Billy joel where is he from

On the cover of the band's eponymous album, both Joel and Small were dressed as barbarians; in an interview on the back of the album, Joel claimed to forget the name of his previous band and stated that he only "sweated" two things -- perfecting his sound and the war in Southeast Asia. Epic released Attila early in and it was an immediate bomb and the duo broke up. While the group was still together, Joel began a romance with Small 's wife, Elizabeth; she would eventually leave the drummer to marry the pianist.

After Attila 's embarrassing failure, Joel wrote rock criticism for a magazine called Changes and played on commercial jingles, including a Chubby Checker spot for Bachman Pretzels.

However, Joel entered a severe bout of depression, culminating with him drinking a bottle of furniture polish in an attempt to end his life. Following his failed suicide attempt, Joel checked himself into Meadowbrook Hospital, where he received psychiatric treatment for depression.

Joel returned to playing music in , signing a deal with Family Productions. Under the terms of the contract, Joel signed to the label for life; the pianist was unaware of the clause at the time, but it would come back to haunt him -- Family Productions received royalties from every album Joel sold until the late '80s.

Due to an error in the mastering of the album, Cold Spring Harbor was released a couple of tape speeds too fast; the album remained in that bastardized form until Following the release of the album, Joel went on a small live tour, during which he would frequently delve into standup comedy. The tour received good reviews but Joel remained unhappy with the quality of his performance and, especially, the quality of the album. Furthermore, he lost a manager during this time and Family Productions was experiencing legal and financial difficulties, which prevented him from recording an immediate follow-up.

Early in , he moved out to Los Angeles with his girlfriend Elizabeth. Joel adopted the name Bill Martin and spent half a year playing lounge piano at the Executive Room. Toward the end of the year, he began touring, playing various nightclubs across the country. Around the same time, a radio station began playing a live version of "Captain Jack" that was recorded at a Philadelphia radio broadcast.

Soon, record companies were eagerly seeking to sign the pianist, and he eventually signed with Columbia Records. In order for Joel to sign with Columbia, the major label had to agree to pay Family Productions 25 cents for each album sold, plus display the Family and Remus logos on each record Joel released.

The record slowly worked its way up the charts, peaking at number 27 in the spring of The title track -- culled from experiences he had while singing at the Executive Room -- became a Top 40 hit single.

At the end of the summer, Joel assembled a touring band and undertook a national tour, opening for acts like the J. Geils Band and the Doobie Brothers. By the end of , he had released his second album, Streetlife Serenade , which reached number 35 early in The sessions for Turnstiles were long and filled with tension, culminating with Joel firing the album's original producer, Guercio , and producing the album himself.

Once he fired Guercio , Joel also left Caribou, and hired his wife as his new manager. Turnstiles stalled on the charts, only reaching number Joel 's next album would prove to be the make-or-break point for his career, and the resulting album, The Stranger , catapulted him into superstardom. The Stranger was released in the fall of Joel followed The Stranger with 52nd Street , which was released in the fall of Although he had become a genuine star, critics had not looked kindly upon Joel 's music, and the pianist became a vocal opponent of rock criticism in the late '70s.

In one incident, he denounced Los Angeles Herald Examiner critic Ken Tucker on-stage and then, as a form of protest, tore up the critic's reviews. In the spring of , Joel released Glass Houses , theoretically a harder-edged album that was a response to the punk and new wave movement. In the fall of , Joel released Songs in the Attic , a live album that concentrated on material written and recorded before he became a star in Songs in the Attic bought Joel some time as he was completing an album he had designed as his bid to be taken seriously as a composer.

Before the album was finished, he suffered a serious motorcycle accident in the spring of He broke his wrist in the accident -- it would take major surgery to repair the wound.

A veteran of many Long Island bands, including The Hassles, and later Attila, it was as a solo artist that Joel made his first significant recording, Cold Spring Harbor named after a town on Long island's North Shore on the Paramount label. Among the many honors he has received, Joel has been nominated for 23 Grammy awards, winning six, including two each for "Just The Way You Are" and "52nd Street;" and one for Glass Houses.

In addition, he was honored with the Grammy Legend Award in An unmatched tour experience came in , when he became the first American pop star to bring a fully-staged rock music production to the Soviet Union.

Joel also performed in Berlin during the reunification of Germany and in the Philippines where he performed for American GI's the day the Persian Gulf War started a continent away. My experience has always been that people resent it when they go to see you do a show and you get up on a soapbox and spout politics.

What made you do that? I was pissed off. So this president missed the boat. He had a great chance to say something meaningful and he blew it. Do you hope to sing with Elton John again before the end of his farewell tour?

I would if he asked me to, sure. We worked together for 16 years, and those were good shows. I thought they were good value.

I would work with him again, absolutely. What TV shows do you watch? My taste in TV shows is pretty boring to most people.

I watch the History Channel or the Military Channel or documentaries or the news. I just watched Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart again, great movie. But you sit down at the piano and write melodies just for yourself? You always learn something new whenever you create. I may come up with an idea that could become a song.

I may write a movie soundtrack. I may write a symphony. Jesse Dittmar. Newswire Powered by. Close the menu. Rolling Stone. Log In. To help keep your account secure, please log-in again. You are no longer onsite at your organization. Please log in. For assistance, contact your corporate administrator.