Billy Joel, The #8 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Six

 (Continued from Part Five)

 

Joel scored a third Top 10 hit among Adults with the timeless and soul-searching "And So It Goes".  The title was television journalist Linda Ellerbee's signature line, and Billy said on Late Show with Stephen Colbert that he considers it one of his Top 5 songs.  Ignored by the so-called "popular" radio stations, it is one of the all-time Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.

"Shameless" became a huge Country hit for Garth Brooks, but it's writer was none other than Billy Joel.  It barely reached the Top 40 for Joel so when Garth, a big Billy Joel fan, asked to record it, Billy gave him the go-ahead.

 

Billy was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 1992.  "Leningrad" is another Top Track* on the album.  It's about a clown that Joel met while performing in the Russian city, but so much more than that, as is typical from the great Billy Joel.

 

Joel recorded another great album in 1993 with River of Dreams.  Brinkley furnished the painting featured on the cover.  Billy often gets ideas for songs in his dreams, but when he, an atheist, woke up with this Gospel song in his head, he didn't want to do it.  However, when he took a shower and started singing it, he knew he had to record it.  Billy said that the phrase "River of Dreams" is a play on the phrase "Stream of Consciousness".  For the first pause, Billy waits for just one beat.  The second, three, and then the third, five.  Just a simple example from a brilliant songwriter.  The title song topped charts in Australia and New Zealand and also the all-important Adult Contemporary chart in the U.S.--it was a Top 10 hit the world over.

 

The album , nominated for Favorite Adult Contemporary Album at the American Music Awards, has cleared five million in sales, another of Billy's best.  "All About Soul" (with Color Me Badd on backing vocals) hit #6 on the AC chart, his 34th career hit among adults, with an incredible 23 of those reaching the Top 10.  

 

Joel was given the Century Award at the Billboard Music Awards.  "No Man's Land" is a searing story about a piece of life in the suburbs, and how people have gotten detached from society.

Two of the all-time top piano players combined for a series of sensational shows beginning in 1994, as Billy joined Elton John on the road.  When those concerts ended, Joel and John had the longest-running and most-successful concerts by a duo in history.  In 2003, 24 shows brought in a gross of $46 million.  In 2009, the two legends teamed up again for more sold-out shows.

There was more heartbreak, however, in Billy's personal life as he and Brinkley divorced in August of 1994.  Billy teamed with Long Island boating businessman Peter Needham to form the Long Island Boat Company.

 

In 1997, Joel scored another hit with a new song from his compilation Greatest Hits, Volume III, which reached the Top 10 around the world and sold over one million copies.  A cover of Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love", this is "To Make You Feel My Love".

Joel was honored with induction into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame and received an Award of Merit from the American Music Awards in 1999.  

On New Year's Eve, Joel gave a memorable four-hour concert at New York City's Madison Square Garden, with "We Didn't Start The Fire" and "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" filmed and included on ABC-TV's coverage of New Year's celebrations.  The video was later released as 2000 Years:  The Millennium Concert.

The man who gave us innovative early songs such as "The Ballad Of Billy The Kid", "Travelin' Prayer", and "Prelude/Angry Young Man", great all-time classics like "Just The Way You Are", "Tell Her About It" and "Uptown Girl", New Wave, historical songs such as "We Didn't Start The Fire", and biting, poignant songs such as "Piano Man", "Allentown", "The Downeaster Alexa" and "Goodnight Saigon" gave us the 2001 release Fantasies & Delusions, an album of classical piano songs written by Joel and played by Hyunk-ki Joo.  Billy proved that he could be successful at anything he did, as the album went to #1 on the classical charts.  

When a collection of stars performed A Tribute to Heroes concert to benefit victims of the evil 9/11 murders in 2001, it was Billy's performance which stood out, as many people around the world heard the great "New York State Of Mind" for the first time.  

Hopefully, they knew to go on this website to discover other great Joel songs that they missed through the years.  It is this version that is one of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.

Joel was nominated for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program at the Emmy Awards for his television documentary Billy Joel:  In His Own Words.

Billy has battled alcoholism his entire life, but to his great credit, entered Silver Hill Hospital, a substance abuse and psychiatric center in New Canaan, Connecticut, in 2002 and the Betty Ford Center in 2005, where he spent 30 days for treatment of alcohol abuse.

As mentioned above, beginning in 2002, his music was featured in a successful Broadway play called Movin' Out, which earned a Tony Award for Best Orchestrations.

In 2005, Columbia released the box set My Lives, which features demos, b-sides, live and alternative versions of Joel's catalog as well as a few hits.  A DVD of a concert from the River of Dreams tour is included in the set.

Joel's 2006 tour of the U.S. included an unprecedented 12 sold-out shows over several months at Madison Square Garden in New York City, which broke the record of 10 by Bruce Springsteen.  That number, 12, was retired by the arena, the first such honor by a non-athlete.  The Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia similarly honored Joel by retiring the number 46, representing the number of Billy's sold-out concerts there.  In 2006, Columbia released the double album 12 Gardens Live, featuring 32 songs recorded live during the Madison Square Garden performances.

Joel also toured the U.K. and Ireland as part of his European leg of the tour and on July 31, he performed a free concert in Rome at the site of the Colosseum.  He then toured Australia, Japan, and South Africa before returning to the U.S. in late 2006 and 2007.

Billy recorded his first new song in nearly 14 years and released "All My Life" in 2007.  

Joel sang the U.S. national anthem prior to Super Bowl XLI, becoming the first singer to have that honor twice.  Joel's "Christmas In Fallujah" was also released that year, with proceeds going to the Homes For Our Troops foundation.

Joel continues to be a worldwide draw to this day, performing 10 sold-out shows in Uncasville Connecticut and the final shows at New York City's Shea Stadium before it was demolished in 2008.  Guests at the latter show included Paul McCartney, Don Henley, John Mellencamp, Garth Brooks, Steven Tyler, Roger Daltrey, Tony Bennett, and John Mayer.  Those shows were released in the documentary movie Last Play at Shea, released in 2011.

Billy opened 20th Century Cycles in his hometown of Oyster Bay, New York in 2010 to manufacture custom-made motorcycles and accessories.  Billy planned on releasing his autobiography, The Book of Joel:  A Memoir, in 2011, but decided against it.

Joel signed a worldwide publishing agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group to distribute his music outside the U.S.  Billy performed in 2012 in The Concert for Sandy Relief at Madison Square Garden to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Billy received Kennedy Center Honors in 2013.  He began performing a concert a month at Madison Square Garden beginning in January of 2014.  In 2015, Joel married Alexis Roderick.  On Jun 24, 2017, Joel gave the honorary commencement address at Hicksville High School 50 years after his would-be graduating class received their diplomas and 25 years after Joel received his diploma.

Joel is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.  He has won 2 American Music Awards out of 7 nominations, 5 Grammy Awards from 23 nominations, a Billboard Music Award and a Tony Award and been nominated for an Emmy Award.

Billy has sold over 150 million albums worldwide.  He has 49 hits to his credit with 17 Top 10 songs and 3 #1's.  On the Adult Contemporary chart, Joel has amassed 43 career hits with an impressive 27 reaching the Top 10 and 9 #1's.