Joel, Billy (1949- )

US singer-songwriter. His album The Stranger, released in 1977, was one of the biggest-selling albums of the decade. 52nd Street (1978) and An Innocent Man (1983) were also huge successes. In 1991 he received a Grammy Living Legend Award.

Born in Hicksville, Long Island, New York, Joel's first band that he joined was the Echoes (later known as the Emeralds and the Lost Souls), and in 1967 he left to join the Hassles. After the Hassles split up in 1969, Joel and the band's drummer formed a group called Attila. After Attila failed to find success, Joel began performing alone, releasing Cold Spring Harbor in 1971. He signed with Colombia Records and released Piano Man in 1973. An album of greatest hits was released in 1985, and Storm Front in 1989, another commercial success. The musical Movin Out (2002), choreographed by Twyla Tharp, features his music.