Began in group "Echoes" (later known as the "Lost Souls"). Also a member of the Hassles (who performed at Westchester N.Y.'s famous Riviera Lounge in 1967) and Attila. Inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame 1992. Seven consecutive albums made the Top 40.Grammy award winning singer.Daughter, with Christie Brinkley , Alexa Ray Joel , was named after piano legend Ray Charles .He appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "We Are The World."Billy went by the name Bill Martin when he played the Executive Room in LA while running from his contract after the failure of Cold Spring Harbor.Joel was once a successful Long Island boxer, winning 22 out of 24 fights. He had taken boxing lessons because he was frequently beaten up by neighborhood bullies. He left his boxing career and went into music when his nose was broken in his 24th fight.His song "Just the Way You Are" released in 1977 is one of the most covered and radio played songs of all-time.His album The Stranger (released in 1977) was the most successful album in Columbia Records history at the time, but because of bad management, he only made $3,000 from it.Writes all of his songs single-handedly.With 77.5 million units sold in the U.S. to date, he is the 3rd highest selling solo artist of all time after Garth Brooks and Elvis Presley .Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.The Hassles hit #112 on the Billboard Singles Charts in 1967 with "You've Got Me Hummin'" (United Art. 50215)His and Twyla Tharp 's hit musical "Movin' Out" received 10 Tony nominations for the 2003 Tony Awards including: Best New Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography, and Best Orchestrations. Out of the 10 nominations "Movin' Out" received two Tony's, one went to Tharp for Best Choreography, and the other went to Joel himself for Best Orchestrations.He is a classically trained pianist.He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 2004. It is placed outside Pantages Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.Ditched writing new pop music to compose classical music instead during the mid 90s. Still performs pop songs at his concerts.One of the very few artists to have top ten hits in the 70s, 80s, and 90s.First gig he got with playing his piano was when he was 15 to play at a piano bar close to his neighborhood. He loved it so much that he quit high school at 17 to pursue a full fledged music career. Ironically, he worked at a piano bar later in his music career, out in L.A. with the name Bill Martin, trying to make ends meet before he released "Piano Man."Family Records, the first label that Joel signed with back in the early '70s, had a lifetime clause in their contract with Joel. This clause came back to haunt him when he signed with major label Columbia Records a few years later. Up until the end of the 1980s, every Joel album sold by Columbia, 25 cents would be paid to Family as a royalty for each album sold. Also, Columbia had to put the Family name, logo, and copyright on every Joel album they produced.He played piano on The Shangri-Las ' 1965 hit, "Leader of the Pack". He was 16 years old at the time.Son of Rosalynd Nyman, born in England to an agnostic Jewish family, and Howard Joel, a Jewish Holocaust survivor from Germany, whose family owned the fourth largest mail order company in Germany before dispossessed by the Nazis. After his divorce, Howard returned to Europe and married again. Billy's half-brother is the famous concert pianist Alexander Joel .Some of his countless hits are "Piano Man" (1973), "She's Always a Woman" (1978), "My Life" (1979), "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" (1980, first US #1) "Allentown" (1982), "Uptown Girl" (1983, first UK #1), "Tell Her About It" (1983, US #1), "The Longest Time" (1983), "We Didn't Start The Fire" (1989), "Leningrad" (1989), "The Rivers of Dreams" (1993) and "All About Soul" (1993).Called "Joe" by Christie Brinkley because when she first met him, she wasn't sure whether Billy Joel was just his first name and she decided that he looked like he could be a Joe.He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.In the late '70s with the worldwide success of his "Turnstiles" and "52nd Street" albums and many hit singles, he gave televised concerts on "The Old Grey Whistle Test" and "Music Laden" .Dating Alex Donnelley [July 22, 2009].Played in two bands with Jon Small : The Hassles and Attila.His first wife, Elizabeth Weber , was his business manager and the ex-wife of Jon Small .Underwent double hip surgery in a Long Island, New York hospital to treat a congenial hip ailment [November 24, 2010].Dating 29-year-old Alexis Roderick, who works for Morgan Stanley bank in New York after meeting her in a restaurant [December 8, 2010].His 1978 album, "52nd Street," was the first album to be released on compact disc in 1982.