Billy Joel

On September 5, 1973, he married Elizabeth Weber Small, who was the wife of his former music partner of the duo ‘Attila’, Jon Small. The couple called their marriage off on July 20, 1982.

On March 23, 1985, he married supermodel Christie Brinkley with whom he has a daughter Alexa Ray Joel. Her middle name ‘Ray’ comes from Ray Charles, a music icon whom he idolized. The couple divorced on August 25, 1994, but remained on friendly terms.

On October 2, 2004, he married an American cookbook author, Katie Lee, who was 32 years younger than him. After five years of their marriage, the couple split up on June 17, 2009.

He was born to a German-Jewish holocaust survivor and an accomplished pianist, Howard and his wife Rosalind Nyman. Soon his family moved to the Levittown section of Hicksville on Long Island where he spent his childhood years.

In 1953, he began studying the piano and demonstrated a natural aptitude for the instrument. He was taught piano by the noted American pianist Morton Estrin and musician/songwriter Timothy Ford.

In 1963, he joined his first band, ‘The Echoes’, which later came to be known as ‘The Lost Souls’, with which he recorded several of his instrumental pieces. During this time he left high school to pursue a career in music.

In 1967, he left ‘The Echoes’ (now ‘The Lost Souls’) to join a new band ‘The Hassles’. It was a Long Island group which had signed with United Artists Record. The band released their first album ‘The Hassles’ and soon they released their second album, ‘Hour of the Wolf’, the next year, both being unsuccessful commercially.

In 1969, he left the band along with the band’s drummer Joe Small and formed a heavy metal duo with him named ‘Atilla’. They recorded an album with ‘Epic records’ and debuted in July 1970. The duo soon disbanded due to clashes over personal issues.

In 1971, he signed a solo recording contract with the Artie Ripp’s Family Productions and released his first solo album, ‘Cold Spring Harbor’. However, it was released at a wrong speed. Few years later, Columbia Records re-issued the album after slowing it down to the correct speed which led to its emergence as a favorite concert package.

Soon after, he went to West Coast to Los Angeles due to a contractual dispute and played piano there at The Executive Room piano bar on Wilshire Boulevard under the name ‘Bill Martin’. During this time he composed his signature hit ‘Piano Man’.

In 1975, he recorded ‘Street life Serenade’ in Los Angeles along with the Columbia Records. ‘The Entertainer’ proved to be a brilliant track on the album. He garnered much recognition due to it.

In 1977, he collaborated with producer Phil Ramone and released ‘The Stranger’. It became a big hit and emerged as Columbia Record’s biggest selling album.

In 1982, he recorded ‘The Nylon Curtain’ with producer Phil Ramone. Thereafter, he embarked on a tour for promotion of his album which proved to be one of his most ambitious albums.

In 1985, he came out with Greatest Hits- Volume I and II. It proved to be his highly successful album and was claimed to be the third most-selling album in American history by Recording Industry Association of America.

In 2001, he released ‘Fantasies and Delusions’, which was a collection of his classical compositions on piano. It was well received by the audience and emerged out as yet another runaway success by him.