Billy Joel

American singer, songwriter, and pianist (born 1949)

Billy Joel

Joel in 2023

Born|

William Martin Joel

(1949-05-09) May 9, 1949 (age 76)

New York City, U.S.

Occupations|

* Singer
* songwriter
* pianist

Years active| 1965–present
Spouses|

Elizabeth Weber Small

(m. 1973; div. 1982)​

Christie Brinkley

(m. 1985; div. 1994)​

Katie Lee

(m. 2004; div. 2009)​

Alexis Roderick

(m. 2015)​

Children| 3, including Alexa Ray
Relatives|

* Alexander Joel (half-brother)
* Karl Amson Joel (grandfather)

Musical career
Origin| Hicksville, New York, U.S.
Genres|

* Rock[1][2]
* soft rock[3]
* pop rock[2]

Instruments|

* Vocals
* piano
* harmonica
* accordion
* organ

Labels|

* Columbia
* Family Productions
* Sony Classical

Member of| Billy Joel Band
Formerly of|

* The Lost Souls
* The Hassles
* Attila

Musical artist

Website| billyjoel.com
Signature

William Martin Joel (/dʒoʊl/; born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his signature 1973 song of the same name,[4][5] Joel has had a successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s. From 1971 to 1993, he released 12 studio albums spanning the genres of pop and rock, and in 2001 released a one-off studio album of classical compositions. With over 160 million records sold worldwide, Joel is one of the world's best-selling music artists[6] and is the fourth-best-selling solo artist in the United States.[7] His 1985 compilation album, Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II, is one of the best-selling albums in the United States.[8]

Joel was born in the Bronx in New York City and grew up in Hicksville on Long Island, where he began taking piano lessons at his mother's insistence. After dropping out of high school to pursue a music career, Joel took part in two short-lived bands, the Hassles and Attila, before signing a record deal with Family Productions and embarking on a solo career with his debut album, Cold Spring Harbor (1971). In 1972, Joel caught the attention of Columbia Records after a live radio performance of "Captain Jack" became popular in Philadelphia, prompting him to sign a new record deal with the company, through which he released his second album, Piano Man (1973). After Streetlife Serenade (1974) and Turnstiles (1976), Joel achieved his critical and commercial breakthrough with The Stranger (1977). It became Columbia's best-selling release, selling over 10 million copies and spawning the hit singles "Just the Way You Are", "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)", "Only the Good Die Young", and "She's Always a Woman", as well as the concert staples "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" and "Vienna".

Joel's 52nd Street (1978) was his first album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Glass Houses (1980) was an attempt to further establish himself as a rock artist; it featured "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" (Joel's first single to top the Billboard Hot 100), "You May Be Right", "Don't Ask Me Why", and "Sometimes a Fantasy". The Nylon Curtain (1982) stemmed from a desire to create more lyrically and melodically ambitious music. An Innocent Man (1983) served as an homage to genres of music that Joel had grown up with in the 1950s, such as rhythm and blues and doo-wop; it featured "Tell Her About It", "Uptown Girl", and "The Longest Time", three of his best-known songs. After River of Dreams (1993), Joel largely retired from producing studio material, although he went on to release Fantasies & Delusions (2001), featuring classical compositions composed by him and performed by British-Korean pianist Richard Hyung-ki Joo. Joel provided voiceover work in 1988 for the Disney animated film Oliver & Company, performing the song "Why Should I Worry?", and contributed to the soundtracks to several films, including Easy Money (1983), Ruthless People (1986), A League of Their Own (1992), and Honeymoon in Vegas (1992).[9] Joel returned to composing new music with the 2024 single "Turn the Lights Back On".

Joel has had a successful touring career, holding live performances across the globe. In 1987, he became one of the first artists to hold a rock tour in the Soviet Union. Joel has had 33 Top 40 hits in the U.S.,[10] three of which ("It's Still Rock and Roll to Me", "Tell Her About It", and "We Didn't Start the Fire") topped the Billboard Hot 100. He has been nominated for 23 Grammy Awards, winning six, including Album of the Year for 52nd Street. Joel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999[11] and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2006. He received the 2001 Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame[12] and was recognized at the 2013 Kennedy Center Honors.[13]

## Early life, family and education

[edit]

William Martin Joel was born on May 9, 1949, in the Bronx, New York.[14] At age one, his family moved to Hicksville in the town of Oyster Bay on Long Island. Joel and his cousin Judy, whom his parents adopted,[15] were raised in a nondescript house similar to those in nearby Levittown.[16]

His mother, Rosalind (1922–2014),[17] was born in Brooklyn to Jewish parents, Philip and Rebecca Nyman, who emigrated from England.[18] Billy's father, Howard (born Helmut) Joel (1923–2011), an accomplished amateur classical pianist[19][20] and businessman, was born in Nuremberg, Germany[20] to a Jewish family, the only child of merchant and manufacturer Karl Amson Joel, and educated in Switzerland. In 1928, Karl Joel set up a prosperous mail-order textile company, Joel Macht Fabrik, which within 10 years had become the second largest of its type in Germany. Escaping the Nazi regime, Karl, his wife and young son emigrated to Switzerland.[21] Following the passing of laws which prevented Jews from owning property and businesses, in 1938 he was forced to sell his company to Josef Neckermann for a fraction of its true value.[22] As direct entry to the United States was difficult for German Jews due to strict quotas imposed by the Immigration Act of 1924, the family reached the country via Cuba, where they arrived in early 1939 and stayed for nearly two years.[20][23] In the United States, Howard became an engineer but always loved music.

Joel's parents met in 1942, whilst taking part in a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera The Pirates of Penzance at the City College of New York.[24][25] He has said that neither of his parents talked much about World War II, which were such dark years. It was not until later that Joel learned more about his father's family. After Rosalind and Howard Joel divorced in 1957, Howard returned to Europe, as he had never liked the United States: he considered the people uneducated and materialistic.[20] Howard settled in Vienna, Austria, and later remarried. Joel has a half-brother, Alexander Joel, born to his father in England, who became a classical conductor in Europe and was the chief musical director of the Staatstheater Braunschweig from 2001 to 2014.[26][27]

At age four, Joel reluctantly began taking piano lessons at his mother's insistence.[19] His teachers included the noted American pianist Morton Estrin[28] and musician Timothy Ford. Joel says that he is a better organist than a pianist.[29] As a teenager, Joel took up boxing and competed on the amateur Golden Gloves circuit as a welterweight.[30] He abandoned the sport after his nose was broken, having won 22 of his 26 fights.[31][32]

Although Joel's parents were Jewish, he did not grow up in the religion. Joel stated: "I was not brought up Jewish in any religious way. My circumcision was as Jewish as they got."[33] He attended a Roman Catholic church with friends. At age 11, Joel was baptized in a Church of Christ in Hicksville. He now identifies as an atheist Jew.[10][34][35][36][37]

Joel attended Hicksville High School until 1967 but did not graduate with his class. He was playing at a piano bar to help support himself, his mother and sister, and missed a crucial English exam after playing a late-night gig the evening before.[19] Although Joel was a comparatively strong student, at the end of his senior year, he did not have enough credits to graduate. Rather than attend summer school to earn his diploma, Joel decided to begin a music career: "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'."[38] In 1992, he submitted essays to the school board in lieu of the missed exam. They were accepted, and he was awarded his diploma at Hicksville High's annual graduation ceremony 25 years after leaving.[39]

## Music career

[edit]

### 1964–1970: Early career

[edit]

Although Joel's compositions are infused with references to classical music,[40] his tightly-structured melodies and down-to-earth songwriting betray the influence of early rock & roll and rhythm & blues artists, including Elvis Presley and the Everly Brothers.[41] However, it was only after seeing the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show that he decided to pursue a career in music. As he later commented:[42]

> That one performance changed my life ... Up to that moment I'd never considered playing rock as a career ... (W)hen I saw four guys who didn't look like they'd come out of the Hollywood star mill, who played their own songs and instruments, and especially because you could see this look in John Lennon's face—and he looked like he was always saying: '
 you!'—I said: 'I know these guys, I can relate to these guys, I am these guys. This is what I'm going to do—play in a rock band'.

At age 16, Joel joined the Echoes,[43] a group which specialized in British Invasion covers. The Echoes began recording in 1965. Joel played piano on several records released through Kama Sutra Productions and on recordings produced by Shadow Morton. He played on a demo version of "Leader of the Pack", which became a major hit for the Shangri-Las.[44] Joel states that in 1964, he played on a recording of the Shangri-Las' "Remember (Walking in the Sand)", but Joel is unaware of whether he played on the demo or master version.[45] The released single included a co-producer credit for Artie Ripp,[46] who later was the first to sign and produce Joel as a solo artist after Michael Lang, who had given Joel a monetary advance, passed Joel along to Ripp to focus his attentions elsewhere.[47]

In late 1965,[citation needed] the Echoes changed their name briefly to the Emeralds, and then to the Lost Souls.[48] Joel left the band in 1967 to join the Hassles, a Long Island group that had signed with United Artists Records.[41] Over the next year and a half, they released four singles and two albums (The Hassles and Hour of the Wolf). However, all were commercial failures. Joel and drummer Jon Small left the Hassles in 1969 to form the duo Attila, releasing an eponymous debut album in July 1970. The duo disbanded the following October when Joel began an affair with Small's wife, Elizabeth. The pair later married.[49]

### 1970–1974: Cold Spring Harbor and Piano Man

[edit]

Joel signed a contract with the record company Family Productions,[19][50] with which he recorded his first solo album, Cold Spring Harbor, named for Cold Spring Harbor, a hamlet on his native Long Island. Artie Ripp, owner of Family Productions, states that he spent US$450,000 developing Joel;[50] nevertheless, the album was mastered at too high a speed and was a technical and commercial disappointment.[51]

The popular songs "She's Got a Way" and "Everybody Loves You Now" were originally released on this album, but went largely unnoticed until being released as live performances on Songs in the Attic (1981). Columbia released a remastered version of Cold Spring Harbor in 1983, with certain songs shortened or re-orchestrated.[51]

Joel began his Cold Spring Harbor tour in the fall of 1971, touring with his band, consisting of Rhys Clark on drums, Al Hertzberg on guitar, and Larry Russell on bass guitar, throughout the mainland United States and Puerto Rico, opening for such artists as the J. Geils Band, the Beach Boys, Badfinger and Taj Mahal. Joel's performance at the Puerto Rican Mar y Sol Pop Festival was especially well-received; and although recorded, Joel refused to have it published on the Mar Y Sol compilation album Mar Y Sol: The First International Puerto Rico Pop Festival. Nevertheless, interest in his music grew.[52]

Joel performing in September 1972

On April 15, 1972, WMMR-FM radio in Philadelphia featured a live broadcast of Joel performing 12 songs, and a recording of the set was played several times by station DJ Jonathan Takiff on his late-night weekend show. As a result, "Captain Jack" became the most requested track in the station's history, and after receiving regular airplay, was soon an underground hit on the East Coast.[53][54] Herb Gordon, a Columbia Records executive, heard Joel's music and brought him to the attention of company president Clive Davis.[55] Joel signed a recording contract with the label in 1972 and moved to Los Angeles, where he lived for the next three years.[1][26] For six months, Joel worked at The Executive Room piano bar on Wilshire Boulevard as "Bill Martin".[19] During that time, he composed his signature song "Piano Man" about the bar's patrons.[56]

Despite Joel's new contract, he was legally bound to Family Productions. Artie Ripp sold Joel's first contract to Columbia. Walter Yetnikoff, the president of CBS/Columbia Records at the time, bought back the rights to Joel's songs in the late 1970s, giving the rights to Joel as a birthday gift.[57][58] Yetnikoff notes in the documentary The Last Play at Shea that he had to threaten Ripp to close the deal.

A 1973 promotional photo of Joel for Piano Man

Joel's first album with Columbia was Piano Man (1973). Despite modest sales, the album's title track became his signature song, ending nearly every concert. That same year, Joel's touring band changed. Guitarist Al Hertzberg was replaced by Don Evans, and bassist Larry Russell by Patrick McDonald, himself replaced in late 1974 by Doug Stegmeyer, who stayed with Joel until 1989. Rhys Clark returned as drummer and Tom Whitehorse as banjoist and pedal steel player; Johnny Almond joined as saxophonist and keyboardist. The band toured the U.S. and Canada extensively, appearing on popular music shows. Joel's songwriting began attracting more attention; in 1974, Helen Reddy recorded the Piano Man track "You're My Home".

### 1974–1977: Streetlife Serenade and Turnstiles

[edit]

In 1974, Joel recorded his second Columbia album in Los Angeles, Streetlife Serenade. His manager at the time was Jon Troy, an old friend from New York's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood; Troy was soon replaced by Joel's wife Elizabeth.[59] Streetlife Serenade contains references to suburbia and the inner city. It is perhaps best known for "The Entertainer", a No. 34 hit in the U.S. Upset that "Piano Man" had been significantly cut for radio play, Joel wrote "The Entertainer" as a sarcastic response: "If you're gonna have a hit, you gotta make it fit, so they cut it down to 3:05." Although Streetlife Serenade was viewed unfavorably by critics,[60][61] it contains the notable songs "Los Angelenos" and "Root Beer Rag", an instrumental that was a staple of his live set in the 1970s.

In late 1975, Joel played piano and organ on several tracks on Bo Diddley's The 20th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll all-star album.

Disenchanted with Los Angeles, Joel returned to New York City in 1975 and recorded Turnstiles (1976), the first album he recorded with the musicians with whom he toured. Produced by James William Guercio (then Chicago's producer), Turnstiles was first recorded at Caribou Ranch with members of Elton John's band. Dissatisfied with the result, Joel re-recorded the songs and produced the album himself.

"Say Goodbye to Hollywood" was a minor hit, covered by Ronnie Spector and Nigel Olsson. During a 2008 radio interview, Joel said that he no longer performs the song because singing it in its high original key "shreds" his vocal cords; however, Joel did finally play it live for the first time since 1982 when he sang it at the Hollywood Bowl in May 2014. Although never released as a single, "New York State of Mind" became one of Joel's best-known songs; Barbra Streisand recorded a cover and Tony Bennett performed it as a duet with Joel on Playing with My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues. Other notable songs from the album include "Summer, Highland Falls"; "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)" and "Prelude/Angry Young Man", a concert mainstay.

### 1977–1979: The Stranger and 52nd Street

[edit]

Joel performing in December 1977

Columbia Records introduced Joel to Phil Ramone, who produced all of Joel's studio albums from 1977 to 1986. The Stranger (1977) was an enormous commercial success, yielding four Top-25 hits on the Billboard charts: "Just the Way You Are" (No. 3), "Movin' Out" (No. 17), "Only the Good Die Young" (No. 24) and "She's Always a Woman" (No. 17). Joel's first Top Ten album, The Stranger reached number two on the charts and was certified multi-platinum, besting Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge over Troubled Water[62] as Columbia's previous bestselling album. "Just the Way You Are" — written for Joel's first wife, Elizabeth Weber[63] — was inspired by a dream[64] and won Grammy awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.[65] On tour in Paris, Joel learned the news late one night in a hotel room.[43] It also featured "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", an album-oriented rock classic, which has become one of his best-known songs. It is one of Joel's favorite of his own songs, which has become a firm staple of his live shows,[66] and "Vienna", also one of Joel's personal favorites,[67][68] and one of his most streamed songs on the internet as of 2022.[69] Rolling Stone later ranked The Stranger the 70th greatest album of all time.[70]

A 1978 promotional photo of Joel for 52nd Street

Joel released 52nd Street in 1978, naming it after Manhattan's 52nd Street, which, at the time of its release, served as the world headquarters of CBS/ Columbia. The album sold over seven million copies, propelled to number one on the charts by the hits "My Life" (No. 3), "Big Shot" (No. 14) and "Honesty" (No. 24). A cover of "My Life" by Gary Bennett became the theme for the television sitcom Bosom Buddies. 52nd Street also won Grammy awards for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male and Album of the Year.

In 1978, Joel gave his first of what would go on to be at least 150 shows at New York City's Madison Square Garden. In 2025, Joel described playing at the arena as being a "dream come true".[71] He currently dominates the record for most concerts performed at Madison Square Garden.[72]

In 1979, Joel traveled to Havana, Cuba to participate in the historic Havana Jam festival from March 2–4, alongside Rita Coolidge, Kris Kristofferson, Stephen Stills, the CBS Jazz All-Stars, the Trio of Doom, Fania All-Stars, Billy Swan, Bonnie Bramlett, Mike Finnegan, Weather Report, and an array of Cuban artists including Irakere, Pacho Alonso, Tata Güines and Orquesta Aragón.[73] His performance is captured in Ernesto Juan Castellanos's documentary Havana Jam '79.

52nd Street was the first commercially released album on the then-new compact disc format, in 1982.[74]

### 1979–1983: Glass Houses and The Nylon Curtain

[edit]

The success of his piano-driven ballads like "Just the Way You Are", "She's Always a Woman" and "Honesty" led some critics to label Joel a "balladeer" and "soft rocker". He thought these labels were unfair and insulting, and with Glass Houses, Joel tried to record an album that proved that he could rock harder than his critics gave him credit for, occasionally imitating and referring to the style of new wave rock music that was starting to become popular. On the album cover, Joel is pictured in a leather jacket, about to throw a rock at a glass house (referring to the adage that "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones").

Glass Houses spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard chart and yielded the hits "You May Be Right" (No. 7, May 1980), "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me", (No. 1, July 1980), "Don't Ask Me Why" (No. 19, September 1980) and "Sometimes a Fantasy" (No. 36, November 1980). "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me", Joel's first Billboard number-one single, spent 11 weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and was the seventh biggest hit of 1980 according to American Top 40. His five sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in 1980 earned him the Garden's Gold Ticket Award for selling more than 100,000 tickets at the venue.[75][76]

Glass Houses won the 1981 Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male.[77] It also won the American Music Award for Favorite Album, Pop/Rock category. The album's closing song, "Through the Long Night" (B-side of the "It's Still Rock & Roll to Me" single), was a lullaby that featured Joel harmonizing with himself in a song he says was inspired by the Beatles' "Yes It Is".[citation needed] In a recorded master class at the University of Pennsylvania, Joel recalled that he had written to the Beatles asking them how to get started in the music industry. In response, he received a pamphlet about Beatles merchandise. This later led to the idea of Joel conducting Q&A sessions around the world answering questions that people had about the music industry.[78]

Joel's next release, Songs in the Attic, was composed of live performances of lesser-known songs from the beginning of his career. It was recorded at larger US arenas and in intimate nightclub shows in June and July 1980. This release introduced many fans, who discovered Joel when The Stranger became a smash in 1977, to many of his earlier compositions.[79] The album reached No. 8 on the Billboard chart and produced two hit singles: "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" (No. 17), and "She's Got a Way" (No. 23). It sold over three million copies. Although not as successful as some of his previous albums, it was still considered a success by Joel.[52]

The next wave of Joel's career commenced with the recording of The Nylon Curtain. With it, Joel became more ambitious with his songwriting, which included highly topical songs like "Allentown" and "Goodnight Saigon". Joel has stated that he wanted the album to communicate his feelings about the American Dream and how changes in American politics during the Reagan administration meant that "all of a sudden you weren't going to be able to inherit [the kind of life] your old man had."[80] He also tried to be more ambitious in his use of the recording studio. Joel said that he wanted to "create a sonic masterpiece" on The Nylon Curtain. So he spent more time in the studio, crafting the sound of the album, than he had on any previous album.[80] Production of The Nylon Curtain began in the fall of 1981, but was delayed for several months after Joel was involved in a serious motorcycle accident on April 15, 1982. The bone in his left thumb was crushed and his other wrist dislocated in the incident, when he hit and was flipped over a car which had run a red light at an intersection on Long Island.[81][82]

In 1982, Joel embarked on a brief tour in support of the album. From one of the final shows of the tour, Joel made his first video special, Live from Long Island, which was recorded at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on December 29, 1982. It was originally broadcast on HBO in 1983 before it became available on VHS.

The Nylon Curtain went to No. 7 on the charts, partially due to heavy airplay on MTV for the videos to the singles "Allentown" and "Pressure", both directed by Russell Mulcahy.

### 1983–1988: An Innocent Man and The Bridge

[edit]

Joel's next album moved away from the serious themes of The Nylon Curtain and struck a much lighter tone. An Innocent Man was Joel's tribute to R&B and doo wop music of the 1950s and 1960s and resulted in Joel's second Billboard number-one hit, "Tell Her About It", which was the first single off the album in the summer of 1983. The album itself reached No. 4 on the charts and No. 2 in UK. It also boasted six top-30 singles, the most of any album in Joel's catalog. The album was well received by critics, with Stephen Thomas Erlewine, senior editor for AllMusic, describing Joel as being "in top form as a craftsman throughout the record, effortlessly spinning out infectious, memorable melodies in a variety of styles."[83]

At the time that the album was released, WCBS-FM began playing "Uptown Girl" both in regular rotation and on the Doo Wop Live.[84][85] The song became a worldwide hit upon its release. The music video of the song, originally written about then-girlfriend Elle MacPherson, featured Christie Brinkley as a high-society girl who pulls her car into the gas station where Joel's character is working. At the end of the video, Joel's "grease monkey" character drives off with his "uptown girl" on the back of a motorcycle. When Brinkley went to visit Joel after being asked to star in the video, the first thing Joel said to her upon opening his door was "I don't dance". Brinkley had to walk him through the basic steps he does in the video. Their work together on this video shoot sparked a relationship between the two which led to their marriage in 1985.[86]

In December, the title song was released as a single and it peaked at No. 10 in the U.S. and No. 8 in the UK, early in 1984. That March, "The Longest Time" was released as a single, peaking at No. 14 on the Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. That summer, "Leave a Tender Moment Alone" was released and it hit No. 27 while "Keeping the Faith" peaked at No. 18 in January 1985. In the video for "Keeping the Faith", Brinkley also plays the "redhead girl in a Chevrolet". An Innocent Man was also nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy, but lost to Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Joel (second row, second from left) with other musicians for the recording of "We Are the World", January 1985

Joel participated in the USA for Africa "We Are the World" project in 1985. Following An Innocent Man, Joel was asked about releasing an album of his most successful singles. This was not the first time this topic had come up, but Joel had initially considered "Greatest Hits" albums as marking the end of one's career. This time he agreed, and Greatest Hits Vol. 1 and 2 was released as a four-sided album and two-CD set, with the songs in the order in which they were released. The new songs "You're Only Human (Second Wind)" and "The Night Is Still Young" were recorded and released as singles to support the album; both reached the top 40, peaking at No. 9 and No. 34, respectively. Greatest Hits was highly successful and it has since been certified double diamond by the RIAA, with over 11.5 million copies (23 million units) sold. It is one of the best-selling albums in American music history, according to the RIAA.

Coinciding with the Greatest Hits album release, Joel released a two-volume Video Album that was a compilation of the promotional videos he had recorded from 1977 to that time. Along with videos for the new singles off the Greatest Hits album, Joel also recorded a video for his first hit, "Piano Man", for this project.

Joel's next album, The Bridge (1986), did not achieve the level of success of his previous albums, but it yielded the hits "A Matter of Trust" and "Modern Woman" (both No. 10) from the film Ruthless People, a dark comedy from the directors of Airplane!. The ballad "This is the Time" also charted, peaking at No. 18. On November 18, 1986, an extended version of "Big Man on Mulberry Street" was used on a Season 3 episode of Moonlighting.The Bridge was Joel's last album to carry the Family Productions logo, after which he severed his ties with Artie Ripp. Joel has also stated in many interviews, most recently in a 2008 interview in Performing Songwriter magazine, that he does not think The Bridge is a good album.

In October 1986, Joel and his team started planning a trip to the Soviet Union.[87] This was realised the following July, when he arrived in the country with his wife, daughter Alexa, and full touring band. Following an improvised performance in Tbilisi, Joel gave six concerts at indoor arenas in Moscow and Leningrad, to a combined audience possibly in excess of 100,000 people.[88][89] The entourage was filmed for television and video to offset the cost of the trip, and the concerts were simulcast on radio around the world. Joel's Russian tour was the first live rock radio broadcast in Soviet history.[90] The tour was later cited frequently as one of the first fully staged pop rock shows to come to the Soviet Union, although in reality other artists had previously toured in the country, including Elton John, James Taylor, and Bonnie Raitt.[91]

Most of that audience took a long while to warm up to Joel's energetic show, something that had never happened in other countries he had performed in. According to Joel, each time the fans were hit with the bright lights, anybody who seemed to be enjoying themselves froze. In addition, people who were "overreacting" were removed by security.[92] During this concert, Joel, enraged by the bright lights, flipped his electric piano and snapped a microphone stand while continuing to sing.[93][94] Joel later apologized for the incident.[94]

The concerts in Russia came after an intensive series of European shows, and after doing interviews during the day, Joel found himself playing at venues where the PA system was "second rate at best".[88] Released against his wishes in October 1987, КОНЦЕРТ (Russian for "Concert"), a live double album recorded during the tour,, included cover versions of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin" and "Back in the U.S.S.R." by the Beatles. The latter was released as a single but failed to make the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, and the album was Joel's first since Cold Spring Harbor not to achieve gold disc status.[95][96] Singer Pete Hewlett was brought in to hit the high notes on his most vocally challenging songs, like "An Innocent Man". It has been estimated that Joel lost more than US$1 million of his own money on the trip and concerts, but he has said the goodwill he was shown there was well worth it.[citation needed]

### 1988–1993: Storm Front and River of Dreams

[edit]

The animated film Oliver & Company (1988) features Joel in a rare voice acting role as Dodger, a sarcastic Jack Russell based on Dickens's Artful Dodger. The character's design is based on Joel's image at the time, including his trademark Wayfarer sunglasses. Joel also sang his character's song "Why Should I Worry?".

The recording of Storm Front, which commenced in 1988, coincided with major changes in Joel's career and inaugurated a period of serious upheaval in his business affairs. In August 1989, just before the album was released, Joel dismissed his manager (and former brother-in-law) Frank Weber after an audit revealed major discrepancies in Weber's accounting. Joel subsequently sued Weber for US$90 million, claiming fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, and in January 1990, Joel was awarded US$2 million in a partial judgment against Weber; in April, the court dismissed a US$30 million countersuit filed by Weber.[97]

The first single for the album, "We Didn't Start the Fire", was released in September 1989 and it became Joel's third—and most recent—US number-one hit, spending two weeks at the top. Storm Front was released in October, and it eventually became Joel's first number-one album since Glass Houses, nine years earlier. Storm Front was Joel's first album since Turnstiles to be recorded without Phil Ramone as producer. For this album, he wanted a new sound, and worked with Mick Jones of Foreigner. Joel is also credited as one of the keyboard players on Jones's 1988 self-titled solo album, and is featured in the official video for Jones's single "Just Wanna Hold"; Joel can be seen playing the piano while his then-wife Christie Brinkley joins him and kisses him. Joel also revamped his backing band, dismissing everyone but drummer Liberty DeVitto, guitarist David Brown, and saxophone player Mark Rivera, and bringing in new faces, including multi-instrumentalist Crystal Taliefero.

Storm Front's second single, "I Go to Extremes" reached No. 6 in early 1990. The album was also notable for its song "Leningrad", written after Joel met a clown in the Soviet city of that name during his tour in 1987, and "The Downeaster Alexa", written to underscore the plight of fishermen on Long Island who are barely able to make ends meet. Another well-known single from the album is the ballad "And So It Goes" (No. 37 in late 1990). The song was originally written in 1983, around the time Joel was writing songs for An Innocent Man; but "And So It Goes" did not fit that album's retro theme, so it was held back until Storm Front. Joel said in a 1996 master class session in Pittsburgh that Storm Front was a turbulent album and that "And So It Goes", as the last song on the album, portrayed the calm and tranquility that often follows a violent thunderstorm.

In the summer of 1992, Joel filed a US$90 million lawsuit against his former lawyer Allen Grubman, alleging a wide range of offenses including fraud, breach of fiduciary responsibility, malpractice and breach of contract.[98] The case was settled out of court in the fall of 1993 for US$3 million paid to Joel by third party Sony America, to protect its subsidiary Sony Music's interests, as it had several other artists also using Grubman's law firm.[99][100]

In 1992, Joel inducted the R&B duo Sam & Dave into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.[101] That year, Joel also started work on River of Dreams, finishing the album in early 1993. Its cover art was a colorful painting by Christie Brinkley that was a series of scenes from each of the songs on the album. The eponymous first single was the last top 10 hit Joel has penned to date, reaching No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100 and ranking at No. 21 on the 1993 year-end chart. In addition to the title track, the album includes the hits "All About Soul" (with Color Me Badd on backing vocals) and "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)", written for his daughter, Alexa. A radio remix version of "All About Soul" can be found on The Essential Billy Joel (2001), and a demo version appears on My Lives (2005).

The song "The Great Wall of China" was written about his ex-manager Frank Weber and was a regular in the setlist for Joel's 2006 tour. "2000 Years" was prominent in the millennium concert at Madison Square Garden, December 31, 1999, and "Famous Last Words" closed the book on Joel's pop songwriting for more than a decade.

### 1994–2013: Touring and new singles

[edit]

Joel performing in June 1994

Beginning in 1994, Joel toured extensively with Elton John on a series of "Face to Face" tours, making them the longest running and most successful concert tandem in pop music history.[102] During these shows, the two played their own songs, sang each other's songs, and performed duets. They grossed over US$46 million in just 24 dates in their sold out[103] 2003 tour. Joel and John resumed their Face to Face tour in March 2009[103] and it continued until March 2010, where it ended in Albany, New York, at the Times Union Center. In February 2010, Joel denied rumors in the trade press that he canceled a summer 2010 leg of the tour, claiming there were never any dates booked and that he intended to take the year off.[104] Joel told Rolling Stone: "We'll probably pick it up again. It's always fun playing with him."[105]

Joel performing in June 1994

Joel and Christie Brinkley announced on April 13, 1994, that they had separated, and their divorce was finalized in August 1994. The two remained friends.[106]

Joel performing at Madison Square Garden, c. 1995

Joel's Greatest Hits Volume III yielded "To Make You Feel My Love" (a Bob Dylan cover) and "Hey Girl". During his Central Park concert in 1997, Joel performed with Garth Brooks, who had reached No. 1 on Billboard's country charts in 1991 with a recording of the song "Shameless" from Joel's 1989 album. Joel was inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. Ray Charles made the induction speech and mentioned the duet Joel wrote for the two of them, "Baby Grand" (a track on Joel's album The Bridge released in 1986).

On December 31, 1999, Joel performed at New York's Madison Square Garden. At the time, Joel said that it would be his last tour and possibly his last concert. Two of his performances from that night, "We Didn't Start the Fire" and "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" were filmed and featured that night as part of ABC's special New Year's Y2K coverage. The concert (dubbed The Night of the 2000 Years) ran for close to four hours and was later released as 2000 Years: The Millennium Concert.

In 2001, Joel released Fantasies & Delusions, a collection of classical piano pieces composed by Joel and performed by Hyung-ki Joo. Joel often uses bits of these pieces as interludes in live performances, and some of them are part of the score for the hit show Movin' Out. The album topped the classical charts at No. 1. Joel performed "New York State of Mind" live on September 21, 2001, as part of the America: A Tribute to Heroes benefit concert, and on October 20, 2001, along with "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)", at the Concert for New York City in Madison Square Garden. That night, he also performed "Your Song" with Elton John.

In 2003, Joel inducted The Righteous Brothers into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, noting that his song "Until the Night" from the album 52nd Street was a tribute to the duo.

In 2005, Columbia released a box set, My Lives, which is largely a compilation of demos, b-sides, live/alternative versions, and even a few Top 40 hits. The compilation also includes the software that permits people to remix "Zanzibar" and a live version of "I Go to Extremes" with their PC. A DVD of a show from the River of Dreams tour is included.

On January 7, 2006, Joel began a tour across the U.S. Having not released any new songs in 13 years, he featured a sampling of songs from throughout his career, including major hits as well as deep cuts like "Zanzibar" and "All for Leyna". His tour included an unprecedented 12 sold-out concerts at Madison Square Garden. All of these concerts took place from January to April 2006.[107] The singer's stint of 12 consecutive shows at Madison Square Garden set a record for most consecutive shows at Madison Square Garden,[72] It would break a previous record set by Bruce Springsteen, who played 10 consecutive, sold-out shows at the same arena. The record earned Joel the first retired number (12) in the arena owned by a non-athlete. This honor has also been given to Joel at Xfinity Mobile Arena (formerly the Wells Fargo Center) in Philadelphia, where a banner in the colors of the Philadelphia Flyers is hung honoring Joel's 48 sold-out Philadelphia shows. On June 13, 2006, Columbia released 12 Gardens Live, a double album containing 32 live recordings from a collection of the 12 different shows at Madison Square Garden during Joel's 2006 tour.

Joel visited the United Kingdom and Ireland for the first time in many years as part of the European leg of his 2006 tour. On July 31, 2006, Joel performed a free concert in Rome, with the Colosseum as the backdrop.[108]

Joel performing in Jacksonville, Florida in February 2007

Joel toured South Africa, Australia, Japan and Hawaii in late 2006, and subsequently toured the Southeastern U.S. in February and March 2007 before hitting the Midwest in the spring of 2007. A new song, titled "All My Life", was Joel's newest single (with second track "You're My Home", live from Madison Square Garden 2006 tour) and was released in stores on February 27, 2007.[109] On February 4, Joel sang the national anthem for Super Bowl XLI, becoming the second to sing the national anthem twice at a Super Bowl, after Aaron Neville.

On December 1, 2007, Joel premiered his new song "Christmas in Fallujah".[110] The song was performed by Cass Dillon, a new Long Island based musician, as Joel felt it should be sung by someone in a soldier's age range (though he himself has played the song occasionally in concert.) The track was dedicated to servicemen based in Iraq. Joel wrote it in September 2007 after reading numerous letters sent to him from American soldiers in Iraq. "Christmas in Fallujah" is only the second pop/rock song released by Joel since 1993's River of Dreams. Proceeds from the song benefited the Homes For Our Troops foundation.

A banner at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, commemorating Joel's 48 consecutive sold-out concerts at the Philadelphia venue as of 2008

On January 26, 2008, Joel performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra celebrating the 151st anniversary of the Academy of Music. Joel performed his classical piece "Waltz No. 2 (Steinway Hall)" from Fantasies & Delusions, arranged by Brad Ellis. He also played many of his less well-known pieces, with full orchestral backing arranged by Mr. Ellis, including the rarely performed Nylon Curtain songs "Scandinavian Skies" and "Where's the Orchestra?".

On March 10, 2008, Joel inducted his friend John Mellencamp into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Joel sold out 10 concerts at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut from May to July 2008. The casino honored him with a banner displaying his name and the number 10 to hang in the arena.[citation needed] On June 19, 2008, Joel played a concert at the grand re-opening of Caesars Windsor (formerly Casino Windsor) in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, to an invite-only crowd for Casino VIPs. His mood was light and joke-filled, even introducing himself as "Billy Joel's dad" and stating "you guys overpaid to see a fat bald guy". He also admitted that Canadian folk-pop musician Gordon Lightfoot was the musical inspiration for "She's Always A Woman".[111]

On July 16 and 18, 2008, Joel played the final concerts at Shea Stadium before its demolition. His guests included Tony Bennett, Don Henley, John Mayer, John Mellencamp, Steven Tyler, Roger Daltrey, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney. The concerts were featured in the 2010 documentary film Last Play at Shea. The film was released on DVD on February 8, 2011. The CD and DVD of the show, Live at Shea Stadium, were released a month later on March 8.

On December 11, 2008, Joel recorded his own rendition of "Christmas in Fallujah" during a concert at Acer Arena in Sydney and released it as a live single in Australia only. It is the only official release of Joel performing "Christmas in Fallujah", as Cass Dillon sang on the 2007 studio recording and the handful of times the song was played live in 2007. Joel sang the song throughout his December 2008 tour of Australia.

Joel in 2009

On May 19, 2009, Joel's former drummer, Liberty DeVitto, filed a lawsuit in NYC claiming Joel and Sony Music owed DeVitto over 10 years of royalty payments. DeVitto had never been given songwriting or arranging credit on any of Joel's songs, but he claimed that he helped arrange some of them, including "Only the Good Die Young".[112] In April 2010, it was announced that Joel and DeVitto amicably resolved the lawsuit.[113]

To mark the 40th anniversary of the release of Joel's debut album, Cold Spring Harbor, it was announced on his official website that Columbia/Legacy Recordings planned "to celebrate the occasion with a definitive reissue project of newly restored and expanded Legacy editions of Joel's complete catalog, newly curated collections of rarities from the vaults, previously unavailable studio tracks and live performances, home video releases and more", although this project was never fully realized.[114] Piano Man was re-released in a two-disc Legacy edition in November 2011, with Joel's 1972 live radio concert at WMMR-FM in Philadelphia comprising the second disc.[114][115]

In 2012, Joel signed an exclusive worldwide publishing agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), and its subsidiary Rondor Music International. Under the agreement, UMPG and Rondor replaced EMI Music Publishing in handling Joel's catalog outside the US. Additionally, the agreement marked the first time since Joel regained control of his publishing rights in the 1980s that he began to use an administrator to handle his catalog within the U.S. The agreement's focus is on increasing the use of Joel's music in movies, television programs and commercials.[116]

On December 12, 2012, Joel performed as part of 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief at Madison Square Garden, a concert held for all the victims of Hurricane Sandy. He changed the lyrics to "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)" to make it relate to all the damage caused by Sandy.

In May 2013, it was announced that Joel would hold his first ever indoor Irish concert at the O2 in Dublin on November 1. He subsequently announced his return to the UK for the first time in seven years to perform in October and November. Joel played in Manchester and Birmingham as well as London's Hammersmith Apollo.[117][118] In October, Joel held a surprise concert on Long Island at The Paramount (Huntington, New York) to benefit Long Island Cares. The venue holds a capacity of 1,555 and sold out in five minutes. Joel headlined a solo arena concert in New York City for the first time since 2006 when he performed at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on December 31, 2013.

In December 2013, Joel would be named as Madison Square Garden's first ever music "franchise."[72] With this honor, Joel would also join the New York Knicks, New York Rangers and New York Liberty in being recognized as an original Madison Square Garden franchise.[72][119]

### 2014–2025: Madison Square Garden residency, "Turn the Lights Back On", and recent health updates

[edit]

Joel performing at Madison Square Garden in April 2016

Joel announced a concert residency at Madison Square Garden, playing one concert a month indefinitely, starting January 27, 2014.[120] The first MSG show also launched the Billy Joel in Concert tour, which continued at the Amway Center (in Orlando, Florida) where Joel performed several cover songs such as Elton John's "Your Song", Billy Preston's "You Are So Beautiful" (in tribute to Joe Cocker), the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends", "Can't Buy Me Love" and "When I'm 64", Robert Burns' "Auld Lang Syne" and AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" (with Brian Johnson). Joel also performed an unusual set, including the song "Souvenir" (from 1974's Streetlife Serenade) and excluding "We Didn't Start the Fire".[121]

In January 2015, Joel broke the previous record he set in 2006 for most consecutive shows at Madison Square Garden after performing his 13th consecutive show, which also resulted in a new banner being raised to the Madison Square Garden rafters.[72] Throughout 2015, Joel performed 21 concerts in addition to his monthly Madison Square Garden residency. His August 4, 2015, engagement at Nassau Coliseum was the final concert prior to the arena undergoing a US$261 million renovation.[122] Joel returned to Nassau Coliseum on April 5, 2017, to play the first concert at the newly renovated venue.[123] Later that month, he played the first concert at Atlanta's new SunTrust Park, the suburban home of the Atlanta Braves.[124] On June 24, Joel returned to Hicksville High School 50 years after his would-be graduating class received their diplomas,[125] to deliver the honorary commencement address. It was also the 25th anniversary of receiving his own diploma from the same high school.

Joel at Madison Square Garden in June 2019

In 2019, Joel announced a concert at Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles, marking the first-ever concert at the baseball stadium.[126] Joel was forced to postpone his concerts between March 2020 and August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joel and Stevie Nicks jointly announced plans to perform a series of concerts across the United States in 2023, tentatively beginning with SoFi Stadium outside Los Angeles on March 10.[127]

Joel performing at a British Summer Time concert in Hyde Park in July 2023

On June 1, 2023, Joel announced that his residency at Madison Square Garden would end in July 2024 with his 104th performance in the series, marking his 150th lifetime performance at the venue.[128] On January 22, 2024, Joel announced his first new pop single in years (and only his second pop song in more than two decades), "Turn the Lights Back On", which was released on February 1.[129][130]

On May 23, 2025, Joel canceled every concert on his itinerary following a diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus.[131] By July 2025, Joel told People, as well as Bill Maher, that he felt better.[132][133]

On July 18 and 25, 2025, Joel appeared in a two-part documentary which aired on HBO and HBO Max titled Billy Joel: And So It Goes.[134][135][136][137] A 155-song soundtrack was released to coincide with the documentary.[138]

## Filmography

[edit]

### Film

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1988  | Oliver & Company | Dodger  | Voice role, also song "Why Should I Worry?"
2025  | Billy Joel: And So It Goes | Himself  | HBO Documentary

## Other ventures

[edit]

In 1996, Joel merged his long-held love of boating with his desire for a second career. He and Long Island boating businessman Peter Needham formed the Long Island Boat Company.[139][140]

In November 2010, Joel opened 20th Century Cycles, a vintage motorcycle customization business and museum in Oyster Bay, Long Island.[141][142]

In 2011, Joel announced that he was releasing an autobiography that he had written with Fred Schruers, titled The Book of Joel: A Memoir. The book was originally going to be released in June 2011, but, in March 2011, Joel decided against publishing the book and officially canceled his deal with HarperCollins. Rolling Stone noted, "HarperCollins acquired the book project for US$3 million in 2008. Joel is expected to return his advance on that sum to the publisher."[143] According to Billboard, "the HarperCollins book was billed as an 'emotional ride' that would detail the music legend's failed marriage to Christie Brinkley, as well as his battles with substance abuse."[144] In explaining his decision to cancel the book's release, Joel said, "It took working on writing a book to make me realize that I'm not all that interested in talking about the past, and that the best expression of my life and its ups and downs has been and remains my music."[145] In 2014, Schruers published a biography, simply titled Billy Joel, based on his extensive personal interviews with Joel.[146]

## Personal life

[edit]

### Marriages and family

[edit]

Joel's eldest daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, born to Joel and Christie Brinkley in 1985

Joel's first wife was Elizabeth Weber Small. When their relationship began, she was married to Jon Small, his music partner in the short-lived duo Attila, with whom she had a son. When the affair was revealed, Weber severed her relationships with both men. Weber and Joel later reconciled and married in 1973, and she then became his manager. They divorced on July 20, 1982.[147]

Joel married a second time, to model Christie Brinkley, in March 1985.[148] Their daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, was born December 29, 1985.[148][149] Alexa was given the middle name of Ray after Ray Charles, one of Joel's musical idols.[150] Joel and Brinkley divorced on August 26, 1994.[151] They remain friends, and Joel is the godfather of Brinkley's two youngest children, Jack and Sailor Brinkley Cook.[152][153]

On October 2, 2004, Joel married chef Katie Lee, his third wife.[154] At the time of the wedding, Lee was 23 and Joel was 55. Joel's daughter, Alexa Ray, then 18, served as the maid of honor. Joel's second wife, Christie Brinkley, attended the union and gave the couple her blessing. On June 17, 2009, they announced their separation.[155]

On July 4, 2015, Joel married a fourth time, to Alexis Roderick, an equestrian and former Morgan Stanley executive, at his Oyster Bay estate on Long Island. He was 66 and she was 33. Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo conducted the ceremony.[156] The couple has been together since 2009.[157] On August 12, 2015, the couple had a daughter, Della Rose Joel.[158] Their second daughter, Remy Anne Joel, was born on October 22, 2017.[159] His two younger daughters attend school in Florida, where the family now lives.[160][161]

### Homes

[edit]

Following the birth of their daughter Alexa, in 1986 Joel and his wife Christine Brinkley moved to a house in Amagansett, New York,[162][163] for which it was reported that he paid US$2.9 million.[164] In 2002, he sold the property to comedian Jerry Seinfeld for US$32.5 million (then the most expensive house purchase in the history of New York State).[165]

In 2002, Joel bought an estate in Centre Island, New York in the town of Oyster Bay for US$22 million. He also owns a house in Sag Harbor.[166] In 2023, Joel put his Oyster Bay estate on the market for $49 million.[167] The listing was pulled as the main house was undergoing renovations. The mansion, with its guest houses, pool, beach, and helipad on 26 acres, was again offered for sale in September 2024, asking $49.9 million.

In 2015, Joel purchased a home in Manalapan, Florida. The waterfront residence went on the market in November 2015 for $19.5 million[168] but it was taken off the market and re-listed in 2017 with an asking price of $18.5 million.[169] The property was further reduced to $16.9 million in 2018.[168] In January 2020, the 13,200-square-foot property sold for US$10.3 million.[170]

Having worked on an oyster dredger as a teenager, Joel has a longstanding interest in nautical matters. In 2009, it was reported that he owned a small flotilla of vessels, overseen by a full-time captain. Several of the craft were based on rough designs by Joel, including a 57 ft (17.4 m) boat with a top speed of 50 mph (80.5 km/h) which he had built to commute from Oyster Bay to Manhattan.[171]

### Health issues

[edit]

In 1970, a career decline and personal tragedies led Joel to a deep depressive period. It was revealed in the 2025 documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes that he tried to commit suicide twice.[172] After Joel's affair with Elizabeth Weber Small resulted in the breakup of Attila, and his estrangement from his best friend Jon Small, Joel was evicted from Small's house.[173] "I had no place to live. I was sleeping in laundromats and I was depressed, I think to the point of almost being psychotic," said Joel.[173] Joel's sister, Judy Molinari, who was a medical assistant at the time, had previously given him sleeping pills to help him sleep.[172] Joel's first suicide attempt occurred when he planned to take an overdose of all the pills. This resulted in Joel falling into a coma for several days. When he awoke, Joel was disappointed that his attempt failed, and swore he would "do it right" the second time around.[173] Joel then left a suicide note and attempted to kill himself a second time by drinking furniture polish. Joel later said, "I drank furniture polish. It looked tastier than bleach."[174] Jon Small rushed him to the hospital. Joel checked into Meadowbrook Hospital, where he was put on suicide watch and received treatment for depression.[175] Joel would later pen the song "Tomorrow Is Today", which he describes as a suicide note.[52]

In 1985, Joel recorded "You're Only Human (Second Wind)" as a message to help prevent teen suicide.[176]

In 2002, Joel entered Silver Hill Hospital, a substance abuse and psychiatric center in New Canaan, Connecticut, where he underwent treatment for 10 days.[177] In March 2005, Joel checked into the Betty Ford Center,[178] where he spent 30 days for the treatment of alcohol abuse.[179]

In 2025, Joel was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus,[131] leading to problems with his hearing, vision, and balance. The diagnosis led to Joel cancelling all his upcoming planned concerts.[180] In July 2025, he stated in interviews People and on Bill Maher's podcast that he was improving, with his condition being treatable.[133][132]

Joel has admitted to having a history of alcoholism, though he eventually became sober and has stated that some details regarding his alcohol addiction, such as the claim that Joel reached the point where he received DUI arrests, were exaggerated.[133][136]

### Political views and contributions

[edit]

Although Joel has donated money to Democratic candidates,[181] he has never publicly affiliated himself with the Democratic Party. Joel rarely publicly endorses political candidates; however, he did play a benefit with his friend Bruce Springsteen to raise money for Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2008.[182] Joel has performed at benefit concerts that have helped raise funds for political causes. However, about celebrities endorsing political candidates, Joel has said, "People who pay for your tickets, I don't think they want to hear who you're going to vote for and how you think they should vote."[183]

In 2016, after his sarcastic dedication of "The Entertainer" to then-Republican candidate Donald Trump[184] was taken as a serious endorsement, Joel told the New York Daily News in an email that he would be voting for Hillary Clinton.[185]

Joel endorsed Andrew Cuomo’s candidacy for the 2025 New York City mayoral election.[186]

## Tours

[edit]

Tours

* Cold Spring Harbor Tour (1972)
* Turnstiles Tour (1976)
* The Stranger Tour (1977)
* 52nd Street Tour (1978)
* The Nylon Curtain Tour (1982)
* An Innocent Man Tour (1984)
* The Bridge Tour (1986–87)
* Storm Front Tour (1989–91)
* River of Dreams Tour (1993–95)
* Face to Face 1994 (with Elton John) (1994)
* Face to Face 1995 (with Elton John) (1995)
* An Evening of Questions and Answers (1996)
* Face to Face 1998 (with Elton John) (1998)
* Face to Face 2001 (with Elton John) (2001)
* Face to Face 2002 (with Elton John) (2002)
* Face to Face 2003 (with Elton John) (2003)
* 2006 Tour (2006)
* 2007 Tour (2007)
* 2008 Tour (2008)
* Face to Face 2009 (with Elton John) (2009)
* Face to Face 2010 (with Elton John) (2010)
* Billy Joel in Concert (2014–2025)
* Two Icons – One Night (2023)
* Two Icons – One Night (2024)

Residency

* Billy Joel at the Garden (2014–2024)

## Discography

[edit]

Main article: Billy Joel discography

* Cold Spring Harbor (1971)
* Piano Man (1973)
* Streetlife Serenade (1974)
* Turnstiles (1976)
* The Stranger (1977)
* 52nd Street (1978)
* Glass Houses (1980)
* The Nylon Curtain (1982)
* An Innocent Man (1983)
* The Bridge (1986)
* Storm Front (1989)
* River of Dreams (1993)
* Fantasies & Delusions (2001)

## Awards and achievements

[edit]

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry with the 2013 Kennedy Center Honors recipients (left to right): Shirley MacLaine, Martina Arroyo, Billy Joel, Carlos Santana, and Herbie Hancock Joel receiving an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Syracuse University in 2006

Joel graduated well after his high school peers because of a missed English exam.[187] His high school diploma was finally awarded by the school board 25 years later.[39] Joel has been presented with multiple honorary doctorates:[188]

* Doctor of Humane Letters from Fairfield University (1991)
* Doctor of Music from Berklee College of Music (1993)
* Doctor of Humane Letters from Hofstra University (1997)
* Doctor of Music from Southampton College (2000)
* Doctor of Fine Arts from Syracuse University (2006)[189]
* Doctor of Musical Arts from the Manhattan School of Music (2008)
* Doctor of Music from Stony Brook University (2015)

In 1986, Joel was on the site selection committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame board. Seven members of the committee voted for the Hall to be located in San Francisco, and seven voted for Cleveland, Ohio; this tie was broken when Joel voted for Cleveland. Joel was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in 1999 by one of his chief musical influences, Ray Charles, with whom Joel also collaborated on his song "Baby Grand" (1986).

Joel was also named MusiCares Person of the Year for 2002,[190][191] an award given each year at the same time as the Grammy Awards. At the dinner honoring him, various artists performed versions of Joel's songs, including Nelly Furtado, Stevie Wonder, Jon Bon Jovi, Diana Krall, Rob Thomas and Natalie Cole.

Joel has won six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for 52nd Street and Song of the Year and Record of the Year for "Just the Way You Are".

Joel's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 1993, Joel was the second entertainer out of 30 persons to be inducted into the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame.[192] On September 20, 2004, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for his work in the music industry, located at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard.[193][194][195] Joel was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame on October 15, 2006.

Joel is the only performing artist to have played both Yankee and Shea Stadiums, as well as Giants Stadium, Madison Square Garden, and Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Joel has banners in the rafters of the MVP Arena, Nassau Coliseum, Madison Square Garden, Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, and the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse.

In 2003, Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list included The Stranger at number 67,[196] and 52nd Street at number 352.[197] On their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, Rolling Stone included "Piano Man" at number 421.[198]

Joel has also sponsored the Billy Joel Visiting Composer Series at Syracuse University.[199]

On December 12, 2011, Joel became the first non-classical musician honored with a portrait in Steinway Hall.[200]

On December 29, 2013, in Washington, D.C., Joel received Kennedy Center Honors, the nation's highest honor for influencing American culture through the arts.[201]

On July 22, 2014, the Library of Congress announced that Joel would be the sixth recipient of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.[202] He received the prize at a performance ceremony in November 2014 from James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress, and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.[203]

On July 18, 2018, Governor Andrew Cuomo proclaimed the date to be Billy Joel Day in New York state to mark his 100th performance at Madison Square Garden.[204]

On October 19, 2023, a section of Audrey Avenue near Joel's motorcycle museum in his hometown of Oyster Bay was given the ceremonial name "Billy Joel Way" in honor of the musician.[205][206]

On April 14, 2024, Joel was featured on CBS in commemoration of his 100th performance at Madison Square Garden.[207] The network broadcast an encore presentation of the concert special five nights later, on April 19.[208]

In 2024, Joel was honored in "Group C Premiere: Billy Joel Night," on The Masked Singer Season 11. The contestants that night sang songs by Joel.

### Awards and nominations

[edit]

Award  | Year  | Nominated work  | Category  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

American Music Awards | 1981 | Glass Houses | Favorite Pop/Rock Album | Won  | [209]
Brit Awards | 1984 | Himself  | International Artist | Nominated  | [210]
1990 | "We Didn't Start the Fire"  | British Video of the Year | Nominated
1994 | Himself  | International Male Solo Artist | Nominated
Grammy Awards | 1979 | "Just the Way You Are"  | Record of the Year | Won  | [211]
Song of the Year | Won
1980 | 52nd Street | Album of the Year | Won
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance | Won
"Honesty"  | Song of the Year | Nominated
1981 | Glass Houses | Album of the Year | Nominated
Best Male Rock Vocal Performance | Won
1983 | The Nylon Curtain | Album of the Year | Nominated
1984 | An Innocent Man | Nominated
"Uptown Girl"  | Best Male Pop Vocal Performance | Nominated
1985 | Billy Joel Live from Long Island | Best Video Album | Nominated
1990 | "We Didn't Start the Fire"  | Record of the Year | Nominated
Song of the Year | Nominated
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance | Nominated
1991 | Storm Front | Best Male Pop Vocal Performance | Nominated
Himself  | Producer of the Year, Non-Classical | Nominated
Grammy Legend Award | Won  | [212]
1992 | Live at Yankee Stadium | Best Long Form Music Video | Nominated  | [211]
"When You Wish Upon a Star"  | Best Short Form Music Video | Nominated
1994 | River of Dreams | Album of the Year | Nominated
"The River of Dreams"  | Record of the Year | Nominated
Song of the Year | Nominated
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance | Nominated
2002 | "New York State of Mind"  | Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals | Nominated
MTV Video Music Awards | 1984 | "Uptown Girl"  | Best Male Video | Nominated  | [213]
New York Emmy Awards | 2018  | Billy Joel: New York State of Mind | Entertainment: Program/Special  | Won  | [214]
2020  | White Hot Spotlight: Billy Joel and the Greatest Arena Run of All Time | Won  | [215]
Primetime Emmy Awards | 2002 | Billy Joel: In His Own Words | Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program | Nominated  | [216]
Tony Awards | 2003 | Movin' Out | Best Orchestrations | Won  | [217]

## See also

[edit]

* Billy Joel Band
* List of best-selling music artists
* List of highest-grossing live music artists

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2006). "Billy Joel Biography". AllMusic. Archived from the original on September 9, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
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175. ^ Courtesy of Columbia. "Billy Joel". MTV. Archived from the original on December 27, 2009. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
176. ^ Campbell, Mary (September 5, 1985). "Billy Joel sees self as working homebody". Kentucky New Era. Archived from the original on February 7, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2011.
177. ^ "Billy Joel Checks into Hospital". Tampa Bay Times. June 20, 2002. p. 32. Retrieved June 22, 2025 - via Newspapers.com.
178. ^ "Billy Joel In Rehab Again". CBS News. Associated Press. March 16, 2005. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
179. ^ "Billy Joel leaves US rehab clinic". BBC News. April 13, 2005. Archived from the original on March 14, 2006. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
180. ^ Burke, Minyvonne (May 23, 2025). "Billy Joel cancels U.S. tour dates after being diagnosed with a brain disorder". MSN. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
181. ^ "Billy Joel's Federal Campaign Contribution Report". NEWSMEAT. Archived from the original on September 20, 2008. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
182. ^ Rush, George; Hutchinson, Bill (October 17, 2008). "Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel headline Barack Obama midtown cash bash". Daily News. New York. Archived from the original on January 31, 2009. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
183. ^ Bedard, Paul; Schwab, Nikki (October 23, 2008). "Billy Joel: Change of Heart and an Obama Endorsement". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on January 20, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
184. ^ Polus, Sarah; Polus, Sarah (May 31, 2016). "Did Billy Joel just diss Donald Trump? Probably". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on May 18, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
185. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Billy Joel is voting for Hillary Clinton". Daily News. New York. Archived from the original on April 22, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
186. ^ Oreskes, Benjamin (June 24, 2025). "With Hours Left in the Primary, the Stars Come Out for Mamdani". The New York Times. Retrieved June 24, 2025. Other high-profile figures who have backed Mr. Mamdani include the singer Maggie Rogers, the actress and activist Laverne Cox, the comedian John Early and the leftist podcaster Stavros Halkias [. . .] Several notable older New Yorkers have backed Mr. Cuomo, including the former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, the singer Billy Joel and the fashion designers Michael Kors and Tory Burch.
187. ^ Ramson, Stuart (May 14, 2006). "Joel serenades 5,000 Syracuse graduates". USA Today. Associated Press. Archived from the original on November 3, 2008. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
188. ^ Cosmic Rationale. "52nd Street Serenade". billyjoel52ndstreetserenade.blogspot.co.uk. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
189. ^ "Syracuse University to present five honorary degrees at its 152nd Commencement". SUNews.syr.edu. Syracuse University. April 17, 2006. Archived from the original on June 14, 2006. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
190. ^ Friedman, Roger (February 26, 2002). "Joel Gets Special Award at Grammy Kickoff". Fox News. Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
191. ^ Higgins, Bill (February 28, 2002). "The Ballad of Billy Joel". Daily Variety. Vol. 274, no. 65\. Los Angeles. p. 14\. ISSN 0011-5509.
192. ^ "Sound Bites: Billy Club". Daily News. New York. October 8, 1993. p. 19\. Archived from the original on April 30, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2019 - via Newspapers.com.
193. ^ "Billy Joel". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
194. ^ "Billy Joel". Hollywood Star Walk: Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
195. ^ "Billy Joel in Walk of Fame honour". BBC. September 21, 2004. Archived from the original on January 2, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
196. ^ "The Stranger ranked no. 67". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 2, 2011. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
197. ^ "52nd Street ranked no. 352". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 2, 2011. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
198. ^ "Rolling Stone: 500 Greatest Songs of All Time 2004 401-500". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 20, 2008. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
199. ^ "VPA continues Billy Joel Visiting Composer Series with residency by Scottish composer Judith Weir" (Press release). Syracuse University. February 14, 2008. Archived from the original on March 9, 2014. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
200. ^ Gamboa, Glenn (December 12, 2011). "Billy Joel honored by Steinway". Newsday. Archived from the original on January 11, 2012.
201. ^ "Billy Joel, Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock Receive Kennedy Center Honors". Billboard. Associated Press. December 8, 2013. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013.
202. ^ Tucker, Neely (July 22, 2014). "Billy Joel to receive Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from Library of Congress". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
203. ^ "The Gershwin Prize Billy Joel". The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize. PBS. 2014. Archived from the original on August 17, 2017.
204. ^ Gamboa, Glenn (July 19, 2018). "Joel: 100th MSG show beyond 'wildest expectations'". Newsday. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
205. ^ "'Billy Joel Way' unveiled on Long Island". CBS News. October 20, 2023. Archived from the original on February 4, 2024. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
206. ^ Solnik, Claude (December 1, 2024). "Signs of respect". Newsday. New York. p. E4. ISSN 0278-5587 - via Newspapers.com.
207. ^ Greco, Lisa Del (February 12, 2024). "'The 100th: Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden' Airs April 14, 2024". Billy Joel Official Site. Archived from the original on April 14, 2024. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
208. ^ Gularte, Alejandra (April 16, 2024). "CBS Is Turning the Lights Back On for Billy Joel". Vulture. Archived from the original on April 17, 2024. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
209. ^ "Winners Database | 1981". American Music Awards. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
210. ^ "Billy Joel | Artist Profile". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
211. ^ a b "Billy Joel | Artist | GRAMMY.com". The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on September 11, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
212. ^ "The GRAMMY Legend Award | GRAMMY.com". The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
213. ^ "1984 MTV Video Music Awards Winners and Nominees". MTV. Archived from the original on March 1, 2000. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
214. ^ "The 61st Annual New York EMMY® Award Winners" (PDF). National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
215. ^ "The 63rd Annual New York EMMY® Award Winners" (PDF). National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
216. ^ "Billy Joel – Emmy Awards, Nominations and Wins". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
217. ^ "2003 Tony Awards Winners". Billboard. June 9, 2003. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.

### Sources

[edit]

* Bego, Mark (2007). Billy Joel: The Biography. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 978-1560259893.
* Bordowitz, Hank (2005). Billy Joel: The Life and Times of an Angry Young Man. New York: Billboard Books. ISBN 0823082504.
* Schruers, Fred (2014). Billy Joel: The Definitive Biography. New York: Crown Archetype. ISBN 978-0804140195.
* Smith, Bill (2007). I Go to Extremes: The Billy Joel Story. London: Robson Books. ISBN 978-1861058904.

## External links

[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Billy Joel.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Billy Joel.

* Official website
* Billy Joel on Instagram, archived at Ghostarchive.org. Archived from the original
* Billy Joel at IMDb
* Billy Joel at the Internet Broadway Database
* Billy Joel at AllMusic

* v
* t
* e

Billy Joel

Studio albums|

* Cold Spring Harbor
* Piano Man
* Streetlife Serenade
* Turnstiles
* The Stranger
* 52nd Street
* Glass Houses
* The Nylon Curtain
* An Innocent Man
* The Bridge
* Storm Front
* River of Dreams
* Fantasies & Delusions

Live albums|

* Songs in the Attic
* Kontsert
* 2000 Years: The Millennium Concert
* 12 Gardens Live
* Live at Shea Stadium: The Concert

Compilations|

* Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II
* Souvenir: The Ultimate Collection
* Greatest Hits Volume III
* The Complete Hits Collection: 1973–1997
* The Ultimate Collection
* The Essential Billy Joel
* Piano Man: The Very Best of Billy Joel
* My Lives
* The Hits
* Billy Joel: Opus Collection

Singles|

* "She's Got a Way" / "Everybody Loves You Now"
* "Piano Man" / "You're My Home"
* "Worse Comes to Worst"
* "Travelin' Prayer"
* "The Ballad of Billy the Kid"
* "The Entertainer"
* "James"
* "I've Loved These Days" / "Say Goodbye to Hollywood"
* "Just the Way You Are" / "Vienna"
* "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)"
* "Only the Good Die Young"
* "She's Always a Woman"
* "The Stranger"
* "My Life"
* "Big Shot"
* "Honesty"
* "Until the Night"
* "All for Leyna"
* "You May Be Right"
* "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me"
* "Don't Ask Me Why"
* "Sometimes a Fantasy"
* "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" (Live)
* "She's Got a Way" (Live)
* "Pressure"
* "Allentown"
* "Goodnight Saigon"
* "Tell Her About It"
* "Uptown Girl"
* "An Innocent Man"
* "The Longest Time"
* "Leave a Tender Moment Alone"
* "This Night"
* "Keeping the Faith"
* "You're Only Human (Second Wind)"
* "The Night Is Still Young"
* "Modern Woman" / "Sleeping with the Television On"
* "A Matter of Trust"
* "This Is the Time"
* "Baby Grand"
* "Back in the U.S.S.R." (Live)
* "We Didn't Start the Fire"
* References
* "Leningrad"
* "I Go to Extremes"
* "The Downeaster 'Alexa'"
* "That's Not Her Style"
* "And So It Goes"
* "Shameless"
* "All Shook Up"
* "The River of Dreams"
* "No Man's Land"
* "All About Soul"
* "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)"
* "To Make You Feel My Love"
* "All My Life"
* "Christmas in Fallujah"
* "Turn the Lights Back On"

Other songs|

* "Captain Jack"
* "Tomorrow Is Today"
* "Los Angelenos"
* "Root Beer Rag"
* "New York State of Mind"
* "Prelude/Angry Young Man"
* "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)"
* "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"
* "Zanzibar"
* "Laura"
* "Scandinavian Skies"
* "Big Man on Mulberry Street"

Tours|

* The Nylon Curtain Tour
* An Innocent Man Tour
* The Bridge Tour
* Storm Front Tour
* River of Dreams Tour
* Face to Face Tours
* 1994
* 1995
* 1998
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2009
* 2010
* Billy Joel in Concert

See also|

* Discography
* Billy Joel band members
* Movin' Out
* The Last Play at Shea
* The Hassles
* Attila
* Alexa Ray Joel
* Christie Brinkley
* Oliver & Company
* soundtrack
* Katie Lee
* "Movin' Out" (Glee episode)
* Billy Joel: And So It Goes

* Category

Awards for Billy Joel

* v
* t
* e

American Music Award of Merit

* Bing Crosby (1974)
* Berry Gordy (1975)
* Irving Berlin (1976)
* Johnny Cash (1977)
* Ella Fitzgerald (1978)
* Perry Como (1979)
* Benny Goodman (1980)
* Chuck Berry (1981)
* Stevie Wonder (1982)
* Kenny Rogers (1983)
* Michael Jackson (1984)
* Loretta Lynn (1985)
* Paul McCartney (1986)
* Elvis Presley (1987)
* The Beach Boys (1988)
* Willie Nelson (1989)
* Neil Diamond (1990)
* Merle Haggard (1991)
* James Brown (1992)
* Bill Graham (1993)
* Whitney Houston (1994)
* Prince (1995)
* Tammy Wynette (1996)
* Little Richard (1997)
* Frank Sinatra (1998)
* Billy Joel (1999)
* Gloria Estefan (2000)
* Janet Jackson (2001)
* Garth Brooks (2002)
* Alabama (2003)
* Bon Jovi (2004)
* Annie Lennox (2008)
* Sting (2016)

* v
* t
* e

Gershwin Prize recipients

* Paul Simon (2007)
* Stevie Wonder (2009)
* Paul McCartney (2010)
* Burt Bacharach and Hal David (2012)
* Carole King (2013)
* Billy Joel (2014)
* Willie Nelson (2015)
* Smokey Robinson (2016)
* Tony Bennett (2017)
* Emilio Estefan and Gloria Estefan (2019)
* Garth Brooks (2020)
* Lionel Richie (2022)
* Joni Mitchell (2023)
* Elton John and Bernie Taupin (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Grammy Award for Album of the Year

1950s|

* The Music from Peter Gunn – Henry Mancini (1959)

1960s|

* Come Dance with Me! – Frank Sinatra (1960)
* The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart – Bob Newhart (1961)
* Judy at Carnegie Hall – Judy Garland (1962)
* The First Family – Vaughn Meader (1963)
* The Barbra Streisand Album – Barbra Streisand (1964)
* Getz/Gilberto – Stan Getz & João Gilberto (1965)
* September of My Years – Frank Sinatra (1966)
* A Man and His Music – Frank Sinatra (1967)
* Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles (1968)
* By the Time I Get to Phoenix – Glen Campbell (1968)

1970s|

* Blood, Sweat & Tears – Blood, Sweat & Tears (1970)
* Bridge over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel (1971)
* Tapestry – Carole King (1972)
* The Concert for Bangladesh – George Harrison & Friends (1973)
* Innervisions – Stevie Wonder (1974)
* Fulfillingness' First Finale – Stevie Wonder (1975)
* Still Crazy After All These Years – Paul Simon (1976)
* Songs in the Key of Life – Stevie Wonder (1977)
* Rumours – Fleetwood Mac (1978)
* Saturday Night Fever – Various Artists (1979)

1980s|

* 52nd Street – Billy Joel (1980)
* Christopher Cross – Christopher Cross (1981)
* Double Fantasy – John Lennon & Yoko Ono (1982)
* Toto IV – Toto (1983)
* Thriller – Michael Jackson (1984)
* Can't Slow Down – Lionel Richie (1985)
* No Jacket Required – Phil Collins (1986)
* Graceland – Paul Simon (1987)
* The Joshua Tree – U2 (1988)
* Faith – George Michael (1989)

1990s|

* Nick of Time – Bonnie Raitt (1990)
* Back on the Block – Quincy Jones and Various Artists (1991)
* Unforgettable... with Love – Natalie Cole (1992)
* Unplugged – Eric Clapton (1993)
* The Bodyguard – Whitney Houston (1994)
* MTV Unplugged – Tony Bennett (1995)
* Jagged Little Pill – Alanis Morissette (1996)
* Falling into You – Celine Dion (1997)
* Time Out of Mind – Bob Dylan (1998)
* The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill – Lauryn Hill (1999)

2000s|

* Supernatural – Santana (2000)
* Two Against Nature – Steely Dan (2001)
* O Brother, Where Art Thou? – Various Artists (2002)
* Come Away with Me – Norah Jones (2003)
* Speakerboxxx/The Love Below – Outkast (2004)
* Genius Loves Company – Ray Charles & Various Artists (2005)
* How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb – U2 (2006)
* Taking the Long Way – Dixie Chicks (2007)
* River: The Joni Letters – Herbie Hancock (2008)
* Raising Sand – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss (2009)

2010s|

* Fearless – Taylor Swift (2010)
* The Suburbs – Arcade Fire (2011)
* 21 – Adele (2012)
* Babel – Mumford & Sons (2013)
* Random Access Memories – Daft Punk (2014)
* Morning Phase – Beck (2015)
* 1989 – Taylor Swift (2016)
* 25 – Adele (2017)
* 24K Magic – Bruno Mars (2018)
* Golden Hour – Kacey Musgraves (2019)

2020s|

* When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? – Billie Eilish (2020)
* Folklore – Taylor Swift (2021)
* We Are – Jon Batiste (2022)
* Harry's House – Harry Styles (2023)
* Midnights – Taylor Swift (2024)
* Cowboy Carter – Beyoncé (2025)

* v
* t
* e

Grammy Award for Record of the Year

1950s|

* "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)" – Domenico Modugno (May 1959)
* "Mack the Knife" – Bobby Darin (November 1959)

1960s|

* "Theme from A Summer Place" – Percy Faith (1961)
* "Moon River" – Henry Mancini (1962)
* "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" – Tony Bennett (1963)
* "Days of Wine and Roses" – Henry Mancini (1964)
* "The Girl from Ipanema" – Astrud Gilberto & Stan Getz (1965)
* "A Taste of Honey" – Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (1966)
* "Strangers in the Night" – Frank Sinatra (1967)
* "Up, Up and Away" – The 5th Dimension (1968)
* "Mrs. Robinson" – Simon & Garfunkel (1969)

1970s|

* "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" – The 5th Dimension (1970)
* "Bridge over Troubled Water" – Simon & Garfunkel (1971)
* "It's Too Late" – Carole King (1972)
* "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" – Roberta Flack (1973)
* "Killing Me Softly with His Song" – Roberta Flack (1974)
* "I Honestly Love You" – Olivia Newton-John (1975)
* "Love Will Keep Us Together" – Captain & Tennille (1976)
* "This Masquerade" – George Benson (1977)
* "Hotel California" – Eagles (1978)
* "Just the Way You Are" – Billy Joel (1979)

1980s|

* "What a Fool Believes" – The Doobie Brothers (1980)
* "Sailing" – Christopher Cross (1981)
* "Bette Davis Eyes" – Kim Carnes (1982)
* "Rosanna" – Toto (1983)
* "Beat It" – Michael Jackson (1984)
* "What's Love Got to Do with It" – Tina Turner (1985)
* "We Are the World" – USA for Africa (1986)
* "Higher Love" – Steve Winwood (1987)
* "Graceland" – Paul Simon (1988)
* "Don't Worry, Be Happy" – Bobby McFerrin (1989)

1990s|

* "Wind Beneath My Wings" – Bette Midler (1990)
* "Another Day in Paradise" – Phil Collins (1991)
* "Unforgettable" – Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole (1992)
* "Tears in Heaven" – Eric Clapton (1993)
* "I Will Always Love You" – Whitney Houston (1994)
* "All I Wanna Do" – Sheryl Crow (1995)
* "Kiss from a Rose" – Seal (1996)
* "Change the World" – Eric Clapton (1997)
* "Sunny Came Home" – Shawn Colvin (1998)
* "My Heart Will Go On" – Celine Dion (1998)

2000s|

* "Smooth" – Santana featuring Rob Thomas (2000)
* "Beautiful Day" – U2 (2001)
* "Walk On" – U2 (2002)
* "Don't Know Why" – Norah Jones (2003)
* "Clocks" – Coldplay (2004)
* "Here We Go Again" – Ray Charles & Norah Jones (2005)
* "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" – Green Day (2006)
* "Not Ready to Make Nice" – Dixie Chicks (2007)
* "Rehab" – Amy Winehouse (2008)
* "Please Read the Letter" – Alison Krauss & Robert Plant (2009)

2010s|

* "Use Somebody" – Kings of Leon (2010)
* "Need You Now" – Lady Antebellum (2011)
* "Rolling in the Deep" – Adele (2012)
* "Somebody That I Used to Know" – Gotye featuring Kimbra (2013)
* "Get Lucky" – Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers (2014)
* "Stay with Me" (Darkchild version) – Sam Smith (2015)
* "Uptown Funk" – Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars (2016)
* "Hello" – Adele (2017)
* "24K Magic" – Bruno Mars (2018)
* "This Is America" – Childish Gambino (2019)

2020s|

* "Bad Guy" – Billie Eilish (2020)
* "Everything I Wanted" – Billie Eilish (2021)
* "Leave the Door Open" – Silk Sonic (2022)
* "About Damn Time" by Lizzo (2023)
* "Flowers" – Miley Cyrus (2024)
* "Not Like Us" – Kendrick Lamar (2025)

* v
* t
* e

Grammy Award for Song of the Year

Awarded to songwriters

1950s|

* "Nel blu, dipinto di blu (Volare)" – Domenico Modugno (1959)

1960s|

* "The Battle of New Orleans" – Jimmy Driftwood (1960)
* "Theme of Exodus" – Ernest Gold (1961)
* "Moon River" – Johnny Mercer & Henry Mancini (1962)
* "What Kind of Fool Am I?" – Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley (1963)
* "Days of Wine and Roses" – Johnny Mercer & Henry Mancini (1964)
* "Hello, Dolly!" – Jerry Herman (1965)
* "The Shadow of Your Smile" – Paul Francis Webster & Johnny Mandel (1966)
* "Michelle" – John Lennon & Paul McCartney (1967)
* "Up, Up, and Away" – Jimmy Webb (1968)
* "Little Green Apples" – Bobby Russell (1969)

1970s|

* "Games People Play" – Joe South (1970)
* "Bridge over Troubled Water" – Paul Simon (1971)
* "You've Got a Friend" – Carole King (1972)
* "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" – Ewan MacColl (1973)
* "Killing Me Softly with His Song" – Norman Gimbel & Charles Fox (1974)
* "The Way We Were" – Alan and Marilyn Bergman & Marvin Hamlisch (1975)
* "Send In the Clowns" – Stephen Sondheim (1976)
* "I Write the Songs" – Bruce Johnston (1977)
* "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)" – Barbra Streisand & Paul Williams / "You Light Up My Life" – Joe Brooks (1978)
* "Just the Way You Are" – Billy Joel (1979)

1980s|

* "What a Fool Believes" – Kenny Loggins & Michael McDonald (1980)
* "Sailing" – Christopher Cross (1981)
* "Bette Davis Eyes" – Donna Weiss & Jackie DeShannon (1982)
* "Always on My Mind" – Johnny Christopher, Mark James & Wayne Carson (1983)
* "Every Breath You Take" – Sting (1984)
* "What's Love Got to Do with It" – Graham Lyle & Terry Britten (1985)
* "We Are the World" – Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie (1986)
* "That's What Friends Are For" – Burt Bacharach & Carole Bayer Sager (1987)
* "Somewhere Out There" – James Horner, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil (1988)
* "Don't Worry, Be Happy" – Bobby McFerrin (1989)

1990s|

* "Wind Beneath My Wings" – Larry Henley & Jeff Silbar (1990)
* "From a Distance" – Julie Gold (1991)
* "Unforgettable" – Irving Gordon (1992)
* "Tears in Heaven" – Eric Clapton & Will Jennings (1993)
* "A Whole New World" – Alan Menken & Tim Rice (1994)
* "Streets of Philadelphia" – Bruce Springsteen (1995)
* "Kiss from a Rose" – Seal (1996)
* "Change the World" – Gordon Kennedy, Wayne Kirkpatrick & Tommy Sims (1997)
* "Sunny Came Home" – Shawn Colvin & John Leventhal (1998)
* "My Heart Will Go On" – James Horner & Will Jennings (1999)

2000s|

* "Smooth" – Itaal Shur & Rob Thomas (2000)
* "Beautiful Day" – Adam Clayton, David Evans, Laurence Mullen & Paul Hewson (2001)
* "Fallin'" – Alicia Keys (2002)
* "Don't Know Why" – Jesse Harris (2003)
* "Dance with My Father" – Richard Marx & Luther Vandross (2004)
* "Daughters" – John Mayer (2005)
* "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" – Adam Clayton, David Evans, Laurence Mullen & Paul Hewson (2006)
* "Not Ready to Make Nice" – Emily Burns Erwin, Martha Maguire, Natalie Maines Pasdar & Dan Wilson (2007)
* "Rehab" – Amy Winehouse (2008)
* "Viva la Vida" – Guy Berryman, Jonathan Buckland, William Champion & Christopher Martin (2009)

2010s|

* "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" – Thaddis "Kuk" Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart (2010)
* "Need You Now" – Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott (2011)
* "Rolling in the Deep" – Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth (2012)
* "We Are Young" – Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost & Nate Ruess (2013)
* "Royals" – Joel Little & Ella Yelich O'Connor (2014)
* "Stay with Me" (Darkchild version) – James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith (2015)
* "Thinking Out Loud" – Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge (2016)
* "Hello" – Adele Adkins & Greg Kurstin (2017)
* "That's What I Like" – Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip (2018)
* "This Is America" – Donald Glover, Ludwig Göransson & Jeffery Lamar Williams (2019)

2020s|

* "Bad Guy" – Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell (2020)
* "I Can't Breathe" – Dernst Emile II, H.E.R. & Tiara Thomas (2021)
* "Leave the Door Open" – Brandon Anderson, Christopher Brody Brown, Dernst Emile II & Bruno Mars (2022)
* "Just Like That" – Bonnie Raitt (2023)
* "What Was I Made For?" – Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell (2024)
* "Not Like Us" – Kendrick Lamar (2025)

* v
* t
* e

Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance

1950s|

* "Catch a Falling Star" – Perry Como (1959)

1960s|

* Come Dance with Me! – Frank Sinatra (1960)
* "Georgia on My Mind" – Ray Charles / The Genius of Ray Charles – Ray Charles (1961)
* "Lollipops and Roses" – Jack Jones (1962)
* "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" – Tony Bennett (1963)
* "Wives and Lovers" – Jack Jones (1964)
* "Hello, Dolly!" – Louis Armstrong (1965)
* "It Was a Very Good Year" – Frank Sinatra (1966)
* "Strangers in the Night" – Frank Sinatra (1967)
* "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" – Glen Campbell (1968)
* "Light My Fire" – José Feliciano (1969)

1970s|

* "Everybody's Talkin'" – Harry Nilsson (1970)
* "Everything Is Beautiful" – Ray Stevens (1971)
* "You've Got a Friend" – James Taylor (1972)
* "Without You" – Harry Nilsson (1973)
* "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" – Stevie Wonder (1974)
* Fulfillingness' First Finale – Stevie Wonder (1975)
* Still Crazy After All These Years – Paul Simon (1976)
* Songs in the Key of Life – Stevie Wonder (1977)
* "Handy Man" – James Taylor (1978)
* "Copacabana (At the Copa)" – Barry Manilow (1979)

1980s|

* 52nd Street – Billy Joel (1980)
* "This Is It" – Kenny Loggins (1981)
* Breakin' Away – Al Jarreau (1982)
* "Truly" – Lionel Richie (1983)
* Thriller – Michael Jackson (1984)
* "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" – Phil Collins (1985)
* No Jacket Required – Phil Collins (1986)
* "Higher Love" – Steve Winwood (1987)
* Bring On the Night – Sting (1988)
* "Don't Worry, Be Happy" – Bobby McFerrin (1989)

1990s|

* "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" – Michael Bolton (1990)
* "Oh, Pretty Woman (live 1987)" – Roy Orbison (1991)
* "When a Man Loves a Woman" – Michael Bolton (1992)
* "Tears in Heaven" – Eric Clapton (1993)
* "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" – Sting (1994)
* "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" – Elton John (1995)
* "Kiss from a Rose" – Seal (1996)
* "Change the World" – Eric Clapton (1997)
* "Candle in the Wind 1997" – Elton John (1998)
* "My Father's Eyes" – Eric Clapton (1999)

2000s|

* "Brand New Day" – Sting (2000)
* "She Walks This Earth" – Sting (2001)
* "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" – James Taylor (2002)
* "Your Body Is a Wonderland" – John Mayer (2003)
* "Cry Me a River" – Justin Timberlake (2004)
* "Daughters" – John Mayer (2005)
* "From the Bottom of My Heart" – Stevie Wonder (2006)
* "Waiting on the World to Change" – John Mayer (2007)
* "What Goes Around... Comes Around" – Justin Timberlake (2008)
* "Say" – John Mayer (2009)

2010s|

* "Make It Mine" – Jason Mraz (2010)
* "Just the Way You Are" – Bruno Mars (2011)

* v
* t
* e

Grammy Legend Award

* Andrew Lloyd Webber / Liza Minnelli / Willie Nelson / Smokey Robinson (1990)
* Johnny Cash / Aretha Franklin / Billy Joel / Quincy Jones (1991)
* Barbra Streisand (1992)
* Michael Jackson (1993)
* Curtis Mayfield / Frank Sinatra (1994)
* Luciano Pavarotti (1998)
* Elton John (1999)
* Bee Gees (2003)

* v
* t
* e

Kennedy Center Honorees (2010s)

2010|

* Merle Haggard
* Jerry Herman
* Bill T. Jones
* Paul McCartney
* Oprah Winfrey

2011|

* Barbara Cook
* Neil Diamond
* Yo-Yo Ma
* Sonny Rollins
* Meryl Streep

2012|

* Buddy Guy
* Dustin Hoffman
* David Letterman
* Led Zeppelin
* Natalia Makarova

2013|

* Martina Arroyo
* Herbie Hancock
* Billy Joel
* Shirley MacLaine
* Carlos Santana

2014|

* Al Green
* Tom Hanks
* Patricia McBride
* Sting
* Lily Tomlin

2015|

* Carole King
* George Lucas
* Rita Moreno
* Seiji Ozawa
* Cicely Tyson

2016|

* Martha Argerich
* Eagles
* Al Pacino
* Mavis Staples
* James Taylor

2017|

* Carmen de Lavallade
* Gloria Estefan
* LL Cool J
* Norman Lear
* Lionel Richie

2018|

* Cher
* Philip Glass
* Reba McEntire
* Wayne Shorter
* Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail, Alex Lacamoire, and Andy Blankenbuehler)

2019|

* Earth, Wind & Fire
* Sally Field
* Linda Ronstadt
* Sesame Street
* Michael Tilson Thomas

* Complete list
* 1970s
* 1980s
* 1990s
* 2000s
* 2010s
* 2020s

* v
* t
* e

MusiCares Person of the Year

* David Crosby (1991)
* Bonnie Raitt (1992)
* Natalie Cole (1993)
* Gloria Estefan (1994)
* Tony Bennett (1995)
* Quincy Jones (1996)
* Phil Collins (1997)
* Luciano Pavarotti (1998)
* Stevie Wonder (1999)
* Elton John (2000)
* Paul Simon (2001)
* Billy Joel (2002)
* Bono (2003)
* Sting (2004)
* Brian Wilson (2005)
* James Taylor (2006)
* Don Henley (2007)
* Aretha Franklin (2008)
* Neil Diamond (2009)
* Neil Young (2010)
* Barbra Streisand (2011)
* Paul McCartney (2012)
* Bruce Springsteen (2013)
* Carole King (2014)
* Bob Dylan (2015)
* Lionel Richie (2016)
* Tom Petty (2017)
* Fleetwood Mac (2018)
* Dolly Parton (2019)
* Aerosmith (2020)
* Joni Mitchell (2022)
* Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson (2023)
* Jon Bon Jovi (2024)
* Grateful Dead (2025)

* v
* t
* e

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – Class of 1999

Performers|

* Billy Joel
* Curtis Mayfield
* Paul McCartney
* Del Shannon
* Dusty Springfield
* Bruce Springsteen
* The Staple Singers
* Cleotha Staples, Mavis Staples, Pervis Staples, Pops Staples, Yvonne Staples

Early influences|

* Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
* Tommy Duncan, Johnny Gimble, Joe "Jody" Holley, Leon McAuliffe, Tiny Moore, Herb Remington, Eldon Shamblin, Al Stricklin, Bob Wills
* Charles Brown

Non-performers
(Ahmet Ertegun Award)|

* George Martin

* v
* t
* e

Tony Award for Best Orchestrations

1990s|

* Jonathan Tunick (1997)
* William David Brohn (1998)
* Ralph Burns and Doug Besterman (1999)

2000s|

* Don Sebesky (2000)
* Doug Besterman (2001)
* Doug Besterman and Ralph Burns (2002)
* Billy Joel and Stuart Malina (2003)
* Michael Starobin (2004)
* Ted Sperling, Adam Guettel, and Bruce Coughlin (2005)
* Sarah Travis (2006)
* Duncan Sheik (2007)
* Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman (2008)
* Martin Koch / Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt (2009)

2010s|

* Daryl Waters and David Bryan (2010)
* Larry Hochman and Stephen Oremus (2011)
* Martin Lowe (2012)
* Stephen Oremus (2013)
* Jason Robert Brown (2014)
* Christopher Austin, Don Sebesky, and Bill Elliot (2015)
* Alex Lacamoire (2016)
* Alex Lacamoire (2017)
* Jamshied Sharifi (2018)
* Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose (2019)

2020s|

* Katie Kresek, Justin Levine, Charlie Rosen, and Matt Stine (2020/21)
* Simon Hale (2022)
* Charlie Rosen and Bryan Carter (2023)
* Jonathan Tunick (2024)
* Marco Paguia (2025)

* v
* t
* e

Billboard Year-End number one albums

1956–1975|

* 1956: Calypso – Harry Belafonte
* 1957: Music from My Fair Lady – Original Cast
* 1958: Music from My Fair Lady – Original Cast
* 1959: The Music from Peter Gunn – Henry Mancini
* 1960: Music from The Sound of Music – Original Cast
* 1961: Music from Camelot – Original Cast
* 1962: West Side Story – Soundtrack
* 1963: West Side Story – Soundtrack
* 1964: Music from Hello, Dolly! – Original Cast
* 1965: Mary Poppins: Original Cast Soundtrack – Soundtrack
* 1966: Whipped Cream & Other Delights – Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
* 1967: More of the Monkees – The Monkees
* 1968: Are You Experienced – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
* 1969: In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida – Iron Butterfly
* 1970: Bridge over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel
* 1971: Jesus Christ Superstar – Soundtrack
* 1972: Harvest – Neil Young
* 1973: The World Is a Ghetto – War
* 1974: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Elton John
* 1975: Greatest Hits – Elton John

1976–2000|

* 1976: Frampton Comes Alive! – Peter Frampton
* 1977: Rumours – Fleetwood Mac
* 1978: Saturday Night Fever – Soundtrack
* 1979: 52nd Street – Billy Joel
* 1980: The Wall – Pink Floyd
* 1981: Hi Infidelity – REO Speedwagon
* 1982: Asia – Asia
* 1983: Thriller – Michael Jackson
* 1984: Thriller – Michael Jackson
* 1985: Born in the U.S.A. – Bruce Springsteen
* 1986: Whitney Houston – Whitney Houston
* 1987: Slippery When Wet – Bon Jovi
* 1988: Faith – George Michael
* 1989: Don't Be Cruel – Bobby Brown
* 1990: Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 – Janet Jackson
* 1991: Mariah Carey – Mariah Carey
* 1992: Ropin' the Wind – Garth Brooks
* 1993: The Bodyguard – Soundtrack
* 1994: The Sign – Ace of Base
* 1995: Cracked Rear View – Hootie & the Blowfish
* 1996: Jagged Little Pill – Alanis Morissette
* 1997: Spice – Spice Girls
* 1998: Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture – James Horner
* 1999: Millennium – Backstreet Boys
* 2000: No Strings Attached – NSYNC

2001–present|

* 2001: 1 – The Beatles
* 2002: The Eminem Show – Eminem
* 2003: Get Rich or Die Tryin' – 50 Cent
* 2004: Confessions – Usher
* 2005: The Massacre – 50 Cent
* 2006: Some Hearts – Carrie Underwood
* 2007: Daughtry – Daughtry
* 2008: As I Am – Alicia Keys
* 2009: Fearless – Taylor Swift
* 2010: I Dreamed a Dream – Susan Boyle
* 2011: 21 – Adele
* 2012: 21 – Adele
* 2013: The 20/20 Experience – Justin Timberlake
* 2014: Frozen – Soundtrack
* 2015: 1989 – Taylor Swift
* 2016: 25 – Adele
* 2017: Damn – Kendrick Lamar
* 2018: Reputation – Taylor Swift
* 2019: When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? – Billie Eilish
* 2020: Hollywood's Bleeding – Post Malone
* 2021: Dangerous: The Double Album – Morgan Wallen
* 2022: Un Verano Sin Ti – Bad Bunny
* 2023: One Thing at a Time – Morgan Wallen
* 2024: The Tortured Poets Department – Taylor Swift

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Japan
* Italy
* Australia
* Czech Republic
* Spain
* Netherlands
* Norway
* Latvia
* Croatia
* Korea
* Sweden
* Poland
* Israel
* Finland

Academics|

* CiNii

Artists|

* MusicBrainz
* Grammy Awards
* FID

People|

* Trove
* Deutsche Biographie
* Deutsche Synchronkartei
* DDB

Other|

* IdRef
* SNAC
* Te Papa (New Zealand)
* Yale LUX

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*[div.]:
*[c.]: circa
*[Ref.]: References
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