with Columbia would end up being Piano Man, released in 1973.
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Joel would go on to record Streetlife Serenade in in 1974 and Turnstiles two years later, before recording what would be his big breakthrough, The Stranger in 1977 which “established Joel as a household name.” The Stranger was certified multi-platinum and Rolling Stone ranked The Stranger the 70th greatest album of all time on their list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”
In 1978, Joel would perform for the first time at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Over the years, Joel has gone on to perform his residency at MSG and played over 150 shows at the venue. This makes him the record holder for the most performances at MSG.
Joel has received numerous accolades over the course of his career and is one of the most honored and decorated musicians of modern times. He has received seven honorary doctorates, six Grammy awards, and a Tony Award. To commemorate his 100th MSG performance, Governor Andrew Cuomo proclaimed July 18th to be Billy Joel Day in New York state.
With such an iconic and prolific career, it’s hard to imagine music without Billy Joel.
Related: Billy Joel’s Daughter Shares Update on His Health